File formats and file management Cambridge IGCSE Information & Communication Technology revision
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In plain words
Finding a file again depends on where you put it and what you called it. Opening it on someone else's computer depends on its format. Sending it depends on its size. File management is those three things.
7 things to know
- Save files in a planned folder structure, with folders inside folders, and give each file a meaningful name.
- An application's own format, such as .docx, .xlsx, .pptx or .accdb, keeps every feature of the file but needs that application, or one like it, to open.
- A generic file format can be opened by many different applications, so it is used to share data between people with different software.
- Generic text and data formats: .txt is plain text with no formatting. .rtf is text with basic formatting. .csv is comma separated values, where each line is a row of data with commas between the values, and is used to move data between spreadsheets and databases. .pdf keeps a document's layout exactly on any device.
- Web and image formats: .htm is a web page and .css is a stylesheet. .jpg is a compressed photograph. .png is an image that can have a transparent background. .gif is an image with a limited number of colours that can be animated.
- .zip and .rar are compressed formats. They pack one or more files into a single smaller file.
- File sizes are reduced so that files take less storage space, and are faster to upload, download and send by email.
Worked example
A teacher wants to email a class list from her database to a colleague who uses different spreadsheet software. Which format should she export it in?
- The colleague's software may not open the database's own format.
- A .csv file holds the data as plain rows with commas between the values, and any spreadsheet can import it.
- She should export the list as a .csv file.
Tips and tricks
- "Generic" is the word for a format that many applications can open. Say why it is needed: the other person may not have the same software.
- .pdf is for documents that should look the same everywhere and not be easily changed. .rtf and .txt are for text that will be edited.
It lands in your notebook with its questions as flashcards.
File formats and file management: 5 questions and answers
These are the quiz’s questions. Do the quiz first, then come back here for the ones that got you.
Which is a generic file format for data in rows and columns?
Comma separated values can be read by any spreadsheet or database.
Which format keeps a document's layout the same on any device?
Portable document format.
Which format is plain text with no formatting?
.rtf keeps basic formatting. .txt keeps none.
Which is a compressed file format?
It packs files into a smaller single file.
Which image format can be animated?
It stores a short sequence of frames.
Quiz
5 questions
Tap an answer and you’ll see straight away whether it’s right, and why.
Worksheet
2 questions, 4 marks. Write your answers on paper, then check them.
File formats and file management
Cambridge IGCSE Information & Communication Technology 0417 · 4 marks · papermunch.org
Name ______________________________ Date ______________
Explain why a generic file format is used when sending a file to another person.[2]
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The other person may not have the same software. A generic file format can be opened by many different applications.
State two reasons for compressing files before emailing them.[2]
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The files are smaller, so they are sent and downloaded faster. They are more likely to be within the size limit for attachments. (Also: several files can be sent as one.)
Answers: File formats and file management
- 1. The other person may not have the same software. A generic file format can be opened by many different applications.
- 2. The files are smaller, so they are sent and downloaded faster. They are more likely to be within the size limit for attachments. (Also: several files can be sent as one.)