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Common File Formats

Glossary of common digital File Formats

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A file formats

ACE
ACE Archiver compression file.
AIF
Audio Interchange File used with SGI and Macintosh applications.
ANI
Animated cursors used in Microsoft Windows.
API
Application Program Interface.
ART
Clipart.
ASC
ASCII text file.
ASM
Assembler code.
ASP
Microsoft Active Server Page.
AVI
Audio/Video Interleaved used for Windows based movies.


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B file formats

BAK
Backup Files.
BAS
BASIC programming language sourcecode.
BAT
MS-DOS batch file.
BFC
Briefcase document used in Windows.
BIN
Binary File.
BIN
MacBinary-encoded files.
BMP
Bitmap format.
BUD
Backup Disk for Quicken by Intuit.
BZ2
Bzip2-compressed files.


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C file formats

CAT
Security Catalog file.
CBL
Cobol code.
CBT
Computer Based Training.
CDA
Compact Disc Audio Track.
CDT
Corel Draw Template file.
CFML
ColdFusion Markup Language.
CGI
Common Gateway Interface. Web based programs and scripts.
CHM
Compiled HTML Help files used by Windows.
CLASS
Javascript Class file.
CLP
Windows Clipboard file.
CMD
Dos Command File.
COM
Command File.
CPL
Control panel item – The settings in Control Panels represent CPL files in the Windows\System folder.
CPP
C++ programming language source code.
CSS
Cascading Style Sheet. Creates a common style reference for a set of web pages.
CSV
Comma Separated Values format.
CMF
Corel Metafile.
CUR
Cursor in Microsoft Windows


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D file formats

DAO
Registry Backup file for Windows registry.
DAT
Data file.
DD
Compressed Archive by Macintosh DiskDoubler.
DEB
Debian packages.
DEV
Device Driver.
DIC
Dictionary file.
DIR
Macromedia Director file.
DLL
Dynamic Linked Library. Microsoft application file.
DOC
Document format for Word Perfect and Microsoft Word.
DOT
Microsoft Word Template.
DRV
Device Driver.
DS
TWAIN Data source file.
DUN
Dial-up networking configuration file.
DWG
Autocad drawing.
DXF
Autocad drawing exchange format file.


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E file formats

EMF
Enhanced Windows Metafile.
EML
Microsoft Outlook e-mail file.
EPS
Encapsulated PostScript supported by most graphics programs.
EPS2
Adobe PostScript Level II Encapsulated Postscript.
EXE
DOS based executable file which is also known as a program.


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F file formats

FFL
Microsoft Fast Find file.
FFO
Microsoft Fast Find file.
FLA
Macromedia Flash movie format.
FNT
Font file.


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G file formats

GIF
Graphics Interchange Format that supports animation. Created by CompuServe and used primarily for web use.
GID
Windows global index. Contains the index information used by “Help” in Windows.
GRP
Microsoft Program Manager Group.
GZ
Unix compressed file.


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H file formats

HEX
Macintosh binary hex(binhex) file.
HLP
Standard help file.
HT
HyperTerminal files.
HQX
Macintosh binary hex(binhex) file.
HTM
Hyper Text Markup. This markup language is used for web design.
HTML
Hyper Text Markup Language. This markup language is used for web design.


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I file formats

ICL
Icon Library File.
ICM
Image Color Matching profile.
ICO
Microsoft icon image.
INF
Information file used in Windows.
INI
Initialization file used in Windows.


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J file formats

JAR
Java Archive. A compressed java file format.
JPEG
Compression scheme supported by most graphics programs and used predominantly for web use.
JPG
More common extension for JPEG described above.
JS
JavaScript File – A text file containing JavaScript programming code.


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K file formats


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L file formats

LAB
Microsoft Excel mailing labels.
LGO
Windows 9x start-up logo.
LIT
eBooks in Microsoft Reader format.
LNK
Windows 9x shortcut file.
LOG
Application log file.
LSP
Autocad(visual) lisp program.


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M file formats

MAQ
Microsoft Access Query.
MAR
Microsoft Access Report.
MDB
Microsoft Access DataBase File.
MDL
Rose model file. Opens with Visual Modeler or Rational Rose.
MID
MIDI music file.
MOD
Microsoft Windows 9.x kernel module.
MOV
Quicktime movie.
MP3
MPEG Audio Layer 3.
MPEG
Animation file format.
MPP
Microsoft Project File.
MSG
Microsoft Outlook message file.
MSG
Fidonet messages.


