Just because I like to be different, I thought it would be fun to tinker with the sounds on a program I use. I found a folder called “wav” and got all excited.
Then I realized that I have no idea what to do from here. Because from there, I get a list of XML docs that I don’t know how to manipulate.
This is what I see in one:
So can I mess with this at all, or is it so far beyond something I can even grasp that I should just forget about it and get back to work?
You probably can’t do anything with it. It’s not that it’s beyond something you can grasp; the problem is that those XML files aren’t simply config files pointing to some .wav file on your system (or if they are, it’s obfuscated in a way that doesn’t allow easy editing).
If you really want to mess with it, make a copy of the directory and then randomly update some values in the files. I’m guessing the result will be either no sound at all for particular actions or a program crash, but maybe you’ll get lucky.
And although it is unlikely to cause actual damage to anything else on the system, it is a possibility. So I don’t recommend doing it, and if you insist anyway, be sure to have a backup/restore point.
What program is this?
It looks like the XML contains a base64-encoded version of the sound file (probably in WAV format). That’s a fantastically idiotic use for XML, but then most people who use XML are fantastic idiots.
If you really want to try screwing around with this, make a copy of the directory somewhere as a backup, then try to find a utility that will convert binary files to base64, and try replacing the chunk in the XML with that.
The worst that will happen is you will launch the missiles.
If it’s ok with you, I’d like to take a look at one of those XML files. Could you email me one? I’ll report back if friedo’s hunch is correct.
You don’t have to. Just check out http://www.base64decode.org/ :
Tell me about it. 
At least the example here uses attributes.
Awesome 