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ref:files [2020/04/02 20:57] – [Formats] Add bin, xb, sif, sof digital manref:files [2021/02/27 04:12] (current) – [Drop Files] Wikilinked PCBOARD.SYS BoonDock
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 The format of most files created and used by Synchronet can be identified by the filename extension / suffix. This page is your guide to quickly identifying these files and links to format references, where available: The format of most files created and used by Synchronet can be identified by the filename extension / suffix. This page is your guide to quickly identifying these files and links to format references, where available:
 +
 +===== Encoding =====
 +
 +Each of the file formats listed here will have an identified encoding:
 +
 +^ Encoding ^ Description ^
 +| Binary   | You will need special software to view or modify files of this type((multi-byte integers are stored little-endian unless otherwise noted)) | 
 +| ASCII    | Contains US-ASCII characters only: Any plain text editor should work, but note lines may be LF or CR/LF terminated |
 +| UTF-8    | Contains a combination of US-ASCII and UTF-8 characters with possible ANSI terminal escape sequences |
 +| [[ref:ANSI]] | Contains a combination of US-ASCII and CP437 characters with possible ANSI terminal escape sequences |
 +| PETSCII  | Contains CBM PETSCII characters and terminal control codes |
 +| SYNCASC  | Contains US-ASCII characters with possible [[custom:Ctrl-A codes]] |
 +| SYNCMSG  | Contains US-ASCII and/or CP437 characters with possible [[custom:Ctrl-A codes]] |
 +| SYNCDAT  | Contains US-ASCII and/or CP437 characters with ASCII ETX (3/Ctrl-C) padded data records and/or fields |
 +
 +===== Status =====
 +
 +Each file format has a reported support "status" from the [[:dev:|developers]]:
 +
 +^ Status      ^ Description ^
 +| Encouraged  | Use of this file format is encouraged and its use within Synchronet is increasing |
 +| Neutral     | Use of this file format is accepted practice |
 +| Discouraged | Use of this file format is discouraged and support is expected to end in the future |
 +| Deprecated  | Use of this file format is no longer supported |
 +
  
 ===== Formats ===== ===== Formats =====
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 | List                     | ''.lst''               | ASCII    | Discouraged | Data file: one line per record | | List                     | ''.lst''               | ASCII    | Discouraged | Data file: one line per record |
 | Pointer                  | ''.ptr'',''.sfp''      | Binary   | Discouraged | Export message pointers: 32-bits per record | | Pointer                  | ''.ptr'',''.sfp''      | Binary   | Discouraged | Export message pointers: 32-bits per record |
-| DAT                      | ''.dat''               ASCII    | Discouraged | Fixed record/field length (ETX-terminated) data file |+| DAT                      | ''.dat''               SYNCDAT  | Discouraged | Fixed record/field length (ETX-terminated) data file((exceptions: XTRN.DAT and TEXT.DAT)) |
 | IXT                      | ''.ixt''               | ASCII    | Deprecated  | Index file: 2 lines per record | | IXT                      | ''.ixt''               | ASCII    | Deprecated  | Index file: 2 lines per record |
-| DAB                      | ''.dab''               | Binary   | Discouraged | Fixed record/field length (ad hoc, little endian) data file |+| DAB                      | ''.dab''               | Binary   | Discouraged | Fixed record/field length (ad hoc) data file |
 | IXB                      | ''.ixb''               | Binary   | Discouraged | Index file (ad hoc) | | IXB                      | ''.ixb''               | Binary   | Discouraged | Index file (ad hoc) |
 | EXB                      | ''.exb''               | Binary   | Discouraged | Fixed record length (single-field) extended data file | | EXB                      | ''.exb''               | Binary   | Discouraged | Fixed record length (single-field) extended data file |
-| Template                 | ''.sif'',''.sof''      | ASCII    | Discouraged | Synchronet Template user input (sif) / display (sof) file | +| Template                 | ''.sif'',''.sof''      | SYNCDAT  | Discouraged | Synchronet Template user input (SIF) / display (SOF) file | 
-| [[ref:SMB]]              | ''.shd'',''.sid'',     | Binary   Encouraged  | Synchronet Message base v1.21 |+| [[ref:SMB]]              | ''.shd'',''.sid'',     | Binary   Neutral    | Synchronet Message base v1.21 |
