I have always believed that MPD support should mandatory, rather than an "extension" or second-class syntax. It is a central, indispensible part of LDraw. That said, I don't think SR3D Builder supports it, which is very sad. I am in favor of adding prominent language to the LDraw File Format spec heavily encouraging authors to write MPD-compliant programs; i.e., "ignore this at your peril."
I very strongly support adding explicit language to clarify that all recognized LDraw file extensions can contain any content. This isn't a change, since the specification has already said this implicitly for all of the seven years I've been paying attention. Unfortunately, that obliqueness, combined with MLCad's annoying save behavior, means the question of whether MPD files must have a .mpd extension keeps coming up every couple years. It would be great to be done with that once and for all.
(Aside: the proliferation of LDraw file extensions is unhealthy. There should have only been one, and it should have been .ldr. Now there are four: .dat, .mpd, .ldr, and .l3b.)
Allen
I very strongly support adding explicit language to clarify that all recognized LDraw file extensions can contain any content. This isn't a change, since the specification has already said this implicitly for all of the seven years I've been paying attention. Unfortunately, that obliqueness, combined with MLCad's annoying save behavior, means the question of whether MPD files must have a .mpd extension keeps coming up every couple years. It would be great to be done with that once and for all.
(Aside: the proliferation of LDraw file extensions is unhealthy. There should have only been one, and it should have been .ldr. Now there are four: .dat, .mpd, .ldr, and .l3b.)
Allen