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Data file

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is a file that contains information in the same format in which the information is held in memory, i.e. in the binary form. In a binary file, there is no delimiter for a line. Also no translations occur in binary files. As a result, binary files are faster and easier for a program to read and write
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characters. A text file contains human-readable characters. A user can read the contents of a text file or edit it using a text editor. In text files, each line of text is terminated, (delimited) with a special character known as
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hidden, obscured or unavailable to users of the file. Application developers do this to discourage users from tampering with or corrupting the data files or importing the data into a competitor's application.
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than the text files. As long as the file doesn't need to be read or ported to a different type of system, binary files are the best way to store program information.
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character. In text files some internal translations take place when this EOL character is read or written.
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files have their internal structures available to users of the file through a process of
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of all the possible data elements within a file are available to users.
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Most of the computer programs work with data files.
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Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. 756: 169:(also called ASCII files) stores information in 333:Research Data Management Service Group (n.d.). 360: 126:which stores data to be used by a computer 367: 353: 106:Learn how and when to remove this message 214: 757: 149:Data files can be stored in two ways: 144: 348: 313: 311: 251:Examples of open data files include 44:adding citations to reliable sources 15: 13: 374: 318:"Making sense of file transfers". 14: 781: 308: 20: 271:for storing scalable graphics. 191: 31:needs additional citations for 533:Hidden file / Hidden directory 326: 1: 576:Filesystem Hierarchy Standard 301: 160: 210:A JPEG image (.jpg or .jpeg) 187:A text document (often .txt) 7: 710:Comparison of file managers 509:List of filename extensions 274: 10: 786: 222:frequently referred to as 717:File system fragmentation 677: 634: 601: 541: 474: 382: 267:for storing web pages or 220:Closed data file formats, 521:Extended file attributes 429:Proprietary file formats 224:proprietary format files 205:Examples of binary files 722:File-system permissions 322:(City ed.). 1994. 182:Examples of text files 337:. Cornell University. 737:File synchronization 586:Semantic file system 409:List of file formats 215:Data file categories 40:improve this article 566:Directory structure 242:metadata publishing 145:Types of data files 504:Filename extension 752: 751: 744:File verification 497:Filename mangling 424:Open file formats 176:EOL (End of Line) 116: 115: 108: 90: 777: 700:Data compression 581:Grid file system 559:Temporary folder 549:Directory/folder 369: 362: 355: 346: 345: 339: 338: 330: 324: 323: 315: 263:formats such as 238:Open data format 136:computer program 111: 104: 100: 97: 91: 89: 48: 24: 16: 785: 784: 780: 779: 778: 776: 775: 774: 755: 754: 753: 748: 690:File comparison 673: 642:File descriptor 630: 597: 537: 470: 414:File signatures 378: 373: 343: 342: 331: 327: 317: 316: 309: 304: 277: 217: 194: 163: 147: 112: 101: 95: 92: 49: 47: 37: 25: 12: 11: 5: 783: 773: 772: 767: 