It's not always possible to see from a filename's extension what actual
format is used. Sometimes the same extension is used for different formats, one extension can be used for different versions or often a file simply has a wrong extension.
The first bytes of a file may contain information of what format is used. WhatFormat is a file analyser that looks at these bytes for signatures (magic numbers) and makes a guess of the format this file may have.
This version should recognize the following formats:
---Archive formats:
-arc
-arj
-Microsoft archive format (cab)
-lzh, lha
-pma
-rar
-uc2
-zip
-zoo
---Graphical Formats:
-Adobe Illustrator (ai) or Encapsulated Postscript (eps)
-OS/2 Warp image (bga)
-Windows Bitmaps (bmp, dib, rle)
-CALS Compressed Bitmap (cal)
-CorelDraw vector images (cdr, cdt, pat)
-Dr. Halo image (cut)
-Micrografix Draw Image (drw)
-AutoCAD drawing (dwg)
-Autodesk AutoCAD (dxf)
-FastCad or EasyCad drawing (fcd)
-Flex. Image Transport (fit)
-GEM vector image (gem)
-Graphics Interchange Format (gif)
-Windows Icon Resource (ico)
-Amiga image (iff, lbm)
-GEM Paint/Ventura (img)
-JPEG - JFIF Compliant image (jpg, jif, jpe)
-MacPaint bitmap image (mac, pnt)
-Enhanced Windows Metafile (emf)
-Microsoft Paint (msp)
-Portable Bitmap image (pbm)
-PC Paintbrush bitmap image (pcx)
-Portable Graymap image (pgm)
-PC Paint/Pictor (pic)
-Portable Network Graphics (png)
-Portable Pixelmap (ppm)
-Adobe Photoshop (psd)
-Sun Raster Images (ras)
-RIFF image (rif)
-Compuserve bitmap image (rle)
-Scitex CT bitmap-image (sct)
-Truevision TarGA bitmap image (tga)
-Tagged Image File Format (tif) or Corel Photo-Paint (cpt)
-Ms Office Binder document (obd) or template (obt, obz)
-Ms PowerPoint (pot)
---Miscellaneous:
-Moving cursor (ani)
-Windows Clipboard (clp)
-Help Contents File (cnt)
-Windows Cursor Resource (cur)
-Executables (com, exe, dll etc.)
-IBM dca-fft (fft)
-Visual Basic FoRM file (frm)
-Windows program-group (grp)
-Windows Help (hlp)
-Windows help file index (gid)
-Windows Shortcut (lnk)
-Shortcut to MS-DOS program (pif)
-Registration file for W95 (reg)
-SYmbolic LinK (slk)
Besides it knows about 380 filename extensions.
+++What do you need:
* At least a 386dx PC.
* Windows 95 or 98.
* msvbvm50.dll in your \windows\system directory.
+++How to install:
* Be sure to have msvbvm50.dll in \windows\system.
* It doesn't have a setup, just unzip 'whtfmt32.zip' to a directory of your choice. You can run wf.exe right from there, add it to your path, add a shortcut to the \Windows\SendTo dir, or whatever you like.
* if you don't have vbrun300.dll or an unzipper you can find links to them at my website (see below).
+++How to use:
Start wf.exe. You will see a window that looks somewhat similar as the
'file open' dialog-boxes that you are used using Windows. Click at a
filename and WhatFormat tries to identify the format that is used. If
it recognizes it, it shows a description of the format together with a suggestion of the (some) extension(s) that the file should have. I've tried to put the most commonly used extensions at the front if it shows more than one.
It also looks at the filename's extension and if it knows it, it
tells something about that extension.
+++What's new in v1.3:
* It's now possible to add a filename if you run it from a command line.
* Should recognize the signatures of cab, mac (with header), mov (Apple QuickTime MOVie), pif, qfx, Quattro Pro spreadsheets (wb1, wb2, wq1).
* Weak tests for com, binaries (e.g. sys) and text files (PC, Mac and Unix formats, e.g. txt, asc, doc).
* The recognition of various WordPerfect formats is improved.
* Doesn't show 'Hidden' and 'System' files anymore.
* Better recognition of cur files.
* Some minor changes in header descriptions of ai, eps, jpg, lzh, tif and zip.
* Combined the two 'first 25 bytes 'in hex' and 'in ansi' labels' in some sort of hex-viewer. I hope you like it:) It also shows the first 128 bytes now, instead of the previous 25.
* Changed the 'first bytes' label into a listbox, this is easier for adding extra info.
* More extensive description of gif, pcx, BMP format (bmp, dib, rle) and executables.
* Added many extension descriptions.
+++What's new in v1.2:
* Should recognize the signatures of dwg, fcd, lzh, pdf, pma, rar, sys and uc2.
* Better recognition of HTML and Mid files.
* Added many extension descriptions.
+++More info:
The newest version can be downloaded from:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~joz/whatfmt.html
More extensions and some of their possible viewers at:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~joz/ext.html
If you have any comments, tips etc. please e-mail me:
