Techie Tip
June 21st, 2010 by DebraDavisHinkle
What’s an extension? Dictionary.com has sixteen definitions for the word. However, we are only interested in definition number 14:
14. Also called file extension. Computers . one or more characters at the end of a filename, usually following a period, used to indicate the type of file.
Examples of extensions from: http://pcperformancetools.com/file-extension-list.html
| Extension | Type of File | ||
| .bmp | Bitmap graphics | ||
| .doc | Word File | ||
| .db | Database file | ||
| .dll | Dynamic link library | ||
| .exe | Executable or program file | ||
| .gif | Graphics interchange format | ||
| .jpeg | Digital photographs | ||
| .mdb | Microsoft database | ||
| .Mp3 | Compressed audio file | ||
| .msg | Email messages | ||
| Portable document format | |||
| .ppt | PowerPoint presentation | ||
| .rtf | Rich text file | ||
| .swf | Flash files | ||
| .tif – Jiff | Tagged image file | ||
| .wav | Wavefile – high quality (large) audio file | ||
| .wmv | Windows media video | ||
| .xls | Excel | ||
| .zip | Compressed file | ||
If you see a file name and you don’t know what it is or what it does, you can start with the extension. If you see a “.wav ” after the file name, it is a audio file. The blog you are viewing was created as a .doc file, except for the center chart. Can you guess what type of file that is?
I hope this helps!
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