(Approx. 452 words)

File Extensions

By Fran Damratowski, Refurbishing SIG Chair, Chesapeake PC Users Group, MD

www.chesapeakepcusersgroup.org

Refurbishing(at)chesapeakepcusersgroup.org

Obtained from APCUG with the author's permission for publication by APCUG member groups.

Have you ever wondered what the three alphanumeric extension at the end of a file name mean. (MS-DOS required filename to limited to eight characters for the base or root name and three characters for the extension. Windows 95 and above no longer have that limitation.) The three or more letters or numbers are a way for the computer user, software, and operating system to differentiate between and identify the program used to create a file (document, spreadsheet, database, etc.). We are all familiar with .exe for an executable file, .txt for a text document, and .pdf for a PDF file. There are many other file extensions. The same file extension may be used for more than one program. There is no standard or organization for creating file extensions.

Here is a sampling of the B list of some of the extensions and the file types they represent.

.b!k: Flight Simulator scenery file

.b&w: Atari Black and White Graphics, Atari Black and White Graphics

.b1s: BookSmith

.b3d: BDE Multipath Movie Digital Viewer, 3D builder

.b8: Piclab raw graphic file

.bad: Unknown Apple II file, Oracle BAD file.

bag: AOL 6 Organizer, http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=BAGAOL instant messenger buddy list, http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=BAGEmperor: Battle for Dune Archive, Infinity game engine

.bak: backup

.ban: Sierra Print Artist banner, Creatacard banner project

.band: GarageBand song

.bar: Age of Mythology

.bas: basic

.bat: batch

.bbm: http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=BBMDeluxe Paint image file

.bcc: C++ File/Makefile, Calendar Creator 8 Collection, http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=BCDTurbo Pascal DOS file

.bch: http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=BCHdBASE application generator batch process object

.bck: backup

.bckp: Ad-Aware quarantine file

.bcm: http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=BCMCompaq Easy Access keyboard driver, Works communications file

.bco: http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=BCOBitstream Fontware

.bdc: West Point Bridge Designer

.bex: British National Bibliography file

.bez: http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=BEZBitstream fontware

.bfn: http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=BFNBrother Embroidery software font

.bg: http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=BGLotus agenda file

.bgb: http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=BGBChat background graphic

.bib: bibliography

.bhf:  http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=BHFpcAnywhere host file

.bif:  http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=BIFGroupWise initialization file, http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=BIFbinary information file

.bin: binary file; macbinary

.biz: Creatacard Business CardpProject, http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=BIZPrintMaster Gold Document

.bks: Windows 2000 scheduled backup script, Works spreadsheet backup

.blb:  DreamWorks resource archive

.bmf: http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=BMFCorel Flow Image File

.bmk: Help Bookmark

.bmp: bitmap (bit-mapped graphics)

.bmp24: http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=BMP24bitmap graphic

.bnk: http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=BNKSimCity game file

.boo: book

.borland: http://filext.com/detaillist.php?extdetail=BORLANDC Makefile

.brx: browse index ound on multimedia CD-ROMs.

.bsn: MIDI File

.btm: 4NT batch file

.bw: black and white image file

If your file extensions are hidden see the March issue of The Printer for instructions related to making them visible.

This article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups. All other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).