 | :::                      | ''.sdt'',''.sda'',''.sha'',     | ::: | :::  | ::: | | :::                      | ''.sdt'',''.sda'',''.sha'',     | ::: | :::  | ::: |
 | :::                      | ''.sch'',''.hash''               | ::: | :::  | ::: | | :::                      | ''.sch'',''.hash''               | ::: | :::  | ::: |
 +| [[ref:fidonet_files|Fido Message]] | ''.msg''   | Binary   | Discouraged | Fido BBS/Net "Stored Message" file (a.k.a. ''1.msg'') |
 +| [[ref:fidonet_packets|Fido Packet]]  | ''.pkt'',''.?ut''   | Binary   | Neutral     | FidoNet Type-2 Message Packet file | 
 +| Fido Backbone            | ''.na''    | ASCII    | Neutral     | FidoNet EchoList: one line per echo (e.g. ''backbone.na'') |
 +| Fido Areas               | ''.bbs''   | ASCII    | Neutral     | FidoNet EchoMail program area configuration / data file (e.g. ''areas.bbs'') | 
 +| PCB Files                | ''.bbs''   | ASCII    | Neutral     | PCBoard-style File Listing (e.g. ''files.bbs'') |
 | [[config:ini_files|INI]] | ''.ini''   | ASCII    | Encouraged  | Bi-level hierarchical configuration and data files | | [[config:ini_files|INI]] | ''.ini''   | ASCII    | Encouraged  | Bi-level hierarchical configuration and data files |
 | Baja                     | ''.src'',''.inc''     | ASCII    | Discouraged | [[:util:Baja]] source code for command shell or module | | Baja                     | ''.src'',''.inc''     | ASCII    | Discouraged | [[:util:Baja]] source code for command shell or module |
 | PCMS                     | ''.bin''               | Binary   | Discouraged | [[:util:Baja]] compiled command shell or module | | PCMS                     | ''.bin''               | Binary   | Discouraged | [[:util:Baja]] compiled command shell or module |
-[[custom:JavaScript]]    | ''.js'',''.ssjs''     Text     | Encouraged  | Interpreted script in [[:custom:JavaScript]] syntax | +JS/SSJS                  | ''.js'',''.ssjs''     UTF-8    | Encouraged  | Interpreted script in [[:custom:JavaScript]] syntax | 
-HTML/JS                  | ''.xjs''              | Text     | Encouraged  | Interpreted [[:custom:JavaScript]] embedded in HTML | +| JS/HTML                  | ''.xjs''              | UTF-8    | Encouraged  | Interpreted [[:custom:JavaScript]] embedded within HTML | 
-| HTML                     | ''.html''             Text     Discouraged | Hypertext Markup Language for web pages | +| HTML                     | ''.html''             UTF-8    Neutral     | Hypertext Markup Language for web pages | 
-| XML                      | ''.xml''              | Text     | Discouraged | Extension Markup Language for configuration or data | +| XML                      | ''.xml''              | UTF-8    | Neutral     | Extension Markup Language for configuration or data | 
-| JSON                     | ''.json'',''.jsonl''  Text     | Encouraged  | Data files used by [[:module:|JavaScript modules]] | +| [[http://www.json.org|JSON]] | ''.json'',''.jsonl''UTF-8 | Encouraged  | Data files created/used by [[:module:|JavaScript modules]] | 
-| LOG                      | ''.log''               Text     | Encouraged  | Activity logs, one line per message | +| LOG                      | ''.log''               ASCII   | Neutral     | Activity logs, one line per message | 
-| Log-off List             | ''.lol''               Text     | Discouraged | Terminal server log-off / statistics list | +| Log-off List             | ''.lol''               ASCII   | Discouraged | Terminal server log-off / statistics list | 
-| [[QWK]]                  | ''.qwk'',''.rep''     | Binary   Standard    | Offline message or reply packet | +| [[QWK]]                  | ''.qwk'',''.rep''      | Binary  Neutral    | Offline message or reply packet (multiple files archived, usually w/PKZIP) 
-| ASCII                    | ''.asc'',''.txt''     Text     Standard    | US-ASCII Only display file (may contain Ctrl-A/@ codes) +| DIZ                      | ''.diz'',''.sdi''      | ASCII   | Neutral    | Description In Zip (e.g. ''FILE_ID.DIZ'' and ''DESC.SDI'') | 
-| CP437                    | ''.msg''               Text     Standard    | IBM Extended-ASCII display file (may contain Ctrl-A/@ codes) +| ASC                      | ''.asc'',''.txt''      SYNCASC Neutral    | US-ASCII Only display file with attribute/color information 
-| UTF-8                    | ''.utf8''              | Text     Standard    | UNICODE display file (may contain Ctrl-A/@ codes) +| CP437                    | ''.msg''               SYNCMSG Encouraged| IBM Extended-ASCII display file with attribute/color information 