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N file formats

NCF
Netware command File.
NLM
Netware loadable Module.


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O file formats

O
Object file, used by linkers.
OCX
ActiveX Control: A component of the Windows environment.
OGG
Ogg Vorbis digitally encoded music file.
OST
Microsoft Exchange/Outlook offline file.


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P file formats

PAK
WAD file that contains information about levels, settings, maps, etc for Quake and Doom.
PCL
Printer Control Language file. PCL is a Page Description Language developed by HP.
PCT
Macintosh drawing format.
PDF
Portable Document File by Adobe. Viewable in a web browser or with Adobe Acrobat.
PDF
Printer Description File. Provides printer support for certain applications.
PDR
Port driver for windows 95. It is actually a virtual device driver (vxd).
PHP
Web page that contains a PHP script.
PHTML
Web page that contains a PHP script
PIF
Program Information File
PIF
Vector graphics GDF file(IBM Mainframe)
PIF
Macintosh Compressed archive
PL
Perl source code file.
PM
Perl Module.
PM3
PageMaker 3.0 document.
PM4
PageMaker 4.0 document.
PM5
PageMaker 5.0 document.
PM6
PageMaker 6.0 document.
PNG
Portable Network Graphic file.
POL
System Policy file for Windows NT.
POT
Microsoft PowerPoint design template.
PPD
PostScript Printer description file used in Macintosh and Windows operating systems to provide printer specific features to a driver.
PPS
Microsoft PowerPoint slide show.
PPT
Microsoft PowerPoint presentation(default extension).
PRN
A print file created as the result of "printing to file".
PS
PostScript file.
PSD
Native Adobe Photoshop format.
PSP
Paint Shop Pro image.
PST
Personal Folder File for Microsoft Outlook.
PUB
Microsoft Publisher document.
PWL
Windows Password list file.


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Q file formats

QIF
Quicken Import file.


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R file formats

RAM
RealAudio Metafile.
RAR
RAR compressed archive created by Eugene Roshall.
RAW
Raw File Format.
RDO
Raster Document Object. Proprietary file type used on Xerox Digipath Scan and Makeready workstations.
REG
Registry file that contains registry settings.
RM
RealAudio video file.
RPM
RedHat Package Manager.
RSC
Standard resource file.
RTF
Rich Text Format.


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S file formats

SCR
Screen Saver file.
SEA
Self-extracting archive for Macintosh Stuffit files.
SGML
Standard Generalized Markup Language.
SH
Unix shell script.
SHTML
HTML file that supports Server Side Includes(SSI).
SIT
Compressed Macintosh Stuffit files.
SMD
SEGA mega drive ROM file.
SVG
Adobe scalable vector graphics file.
SWF
Shockwave Flash file by Macromedia.
SWP
DOS swap file.
SYS
Windows system file used for hardware configuration or drivers


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T file formats

TAR
Unix Tape Archive.
TGA
Targa bitmap.
TIFF
Tagged Image File Format. Universal graphics format supported by most graphics applications.
TMP
Windows temporary file.
TTF
True Type font.
TXT
Text Format.


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U file formats

UDF
Uniqueness Definition File. Used for Windows unattended installations.
UUE
UU-encoded file.


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V file formats

VBX
Microsoft Visual basic extension.
VM
Virtual Memory file.
VXD
Windows 9x virtual device driver.


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W file formats

WAV
Waveform sound file.
WMF
Windows Metafile (graphics format).
WRI
Write Document: This is equivalent to RTF, Rich Text Format, that enables saving text with formatting information.
WSZ
Winamp Skin.
XCF
The GIMP’s native image format.


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X file formats

XIF
Wang imaging file. Wang Image Viewer comes with Windows 95/2000.
XIF
Xerox Image file (same as TIFF).
XIF
Image file eXtended by ScanSoft is similar to TIFF and is a Pagis application format.
XLS
Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet.
XLT
Microsoft Excel Template.
XML
Extensible markup language.
XSL
XML style sheet.


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Y file formats


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Z file formats

ZIP
Compressed Zip archive.