document file format

A document file format is a binary file format for storing documents on a storage media, especially for use by computers. There currently exist a multitude of incompatible document file formats. A rough consensus has been established that XML is to be the basis for future document file formats, though there is still no single standard for how such an XML-derivative should optimally be designed. Some would probably suggest DocBook as the most standard-like document format there is, though the file format used by Microsoft Word is arguably the most widespread de facto-standard. In 1993 the ITU-T tried to establish a standard for document file formats, known as the Open Document Architecture (ODA) which was supposed to replace all competing document file formats. It is described in ITU-T documents T.411 through T.421, which are equivalent to ISO 8613. It did not succeed. Page description programming languages such as PostScript and PDF has established a de facto-standard for documents that for the typical user are only to be read, not edited.

Common document file formats

ASCII (.txt)
Amigaguide
CHM (Microsoft's help format)
DocBook
HLP
HTML (.html, .htm), in combination with possible image files referred to; IE can also combine these, having just one MHT-file to represent a webpage.
PDF - many people can read them (since the viewer is free), fewer can make and edit them
Radix-64
RTF (a textual encoding of the data in a Word DOC; many programs' Word export filters actually write RTF as RTF is much easier to generate reliably)
TeX
Troff
Microsoft Word (.doc) (Format revised and altered very often; little official documentation)
WordPerfect (.doc) (note possible confusion with Word format extension)
XML

Document File Format

Common document file formats

See also