Hello, i’m trying to understand what a file format is, what it means, and what the sorrounding context is.
when people talk about a file format, are they really just referring to any type of file?
mp4 is a file format?
mp3 is a file format?
pdf is a file format?
txt is a file format?
doc is a file format?
is that what people are talking about when they say “file formats”? just different types of files that can or should be opened by different programs?
thank you
In: 0
*geek flex*
No, those are file extensions, the format is just in the files.
BUT we use the terms interchangeable in normal talking.
Because most of the time they are, but sometimes they are not.
Just because something is named bla.mp3, it does not need to be an audio file.
Another example: Google “how to open a .dat file”:
“Most DAT files contain text, so you can open them with text editors, like Notepad, Notepad++, VS Code, and so on. If you are sure the information contained in the DAT file is a video or audio, then your media player can open it. If it’s a PDF, then Adobe Reader can open it, and so on.”
In my filed of work a .dat file does contain raw data, you’d need another file to describe what’s in there. So non of the upper tools would be able to read anything meaningful out of it.
Latest Answers