Mapping Part Data

In a ZIP archive, the data associated with a part is represented as one or more items.

A package implementer shall store a non-interleaved part as a single ZIP item. [M3.1] When interleaved, a package implementer shall represent a part as one or more pieces, using the method described in §9.1.4. [M2.18] Pieces are named using the specified pattern, making it possible to rebuild the entire part from its constituent pieces. Each piece is stored within a ZIP archive as a single ZIP item.

In the ZIP archive, the chunk of bits that represents an item is stored contiguously. A package implementer might intentionally order the sequence of ZIP items in the archive to enable an efficient organization of the part data in order to achieve correct and optimal interleaving. [O3.1]