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This article is part of the [[Advanced User's Guide]].
The BaseX store also provides support for ''raw files'' (binary data)resources. A database may contain both XML documents and raw binary files. XML and binary data is , which are handled in a uniform way: a A unique database path serves as key, and the contents can be retrieved via database commands, XQuery, or the various APIs.
==Storage==
XML documents are stored in a proprietary format to speed up XPath axis traversals and update operations, and raw data is binary files are stored in its original format unchanged in a dedicated sub-directory subdirectory (called <code>raw</code>). Several reasons exist why we did not extend our existing for using the traditional file system as storage to binary data:
* '''Good Performance''': the The file system generally performs very well when it comes to the retrieval and update of binary files.* '''Key/Value Stores''': we We do not want to compete with existing key/value database solutions. Again, this is not what we are after.
* '''Our Focus''': our main focus is the efficient storage of hierarchical data structures and file formats such as XML or (more and more) JSON. The efficient storage of arbitrary binary resources would introduce many new challenges that would distract us from more pressing tasks.
