In computing and electronic systems, binary-coded decimal (BCD) is a class of binary encodings of decimal numbers where each decimal digit is represented by a fixed number of bits, usually four or eight. Special bit patterns are sometimes used for a sign or for other indications.
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message bodies may consist of multiple parts, and header information may be specified in non-ASCII character sets. Email messages with MIME formatting are typically transmitted with standard protocols, such as the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), the Post Office Protocol (POP), and the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP).
In computing, plain text is a loose term for data that represent only characters of readable material but not its graphical representation nor other objects. It may also include a limited number of characters that control simple arrangement of text, such as spaces, line breaks, or tabulation characters. Plain text is different from formatted text, where style information is included; from structured text, where structural parts of the document such as paragraphs, sections, and the like are identified; and from binary files in which some portions must be interpreted as binary objects.
In computing, endianness refers to the order of bytes within a binary representation of a number. It can also be used more generally to refer to the internal ordering of any representation, such as the digits in a numeral system or the sections of a date.
In computing, tar is a computer software utility for collecting many files into one archive file, often referred to as a tarball, for distribution or backup purposes. The name is derived from (t)ape (ar)chive, as it was originally developed to write data to sequential I/O devices with no file system of their own. The archive data sets created by tar contain various file system parameters, such as name, time stamps, ownership, file access permissions, and directory organization. The command line utility was first introduced in the Version 7 Unix in January 1979, replacing the tp program. The file structure to store this information was standardized in POSIX.1-1988 and later POSIX.1-2001, and became a format supported by most modern file archiving systems.
In computer science, Base64 is a group of binary-to-text encoding schemes that represent binary data in an ASCII string format by translating it into a radix-64 representation. The term Base64 originates from a specific MIME content transfer encoding. Each Base64 digit represents exactly 6 bits of data. Three 8-bit bytes can therefore be represented by four 6-bit Base64 digits.
Uuencoding is a form of binary-to-text encoding that originated in the Unix programs uuencode and uudecode written by Mary Ann Horton at UC Berkeley in 1980, for encoding binary data for transmission in email systems.
A comma-separated values (CSV) file is a delimited text file that uses a comma to separate values. A CSV file stores tabular data in plain text. Each line of the file is a data record. Each record consists of one or more fields, separated by commas. The use of the comma as a field separator is the source of the name for this file format.
Base32 is one of several base 32 transfer encodings. Base32 uses a 32-character set comprising the twenty-six upper-case letters A–Z, and the digits 2–7.
A COM file is a type of simple executable file. On the Digital Equipment operating systems of the 1970s, .COM was used as a filename extension for text files containing commands to be issued to the operating system. With the introduction of CP/M, the type of files commonly associated with COM extension changed to that of executable files. This convention was later carried over to DOS. Even when complemented by the more general EXE file format for executables, the compact COM files remained viable and frequently used under DOS.
BinHex, originally short for "binary-to-hexadecimal", is a binary-to-text encoding system that was used on the classic Mac OS for sending binary files through e-mail. Originally a hexadecimal encoding, subsequent versions of BinHex are more similar to uuencode, but combined both "forks" of the Mac file system together along with extended file information. BinHexed files take up more space than the original files, but will not be corrupted by non-"8-bit clean" software.
A binary file is a computer file that is not a text file. The term "binary file" is often used as a term meaning "non-text file". Many binary file formats contain parts that can be interpreted as text; for example, some computer document files containing formatted text, such as older Microsoft Word document files, contain the text of the document but also contain formatting information in binary form.
A hex editor is a computer program that allows for manipulation of the fundamental binary data that constitutes a computer file. The name 'hex' comes from 'hexadecimal': a standard numerical format for representing binary data. A typical computer file occupies multiple areas on the platter(s) of a disk drive, whose contents are combined to form the file. Hex editors that are designed to parse and edit sector data from the physical segments of floppy or hard disks are sometimes called sector editors or disk editors.
In computing, a hex dump is a hexadecimal view of computer data, from RAM or from a computer file or storage device. Looking at a hex dump of data is usually done in the context of either debugging or reverse engineering, although it is rare in modern times to need to look at a hex dump while debugging.
Ascii85, also called Base85, is a form of binary-to-text encoding developed by Paul E. Rutter for the btoa utility. By using five ASCII characters to represent four bytes of binary data, it is more efficient than uuencode or Base64, which use four characters to represent three bytes of data.
HxD is a hex editor, disk editor, and memory editor developed by Maël Hörz for Windows. It can open files larger than 4 GiB and open and edit the raw contents of disk drives, as well as display and edit the memory used by running processes. Among other features, it can calculate various checksums, compare files, or shred files.
The GOFF specification was developed for IBM's MVS operating system to supersede the IBM OS/360 Object File Format to compensate for weaknesses in the older format.