-| PETSCII                  | ''.seq''               Text     Standard    | CBM PET-ASCII display file (may contain Ctrl-A/@ codes) +| UTF-8                    | ''.utf8''              | UTF-8   Neutral    | UNICODE display file  
-| ANSI                     | ''.ans'',''.mon''     Text     | Standard    | ANSI-BBS display file (may contain Ctrl-A/@ codes) +| PETSCII                  | ''.seq''               PETSCII Neutral    | CBM PET-ASCII display file  
-| RIP                      | ''.rip''               Text     Standard    | TeleGrafix' RIPscrip (Remote Imaging Protocol Script) display file | +| ANSI                     | ''.ans'',''.mon''      ANSI    | Discouraged | ANSI-BBS display file  
-| WIP                      | ''.wip''               Text     | Deprecated  | Durand Communications' Windows Interface Protocol | +| RIP                      | ''.rip''               ANSI    Neutral    | TeleGrafix' RIPscrip (Remote Imaging Protocol Script) display file | 
-| IBM-CGA                  | ''.bin''               | Binary   Standard    | So-called "BinaryText" display file, possibly with a SAUCE trailer |+| WIP                      | ''.wip''               ANSI     | Deprecated  | Durand Communications' Windows Interface Protocol menu file 
 +| IBM-CGA                  | ''.bin''               | Binary   Neutral    | So-called "BinaryText" display file, possibly with a SAUCE trailer |
 | [[XBin]]                 | ''.xb''                | Binary   | Encouraged  | ACiD-defined multiple-font BinaryText w/SAUCE trailer | | [[XBin]]                 | ''.xb''                | Binary   | Encouraged  | ACiD-defined multiple-font BinaryText w/SAUCE trailer |
 | [[custom:Fonts]]         | ''.f8'',''.f14'',''.f16'' | Binary | Encouraged | SyncTERM/PC-compatible fixed-width typeface files | | [[custom:Fonts]]         | ''.f8'',''.f14'',''.f16'' | Binary | Encouraged | SyncTERM/PC-compatible fixed-width typeface files |
-| [[config:semfiles|Semaphore]]  | ''.now'',//<none>//N/A                  | Existence / time-stamp of file causes effect | +| [[config:semfiles|Semaphore]]  | ''.now'',//<none>//ASCII  Neutral  | Existence / time-stamp of file causes effect | 
-| Mutex                    | ''.lock'',''.bsy''    N/A                  | Existence of file indicates mutually-exclusive operation in effect |+| Mutex                    | ''.lock'',''.bsy''        ASCII  Neutral  | Existence of file indicates mutually-exclusive operation in progress | 
 + 
 +===== Drop Files ===== 
 + 
 +Drop files are identified by their full filename (not the just the extension) and are both created and consumed by the BBS: 
 +^ Filename                         ^ Encoding  ^ Description                      ^ 
 +| ''[[DOOR.SYS]]''                 | ASCII     | GAP, 52-line format (write/read) |  
 +| ''[[DORINFO1.DEF|DORINFO#.DEF]]''| ASCII     | RBBS/QuickBBS (write-only)       | 
 +| ''EXITINFO.BBS''                 | Binary    | QuickBBS (write/read)            | 
 +| ''[[CHAIN.TXT]]''                | ASCII     | WWIV (write-only)                | 
 +| ''[[CALLINFO.BBS]]''             | ASCII     | Wildcat! (write-only)            | 
 +| ''[[PCBOARD.SYS]]''              | Binary    | PCBoard (write-only)             | 
 +| ''USERS.SYS''                    | Binary    | PCBoard (write/read)             | 
 +| ''SFDOORS.DAT''                  | ASCII     | SpitFire (write-only)            | 
 +| ''UTIDOOR.TXT''                  | ASCII     | MegaMail (write-only)            | 
 +| ''DOORFILE.SR''                  | ASCII     | Solar Realms (write-only)        | 
 +| ''TRIBBS.SYS''                   | ASCII     | TriBBS (write-only)              | 
 +| ''DOOR32.SYS''                   | ASCII     | Mystic (write-only)              | 
 +| ''[[XTRN.DAT]]''                 | ASCII     | Synchronet (write-only)          | 
 +| ''MODUSER.DAT''                  | ASCII     | Synchronet (read-only)           | 
 +| ''MSGTMP''                       | ASCII     | QuickBBS (write/read)            | 
 +| ''MSGINF''                       | ASCII     | QuickBBS (write-only)            | 
 +| ''[[EDITOR.INF]]''               | ASCII     | WWIV (write-only)                | 
 +| ''[[RESULT.ED]]''                | ASCII     | WWIV (read-only)                 |
  
 ===== See Also ===== ===== See Also =====
ref/files.1585886228.txt · Last modified: 2020/04/02 20:57 by digital man
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