Computer file in the context of "Blue pencil (editing)"

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⭐ Core Definition: Computer file

A computer file is a collection of data on a computer storage device, primarily identified by its filename. Just as words can be written on paper, so too can data be written to a computer file. Files can be shared with and transferred between computers and mobile devices via removable media, networks, or the Internet.

Different types of computer files are designed for different purposes. A file may be designed to store a written message, a document, a spreadsheet, an image, a video, a program, or any wide variety of other kinds of data. Certain files can store multiple data types at once.

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Computer file in the context of Document

A document is a written, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin Documentum, which denotes a "teaching" or "lesson": the verb doceō denotes "to teach". In the past, the word was usually used to denote written proof useful as evidence of a truth or fact. In the Computer Age, "document" usually denotes a primarily textual computer file, including its structure and format, e.g. fonts, colors, and images. Contemporarily, "document" is not defined by its transmission medium, e.g., paper, given the existence of electronic documents. "Documentation" is distinct because it has more denotations than "document". Documents are also distinguished from "realia", which are three-dimensional objects that would otherwise satisfy the definition of "document" because they memorialize or represent thought; documents are considered more as two-dimensional representations. While documents can have large varieties of customization, all documents can be shared freely and have the right to do so, creativity can be represented by documents, also. History, events, examples, opinions, stories etc. all can be expressed in documents.

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Computer file in the context of Digital currency

Digital currency (digital money, electronic money or electronic currency) is any currency, money, or money-like asset that is primarily managed, stored or exchanged on digital computer systems, especially over the internet. Types of digital currencies include cryptocurrency, virtual currency and central bank digital currency. Digital currency may be recorded on a distributed database on the internet, a centralized electronic computer database owned by a company or bank, within digital files or even on a stored-value card.

Digital currencies exhibit properties similar to traditional currencies, but generally do not have a classical physical form of fiat currency historically that can be held in the hand, like currencies with printed banknotes or minted coins. However, they do have a physical form in an unclassical sense coming from the computer to computer and computer to human interactions and the information and processing power of the servers that store and keep track of money. This unclassical physical form allows nearly instantaneous transactions over the internet and vastly lowers the cost associated with distributing notes and coins: for example, of the types of money in the UK economy, 3% are notes and coins, and 79% as electronic money (in the form of bank deposits). Usually not issued by a governmental body, virtual currencies are not considered a legal tender and they enable ownership transfer across governmental borders.

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Computer file in the context of File format

A file format is the way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file. It may describe the encoding at various levels of abstraction including low-level bit and byte layout as well high-level organization such as markup and tabular structure. A file format may be standarized (which can be proprietary or open) or it can be an ad hoc convention.

Some file formats are designed for very particular types of data: PNG files, for example, store bitmapped images using lossless data compression. Other file formats, however, are designed for storage of several different types of data: the Ogg format can act as a container for different types of multimedia including any combination of audio and video, with or without text (such as subtitles), and metadata. A text file can contain any stream of characters, including possible control characters, and is encoded in one of various character encoding schemes. Some file formats, such as HTML, scalable vector graphics, and the source code of computer software are text files with defined syntaxes that allow them to be used for specific purposes.

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Computer file in the context of Podcasts

A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files that users can download to a personal device or stream to listen to at a time of their choosing. Podcasts are primarily an audio medium, but some distribute in video, either as primary content included in the feed, or as an external supplement to audio; popularised in recent years by video platform YouTube. In 2025, Bloomberg reported that a billion people are watching podcasts on YouTube every month.

A podcast series usually features one or more recurring hosts engaged in a discussion about a particular topic or current event. Discussion and content within a podcast can range from carefully scripted to completely improvised. Podcasts combine elaborate and artistic sound production with thematic concerns ranging from scientific research to slice-of-life journalism. Many podcast series provide an associated website or page with links and show notes, guest biographies, transcripts, additional resources, commentary, and occasionally a community forum dedicated to discussing the show's content.

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Computer file in the context of Text document

A text file (sometimes spelled textfile; an old alternative name is flat file) is a kind of computer file that is structured as a sequence of lines of electronic text. A text file exists stored as data within a computer file system.

In operating systems such as CP/M, where the operating system does not keep track of the file size in bytes, the end of a text file is denoted by placing one or more special characters, known as an end-of-file (EOF) marker, as padding after the last line in a text file. In modern operating systems such as DOS, Microsoft Windows and Unix-like systems, text files do not contain any special EOF character, because file systems on those operating systems keep track of the file size in bytes.

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Computer file in the context of Portable media player

A portable media player (PMP) or digital audio player (DAP) is a portable consumer electronics device capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, and video files. Normally, they refer to small, battery-powered devices utilising flash memory or a hard disk for storing various media files. MP3 players has been a popular alternative name used for such devices, even if they also support other file formats and media types other than MP3 (for example AAC, FLAC, WMA).

Generally speaking, PMPs are equipped with a 3.5 mm headphone jack which can be used for headphones or to connect to a boombox, home audio system, or connect to car audio and home stereos wired or via a wireless connection such as Bluetooth, and some may include radio tuners, voice recording and other features. In contrast, analogue portable audio players play music from non-digital media that use analogue media, such as cassette tapes or vinyl records. As devices became more advanced, the PMP term was later introduced to describe players with additional capabilities such as video playback (they used to also be called "MP4 players"). The PMP term has also been used as an umbrella name to describe any portable device for multimedia, including physical formats (such as portable CD players) or handheld game consoles with such capabilities.

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Computer file in the context of Web browser

A web browser, often shortened to browser, is an application for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers can also display content stored locally on the user's device.

Browsers are used on a range of devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, smartwatches, smart televisions and consoles. As of 2024, the most used browsers worldwide are Google Chrome (~66% market share), Safari (~16%), Edge (~6%), Firefox (~3%), Samsung Internet (~2%), and Opera (~2%). As of 2023, an estimated 5.4 billion people had used a browser.

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Computer file in the context of Digital container format

A container format (informally, sometimes called a wrapper) or metafile is a file format that allows multiple data streams to be embedded into a single file, usually along with metadata for identifying and further detailing those streams. Notable examples of container formats include archive files (such as the ZIP format) and formats used for multimedia playback (such as Matroska, MP4, and AVI). Among the earliest cross-platform container formats were Distinguished Encoding Rules and the 1985 Interchange File Format.

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Computer file in the context of Downloaded

In computer networks, download means to receive data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar systems. This contrasts with uploading, where data is sent to a remote server.

A download is a file offered for downloading or that has been downloaded, or the process of receiving such a file.

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