765:Computer files 750: 749: 747: 746: 741: 740: 739: 734: 724: 719: 714: 713: 712: 702: 697: 692: 687: 681: 679: 675: 674: 672: 671: 666: 665: 664: 659: 649: 644: 638: 636: 632: 631: 629: 628: 623: 618: 613: 607: 605: 599: 598: 596: 595: 590: 589: 588: 583: 578: 568: 563: 562: 561: 556: 545: 543: 539: 538: 536: 535: 530: 525: 524: 523: 516:File attribute 513: 512: 511: 501: 500: 499: 494: 489: 478: 476: 472: 471: 469: 468: 466:Zero-byte file 463: 461:Temporary file 458: 453: 448: 443: 438: 433: 432: 431: 426: 421: 416: 411: 401: 396: 386: 384: 380: 379: 376:Computer files 372: 371: 364: 357: 349: 341: 340: 335:"File Formats" 325: 306: 305: 303: 300: 299: 298: 293: 288: 283: 276: 273: 216: 213: 212: 211: 193: 190: 189: 188: 162: 159: 158: 157: 154: 146: 143: 114: 113: 28: 26: 19: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 782: 771: 768: 766: 763: 762: 760: 745: 742: 738: 735: 733: 730: 729: 728: 727:File transfer 725: 723: 720: 718: 715: 711: 708: 707: 706: 703: 701: 698: 696: 693: 691: 688: 686: 683: 682: 680: 676: 670: 669:Symbolic link 667: 663: 660: 658: 655: 654: 653: 650: 648: 645: 643: 640: 639: 637: 633: 627: 624: 622: 619: 617: 614: 612: 609: 608: 606: 604: 600: 594: 591: 587: 584: 582: 579: 577: 574: 573: 572: 569: 567: 564: 560: 557: 555: 552: 551: 550: 547: 546: 544: 540: 534: 531: 529: 526: 522: 519: 518: 517: 514: 510: 507: 506: 505: 502: 498: 495: 493: 492:Long filename 490: 488: 485: 484: 483: 480: 479: 477: 473: 467: 464: 462: 459: 457: 454: 452: 449: 447: 444: 442: 439: 437: 434: 430: 427: 425: 422: 420: 417: 415: 412: 410: 407: 406: 405: 402: 400: 397: 395: 391: 388: 387: 385: 381: 377: 370: 365: 363: 358: 356: 351: 350: 347: 336: 329: 321: 314: 312: 307: 297: 296:Serialisation 294: 292: 289: 287: 284: 282: 279: 278: 272: 270: 266: 262: 258: 254: 249: 247: 243: 239: 235: 232: 231:data elements 229: 226:, have their 225: 221: 209: 208: 207: 206: 202: 199: 186: 185: 184: 183: 179: 177: 172: 168: 156:Binary files. 155: 152: 151: 150: 142: 139: 137: 133: 129: 125: 124:computer file 121: 110: 107: 99: 96:February 2018 88: 85: 81: 78: 74: 71: 67: 64: 60: 57: –  56: 52: 51:Find sources: 45: 41: 35: 34: 29:This article 27: 23: 18: 17: 732:File sharing 705:File manager 695:File copying 542:Organisation 487:8.3 filename 441:Sidecar file 419:Magic number 398: 328: 320:Boston Globe 319: 286:Indexed file 250: 237: 236: 219: 218: 204: 203: 197: 195: 192:Binary files 181: 180: 166: 164: 148: 140: 119: 117: 102: 93: 83: 76: 69: 62: 50: 38:Please help 33:verification 30: 571:File system 456:System file 446:Sparse file 404:File format 390:Binary file 198:binary file 153:Text files; 128:application 55:"Data file" 770:Data types 759:Categories 678:Management 603:Operations 554:NTFS links 475:Properties 302:References 281:Index file 161:Text files 66:newspapers 647:Hard link 528:File size 451:Swap file 399:Data file 394:text file 246:semantics 167:text file 120:data file 652:Shortcut 482:Filename 436:Metafile 291:Database 275:See also 228:metadata 635:Linking 80:scholar 685:Backup 662:Shadow 132:system 82:  75:  68:  61:  53:  657:Alias 626:Write 616:Close 383:Types 171:ASCII 122:is a 87:JSTOR 73:books 621:Read 611:Open 593:Path 265:HTML 259:and 59:news 269:SVG 261:XML 257:XLS 253:CSV 138:). 130:or 42:by 761:: 392:/ 310:^ 255:, 196:A 165:A 118:A 368:e 361:t 354:v 109:) 103:( 98:) 94:( 84:· 77:· 70:· 63:· 36:.

Index


verification
improve this article
adding citations to reliable sources
"Data file"
news
newspapers
books
scholar
JSTOR
Learn how and when to remove this message
computer file
application
system
computer program
ASCII
EOL (End of Line)
proprietary format files
metadata
data elements
metadata publishing
semantics
CSV
XLS
XML
HTML
SVG
Index file
Indexed file
Database

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