The older the system/the more changes it's had, especially if it's "enterprise software", the more insane things tend to be; in one memorable case, it was a .zip containing JSON, which then contained base64-encoded XML, wrapping another base64-encoded .zip containing more XML, and in that XML was base16-encoded ASN.1 PER with the actual payload (encoded in a proprietary format). I won't disclose specifics, but perhaps someone may recognise that from its description; suffice to say the industry that was related to started using computers in the days of mainframes and punched cards.
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The older the system/the more changes it's had, especially if it's "enterprise software", the more insane things tend to be; in one memorable case, it was a .zip containing JSON, which then contained base64-encoded XML, wrapping another base64-encoded .zip containing more XML, and in that XML was base16-encoded ASN.1 PER with the actual payload (encoded in a proprietary format). I won't disclose specifics, but perhaps someone may recognise that from its description; suffice to say the industry that was related to started using computers in the days of mainframes and punched cards.