Knowing what are the main types of files that exist can be very useful in many situations . Remember that, at a time when we do everything through devices of all kinds, knowledge management is essential.
To help you with this we have decided to create this post in which we are going to tell you, first, what is a document, file or digital file and how it differs from the traditional one, what are the types that exist and, Of course, how can you identify them and, incidentally, have extra information about their characteristics.
Of course, before continuing, we invite you to save the article among your favorites , so you can check it on the occasions when you go with file extensions that you don’t know.
What is a digital file and how is it different from one traditional?
A traditional file is any physical document we may have. A letter, an image, a VHS, etc. But, eye, as you can imagine, we are not referring only to these. Currently, all files whose information has been registered on a medium capable of giving storage and recovery are also considered.
The digital file would be a set of bits that make up a meaningful unit of information and that is registered in a disk drive , in an electronic way and whose representation may vary depending on the support used for it.
To see more clearly, let’s look at their differences one by one:
- Reading and modification.
- The traditional is a passive reading, without the possibility of adding new content to the established.
- The digital allows modifications and aggregates.
- Media.
- The traditional one is monomedical, that is, it is created to reproduce in a single way or in a single medium.
- Digital can be reproduced in multiple ways, that is, they have a multimedia nature; This will depend on the format in which the information has been saved, which will allow us to reproduce it with both softwares.
- Interaction and linearity.
- A traditional file will have a linear reading that assumes that there is no interaction between its parts.
- Any electronic document is capable of relating to its parts.
- Accessibility.
- There is also no access to the sources used by the creators or other elements beyond the file itself, already assembled when we talk about the traditional one.
- The digital goes further, the limitation disappears and it is the developers and file creators themselves who allow us to have more or less deep access to “extra” information that they want to give us or to which they refer.
What are the main types of files that exist in the world? digital?
It is not necessary to be an expert to understand that, although the archives are sets of information, we can classify them in several ways, the main one being carried out according to the type of information they include.
If so, we find the following types of files:
Video files
Are those that include moving image and audio . They have very varied information such as the size of the pixels, the audio channels to be used, the frequency of image and audio sampling, the aspect ratio to be displayed …
They can also include other elements such as subtitles and there are subtypes of video files such as game files, which also include information referenced by the software itself or even ROMs.
A conventional video file consists of a video signal, an audio signal, a container and at least one codec .
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Audio files
These are files that include waveform information capable of reproducing sounds, playing them . That is, it is audible data . They can be voice memos, transcriptions, songs, recordings …
We can find that these files include formats that work with the data by compressing them and others that do not . The former are lighter and, with greater compression, lower quality.
The seconds are heavier, require more processing time but, in return, offer a very high sound quality, the same that comes from the source (for example, an uncompressed song will have the quality with which it leaves the studio ).
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Text files
These are documents in which the information is represented as text , with characters. Before, they were limited to what we know today as “Notepad”, a plain text or pure text file in which only recognized letters, numbers and symbols are entered for each of the alphabets. These do not include information about the presentation of the characters.
However, as time goes by, the “rich text documents” appear. These already offer more possibilities, based on the inclusion of form for the text , that is, being able to incorporate indentations, bold, bullet points, headings, different sizes and fonts and all kinds of resources that we have today so that the text is not flat.
But, in addition, text documents are still considered those in which other resources such as graphics, diagrams, images …
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Binary files
Sometimes, because of incompatibilities, these are not readable for us but, even so, they are considered text files because, in effect, have a textual format since they are they use erasable and updatable characters , being able to use the symbols on our keyboard.
Of course, it is important to note that, although their appearance when opening them is text (that is, they allow them to open with such software), we talk about binary files, because they expose information encoded in this type of code . They may or may not have a header and if this is not the case they are considered flat, as are text files that are not formatted.
Examples are system files, executables, compiles or documents that we create and are transformed to store and process extra information, for example, when, as we have seen, we add a photograph to the text document.
Image files
Are those data sets that represent a two-dimensional drawing using a numerical matrix. These are rasterized to be displayed and, after that, they become a cluster of pixels with bits that define the colors based on the color depth of the device that is displaying it.
It is because of the latter that, sometimes, an image looks different, for example, on mobile and when we print it or when we decide to store it on the computer.
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Compressed files 
These include all kinds of files, which have been put all into a kind of folder and then compressed to reduce weight >. Thus, we create a single file that contains them all and weighs less than if we added the weight of all the files it contains. We can create a compressed file with a specific program for it ; There are several but very similar.
You can compress a folder simply with the images of your last vacation. In this case, the content would only be image files. But they can also compress all the files necessary to install a video game (controllers, kinematics, the game itself, e-manual …).
Actually, what you can compress is very varied and there are practically no conditions at the time of gathering some or other data beyond common sense and the interest you have in which one or other files are together.
Of course, to access the contents of this tablet it is necessary to extract the content in a destination location , which will take a little time (we sacrifice it in exchange for having less weight). Extracting would be to return each of the files to their natural, uncompressed and, therefore, heavier form.
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Disk image files h3>
In this case we find a file that includes a structure and the contents of a data storage medium , usually a CD or DVD. It would be something like a virtual replica of something that is stored, digitally, in a physical format of storage.
We see as an example the backups . We usually do them considering files and software. However, locked files or boot data are ignored.
The disk image is capable of copying, as is, all the media, including such information, so that, when executed, we have the complete environment and not only the most obvious files. This is what is done when it is time to replace the equipment of large companies.
On the other hand, the function that is most attributed to the disk image from the point of view of the home user is that of cloning of movies and videogames . In this case, the file is known as an “ISO image.”
We can do it if we have titles in CD or DVD format and, for example, our laptop does not have a grid for player (it is my case, for example). I make a disk image of my own video game, I run it with the corresponding program and I can enjoy it.
As you can imagine, from here to piracy there is half a step and, of course, in these issues we do not get more than to let you know that, indeed, if you are looking for a game, especially in P2P networks, you may Give yourself with your disk image. Our work is merely informative in this regard and we do not share these practices.
They are also an invaluable resource when conducting investigations, which require forensic images , that is, the TOTAL recreation, of the disks , including even the values that the user does not know that his device may have.
System files
Are those who or do not enter into any of the previous groups or do so, but with a series of specifications that make them different for reasons of weight.
In general, have special mechanisms to ensure that they are not modified or deleted by mistake, such as alert or execution messages in “Read-only” mode.
The clearest example would be the system files. These can be executable, text, binary, compressed … However, they are of such importance and such a specific objective that they are called, studied and work separately (in fact, they are not even visible to the user). P >
These are responsible for making the operating system work well on your computer . Thus, we can have a text system file but its importance lies not in it but in its function as an element of the operating system.
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Data files
A data file is anyone that stores information , that is, data, in an efficient way, to be used (read, modified or deleted) by a software .
There are those that can be viewed with several programs but only modified with one (generally, the one with which the file was created), more general ones that open with any type software, etc.
All of the above would be examples of data files although each with its own characteristics that have their corresponding formats. For example, an .psd file is exclusive to the Photoshop program, it does not open, sometimes, with the most basic viewers or with editors such as Paint, for example, and much less will be modified with other softwares.
However, when we finished designing that .psd file and saved it as a .jpeg (that is, we changed its extension and, with it, its format, its form), We can open and view it with Paint, Draw or the file viewer of our operating system without any problem.
Both are data files. However, each one has its characteristics and its level of demand when viewing, opening and modifying.
Internet files
Are those that refer to all the information that is related, in turn, to both servers and websites . Thus, we talk about static and dynamic pages or files referenced and generated by web development software.