FTP File-Naming conventions

[Karen Nordrum]

--------------------------- Original Message ---------------------------

On Wed, 23 Oct 1996, Diane Madrigal <dmadriga at unix2.nysed.gov> wrote:
>
>I am looking for information on naming conventions for FTP files.  I know
>that there are standard extensions used to indicate the document's format,
>but I'm only aware of a few of the more basic ones (e.g. .txt for ASCII
>text, .pdf for Acrobat Adobe, .w61 for WordPerfect 6.1).  Can someone
>point me to a more comprehensive list?
>
>Diane Madrigal
>dmadriga at unix2.nysed.gov
>New York State Library
>State Education Department
>
>
>
>
Here are a few extensions which I'm familiar with:

.txt or .TXT 	usually indicates a text file, or ASCII file and not a
         program. (note: the appropriate mode setting is ASCII)

.ps or .PS 	usually indicates a PostScript document.  This type of file
              may be printed on any PostScript capable printer but it will
             not print on a non-PostScript printer wothout specialized
         software such as Ghostview or Ghostscript. (note: the
 appropriate mode setting is ASCII)

.doc or .DOC 	usually indicates a text or ASCII file. (note: the approprate
                mode setting is Binary)

.exe 	       Executable program. (note: the appropriate mode setting is
           Binary)

.uue 	        Uuencoded file which is binary data specially coded in an
            ASCII format; it must be decoded before use. (note: the
      appropriate mode setting is ASCII)

.Z	         this is a UNIX compression format.  To uncompress such a
             file, you need uncompress or zcat (in UNIX) or MacCompress
          (if you have a Mac), or compress for DOS. (note: the
 appropriate mode setting is Binary)

.zip or .ZIP	 this is a DOS compression format and one of the most commonly
                 used/seen on the Internet.  To unzip a file, you need the
              PKZIP package which is freely available on the INternet.
          (Sometimes "zipped" files have the extension .exe.  In this
         case, the files are self-extracting, which means that you
      don't need PKZIP to unzip them.) (note: the appropriate mode
      setting is Binary)

.gz 	        this is a variation of the PKZIP format.  You'll need 	
                something like gunzip to decompress these files.

.zoo or .ZOO 	this is a UNIX and a DOS format.  It requires the use of a
                program called zoo.

.Hqx or .hqx 	this is a Macintosh format which requires BinHex to decompress
                files.

.tar 	        this stands for tape archive, or it once did.  Now it's just
               another compression format usually used to lump together
          several related files.  The program tar will uncompress this
         format. (note: the appropriate mode setting is Binary)

.sea or .SEA 	this is a Mac format self-extracting archive.

.sit or .Sit    this is a Mac format requiring StuffIt.

.arc or .ARC	thsi is a DOS format which requires ARC or ARCE.

.lhx or .LHZ 	this is also a DOS format.  It requires LHARC.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Karen Nordrum                                           | La vie             |
Graduate School of Library and Information Studies      | est plus belle     |
McGill University                                       | quand on l'ecrit   |
Montreal, Quebec                                        | soi-meme...        |
                                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
knordr at po-box.mcgill.ca







************************************************************************
Karen Nordrum
knordr at po-box.mcgill.ca
shc8 at musicb.mcgill.ca

McGill University
Graduate School of Library & Information Studies