IFF
From Just Solve the File Format Problem
(Difference between revisions)
(→Identification) |
Dan Tobias (Talk | contribs) |
||
| Line 8: | Line 8: | ||
:''This article is about the generic IFF metaformat. For the IFF '''image format''', see [[ILBM]].'' | :''This article is about the generic IFF metaformat. For the IFF '''image format''', see [[ILBM]].'' | ||
| − | '''IFF''' (Interchange File Format) is a file format introduced by Electronic Arts on the Commodore Amiga computer. Its structure is similar to [[RIFF]] or [[PNG]], using various self-contained chunks to contain different data. Multi-byte numeric values are [[Endianness|big-endian]]. | + | '''IFF''' (Interchange File Format) is a file format introduced by Electronic Arts on the Commodore Amiga computer. Its structure is similar to [[RIFF]] or [[PNG]], using various self-contained chunks to contain different data. Multi-byte numeric values are [[Endianness|big-endian]]. The original version, released in 1985, is sometimes known as '''IFF 85'''. |
Although ''IFF'' is most commonly used as an image format (using the file extension <code>.iff</code>), it can actually hold a lot of different data types. Some examples of IFF files are | Although ''IFF'' is most commonly used as an image format (using the file extension <code>.iff</code>), it can actually hold a lot of different data types. Some examples of IFF files are | ||
Revision as of 22:30, 31 January 2015
- This article is about the generic IFF metaformat. For the IFF image format, see ILBM.
IFF (Interchange File Format) is a file format introduced by Electronic Arts on the Commodore Amiga computer. Its structure is similar to RIFF or PNG, using various self-contained chunks to contain different data. Multi-byte numeric values are big-endian. The original version, released in 1985, is sometimes known as IFF 85.
Although IFF is most commonly used as an image format (using the file extension .iff), it can actually hold a lot of different data types. Some examples of IFF files are
- ILBM Interleaved bitmap image
- XMI XMidi music files
- 8SVX audio sample data
- SX2 Propellerhead Reason NN-XT patches
- ANIM
Some other formats are largely or heavily influenced by the IFF standard, but are not compatible. These include, for example:
- Erlang BEAM compiled modules[1][2]: Uses 4 byte alignment instead of 2 byte, and the root chunk has a different ID (
FOR1instead ofFORM) - Microsoft's RIFF and RIFX formats are based on IFF (RIFF uses little-endian byte order instead, and the root chunk is called
RIFFinstead ofFORM) - Apple's AIFF and AIFC formats are similar to IFF/RIFF as well
- Maya IFF
Identification
Most IFF files begin with the ASCII characters "FORM". There are also aggregate formats that begin with "LIST" or "CAT ".
