Purpose and Scope

While the CD-ROM media provides for cost-effective software distribution, the existing ISO 9660 file system contains a number of restrictions which interfere with simple and efficient distribution of files on a CD-ROM.

The read-only nature of CD-ROM media has led content authors to continue to use traditional magnetic media as their main avenue for creating applications. Each of the existing file systems for magnetic media contain various features which can not be represented on CD-ROM media using an unenhanced version of ISO 9660.

As content authors attempt to transfer their applications to the CD-ROM, they are likely to find that some of their work cannot be distributed on the CD-ROM media due to restrictions in the ISO 9660 format. This frustrates some content authors.

Because the CD-ROM media is mainly a distribution media, rather than a creative (read/write) media, it is necessary for the CD-ROM file system to support a superset of the creative media features. This fundamental flaw in the design of ISO 9660 has prompted several operating systems vendors to extend ISO 9660 in several ways. Some examples are Rock Ridge Interchange Protocol and Apple's use of the System Use Area to store finder flags.

Some of the ISO 9660 problems which are addressed by this specification include:

The general design approach used in the Joliet specification is to relax restrictions and resolve ambiguities in the ISO 9660:1988 specification so the practical goals can be met.