use Zamzar to convert the file to a different format that you can open. This is a free, online service that takes a wide variety of file formats and converts them into an equally wide variety of other file formats. Got a *.wps file? No problem. Just upload it to Zamzar and convert it to a *.doc or *.rtf file instead.
a hierarchical file package format for the exchange of generalized digital content. A "bag" has just enough structure to safely enclose a brief "tag" and a payload but does not require any knowledge of the payload's internal semantics.
The File Information Tool Set (FITS) identifies, validates, and extracts technical metadata for various file formats. It wraps several third-party open source tools, normalizes and consolidates their output, and reports any errors. jhove, droid, etc. The current tools used are: * Jhove (LGPL version 2.1 or any later version) * Exiftool (GPL version 1 or any later version; or the artistic license) * National Library of New Zealand Metadata Extractor (Apache Public License version 2) * DROID (BSD version 3.0) * FFIdent (LGPL) o Note that the live site for ffident (http://schmidt.devlib.org/ffident/index.html) seems to have disappeared - we are now linking to Internet Archive's version of the ffident website. * File Utility (windows) (revised BSD)
Find software capable of converting from a given source format to a desired target format by entering the corresponding file format extensions in the areas above.
The UDFR is an initiative begun in April 2009 to build a single shared formats registry. UDFR builds on years of work performed by a number of institutions internationally, whether it was for PRONOM, the Global Digital Formats Registry (GDFR), or other format registry projects.
The online registry of technical information. PRONOM is a resource for anyone requiring impartial and definitive information about the file formats, software products and other technical components required to support long-term access to electronic records and other digital objects of cultural, historical or business value.
PRONOM is more than just a database of technical information. It is intended to encompass a range of tools, and services to support digital preservation functions such as preservation risk assessment, migration pathway planning, object identification and validation, and metadata extraction.
DROID (Digital Record Object Identification) is an automatic file format identification tool. It is the first in a planned series of tools developed by The National Archives under the umbrella of its PRONOM technical registry service.
The Binary Format Description (BFD) language is an XML dialect based on the eXtensible Scientific Interchange Language(XSIL) that supports the executable documentation of 'arbitrary' binary and ascii data sets. Applying a BFD template to a set of files produces an XML output containing the original data in an XML-tagged format that can be interpreted by other programs or subjected to further processing (i.e. using XSLT).
sample files of various file formats (sound, image, video, data, etc.). each directory on this site includes information about the file format (Characteristics, programs and software that can create, read, convert the format) as well as sample files in the specific format. John Burkardt, Department of Scientific Computing at Florida State University
LCSDF. The Digital Formats Web site provides information about digital content formats. The analyses and resources presented here will increase and be updated over time. The compilers, Caroline R. Arms and Carl Fleischhauer,
FITS is currently configured to use a set of 8 tools for identifying, validating, and extracting technical metadata. jhove, exiftool, National Library of New Zealand Metadata Extractor, file utility, droid, ffident, fileinfo, xmlMetadata.