jwright@cfht.hawaii.edu (Jim Wright) (06/02/91)
Brief guide to files formats, last changed 13 April 1991
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ARC (.arc)
This format is most popular on PCs. Compresses and stores multiple
files in a single archive.
PC - arc 6.00, pk361
Mac - ArcMac 1.3c
Unix - arc 5.21
VM/CMS - arcutil
Amiga - Arc 0.23, PKAX
VMS - arcvms
Apple2 - dearc
Atari - arc 5.21b, pkunarc
OS/2 - arc2
BinHex (.hqx)
A Macintosh format. Converts a binary Mac file, including data and
resource forks, into an archive of only printing ASCII characters.
PC - xbin 2.3
Mac - BinHex4.0
Unix - mcvert
VM/CMS - binhex
binscii ( )
A favorite Apple2 archive format.
Apple2 - binscii
Compactor (.cpt)
A new Macintosh format. Compresses and stores multiple files in
a single archive.
Mac - Compactor1.21
compress (.Z)
A Unix format. Compresses a single file in an archive.
PC - u16, comprs16, comp430d
Mac - MacCompress3.2A
Unix - compress
VM/CMS - compress
Amiga - compress
VMS - lzcomp
Apple2 - compress
Atari - compress
LHarc (.lzh)
This format originated on PCs, and is now popular on Amigas. Compresses
and stores multiple files in a single archive.
PC - lh113c
Mac - MacLHarc 0.41
Unix - lharc10
Amiga - LHarc
Atari - lharc113
LHWarp (.lzw)
This is an Amiga format. Compresses and stores an entire floppy in a
single archive. Better compression than plain Warp.
Amiga - Lhwarp
LU (.lbr)
This is an old format that originated with CP/M. It is virtually
non-existent now. Collects multiple files into a single archive
with no compression.
PC - lue220
Mac - ArcMac 1.3c
Unix - lar
VM/CMS - arcutil
VMS - vmssweep
nupack ( )
A favorite Apple2 archive format.
Apple2 - nupack
PackIt (.pit)
An old Macintosh format. Compresses and stores multiple files in a
single archive.
PC - UnPackIt
Mac - PackIt3.1.3
Unix - unpit
PAK (.pak)
An old PC format. Compresses and stores multiple files in a
single archive. Also the name of an Amiga format which produces
self-extracting archives. Also the name of a new PC format.
PC - pak250
Unix - arc 5.21
Amiga - PAK 1.0
shell archive (.shar, .sh)
A Unix format. Stores multiple files in a single archive without
compression.
PC - unshar
Mac - UnShar2.0
Unix - sh, unshar
Amiga - UnShar
Apple2 - unshar
Atari - shar
Squeeze (._Q_)
An old PC (CP/M?) format. Compresses and stores multiple files in a
single archive.
PC - sqpc131
VM/CMS - arcutil
Amiga - Sq.Usq
VMS - vmsusq
Atari - ezsqueeze
StuffIt (.sit)
A Macintosh format. Compresses and stores multiple files in a
single archive.
PC - mactopc
Mac - StuffIt 1.6
Unix - unsit
Amiga - unsit
tape archive (.tar)
A Unix format. Stores multiple files in a single archive without
compression.
PC - tar, tarread, pax, pdtar
Mac - UnTar2.0
Unix - tar
Amiga - TarSplit, pax
VMS - vmstar
Atari - sttar
uuencode (.uu, .uue)
A Unix format. Converts a binary file into an archive of only
printing ASCII characters suitable for mailing.
PC - uuxref20
Mac - UMCP-Tools1.0
Unix - uuencode, uudecode
VM/CMS - arcutil
Amiga - uuencode, uudecode
VMS - uudecode2.
Apple2 - uu.en.decode
Warp (.wrp)
This is an Amiga format. Compresses and stores an entire floppy in a
single archive.
Amiga - WarpUtil
xxencode (.xx, .xxe)
A Unix format. Converts a binary file into an archive of only
printing ASCII characters suitable for mailing. Solves many of
the problems of uuencode.
PC - uuxref20
Unix - xxencode, xxdecode
VM/CMS - xxencode
ZIP (.zip)
This format is most popular on PCs. Compresses and stores multiple
files in a single archive.
PC - pkz110
Mac - UnZip1.02c
Unix - unzip4.01
Amiga - PKAZip
Atari - pkz101-2
ZOO (.zoo)
This format is popular on many systems. Compresses and stores multiple
files in a single archive.
PC - zoo201
Mac - MacBooz2.1
Unix - zoo201
VM/CMS - zoo
Amiga - amigazoo
VMS - zoo201
Atari - booz
OS/2 - booz