A file format is a particular way to encode information for storage in a computer file.
Since a disk drive, or indeed any computer storage, can store only bits, the computer must have some way of converting information to 0s and 1s and vice-versa. There are different kinds of formats for different kinds of information. Within any format type, e.g., word processor documents, there will typically be several different formats. Sometimes these formats compete with each other.
Generality
Some file formats are designed to store very particular sorts of data: the JPEG format, for example, is designed only to store static images. Other file formats, however, are designed for storage of several different types of data: the GIF format supports storage of both still images and simple animations, and the QuickTime format can act as a container for many different types of multimedia. A text file is simply one that stores any text, in a format such as ASCII or Unicode, with few if any control characters. Some file formats, such as HTML, or the source code of some particular programming language, are in fact also text files, but adhere to more specific rules which allow them to be used for specific purposes.
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L.A. Times - Technology News
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Almost Every File Format in the World - Names many file formats and their extensions.
Meta Description: [ This page briefly describes every file format (or actually the file name extensions for the formats) that we have been able to learn about., This page briefly describes every file format (or actually the file name extensions for the formats) that we have been able to learn about. ]
FileInfo.net - Database of file extensions with information about each file type.
Meta Description: [ Thousands of file extensions with detailed information about each file type, including a list of programs that open the files. ]
Windows Data Recovery - Data recovery tools to recover accidentally deleted or lost partition from
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Wotsit's Format - Detailed file formats and data formats for programmers. A large collection of programming resources with detailed information.
Meta Description: [ Detailed file formats and data formats for programmers. A large collection of programming resources with detailed information. The place to share useful resources with other programmers. ]