Duplicate file format name.
By Koalemos
@Asylum (47893)
Manchester, England
January 21, 2007 10:29pm CST
The purpose and type of each file on the computer is identified by the file format, such as .doc for a Word document or .bmp for a Bitmap image. This is turn allows Windows or whatever operating system you use to decide which program to launch in order to run or open the file.
With each software program using it’s own file format we have now reached the stage where the same file suffix applies to more than one type of file, for example:
.srt could be a subtitle file or a speech recognition transcript or even a Skymap data file.
If someone has 2 programs using the same file description, then how would Windows know which program to use?
2 people like this
3 responses
@kgwat70 (13387)
• United States
23 Jan 07
I never even thought about that as I am not familiar with all the file formats available. That is a very interesting question but there must be a way somehow for Windows to figure it out. Maybe there is some kind of default setting that would allow windows to choose or use the proper program. Or when trying to run the file, a box will appear with the option of choosing the program that the file was created in. That is my thinking.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
23 Jan 07
If you have 2 programs that support a particular file format, for example jpeg, then the last one installed will be the default. You can open the properties of the file and change the default program, but all such files will then change their association. This would not be a problem with a jpeg file, but if the two file formats have different uses then it becomes a problem. If the two types were an image and an audio file you would either be trying to open an image with an audio program or vice versa.
With more programs being written, the duplication should start to occur more often. I have never had two same name files on my computer and can think of no way to control it.
1 person likes this
@Lydia1901 (16351)
• United States
25 Jan 07
Well, I didn't know that about file format and I have been using a computer for a long time. Thanks for sharing that. I don't really know about how the Windows know which program to use. I guess they're just programed that way.
@thomason55 (20)
• Sri Lanka
20 Apr 14
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