< file format > The kind of data stored in a file. Most modern operating systems use the filename extension to determine the file type though some store this information elsewhere in the file system . The file type is used to choose an appropriate icon to represent the file in a GUI and the correct application with which to view, edit, run, or print the file.
Different operating systems support different sets of file types though most agree on a large common set and allow arbitrary new types to be defined.
See also MIME .
[URL of list of file types?]
(1997-02-13)