How to create unpacked bootstarp info with f4fpackager?

Question

Hi,
I am using AMS 5 standard. Looks like f4fpackger creates hds vod manifest with packed bootstrap info, as show below.
Say if my vod has 10 fragments - first 9 fragments are 4s long and last fragment is 1.6 seconds long then the bootstarp info I get looks like,
Fragment# 1,    duration=4s,
Fragment#10, duration =1.6s
Is there a way to create manifest with unpacked bootstarp info, i.e list all the fragment information as shown below?
Fragment# 1,    duration=4s,
Fragment# 2,    duration=4s,
Fragment# 3,    duration=4s,
Fragment# 4,    duration=4s,
Fragment# 5,    duration=4s,
Fragment# 6,    duration=4s,
Fragment# 7,    duration=4s,
Fragment# 8,    duration=4s,
Fragment# 9,    duration=4s,
  Fragment# 10, duration =1.6s
Thanks,
Anand

Answer 1

Hey,
When using the f4fpackager tool, the bootstrap in the manifest file is nothing but the base64 encoded form of the ‘abst’ box available in the last fragment of your asset.
However if you use the ‘--external-bootstrap’ option, the bootstrap tag in manifest will contain a URI of the bootstrap file which contains the ‘abst’ box in binary form.
The f4fpackager tool will pack the fragment run table and there is no tool from adobe that I am aware of to unpack it or create a manifest with unpacked data as mentioned by Tanuj above.
To make your custom client working, you will have to create the ‘abst’ box with unpacked data, do a base64 encoding and update your manifest file or leave it in binary form when using external-bootstrap option.
Looks like you are already aware of the f4f file structure. Spec here http://www.adobe.com/devnet/f4v.html if you are not aware of the same.
You are already half done in decoding the fragment run table and unpacking it. Now you just need to put it together as an abst box and that’s it.
I would however suggest you to get the third party client updated to understand the packed structure so that it can play files other than that created by your solution.
The OSMF framework is already implemented this way and can be used as reference. It’s open source.