, usually designed to facilitate the storage, retrieval, processing, presentation an
d/or transmission of the data by software. [Archives] 
n., The way in which the information in a file is encoded. There are many proprietary formats – nearly every application has its own, often changing with new versions – as well as standard file formats such as RTF, TIFF, and EPS. In some systems, such as Apple Macintosh, the information about file format and originating application is part of the file, but in other syst