This is a list of
file signatures, data used to identify or verify the content of a file. Such signatures are also known as
magic numbers or Magic Bytes.
Many file formats are not intended to be read as text. If such a file is accidentally viewed as a text file, its contents will be unintelligible. However, sometimes the file signature can be recognizable when interpreted as text. The column ISO 8859-1 shows how the file signature appears when interpreted as text in the common
ISO 8859-1
ISO/IEC 8859-1:1998, ''Information technology — 8-bit single-byte coded graphic character sets — Part 1: Latin alphabet No. 1'', is part of the ISO/IEC 8859 series of ASCII-based standard character encodings, first edition published in 1 ...
encoding, with unprintable characters represented as the control code abbreviation or symbol, or codepage 1252 character where available, or a box otherwise. In some cases the space character is shown as ␠ for clarity.
See also
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List of file formats
This is a list of file formats used by computers, organized by type. Filename extension it is usually noted in parentheses if they differ from the file format name or abbreviation. Many operating systems do not limit filenames to one extension ...
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Magic number (programming)
In computer programming, a magic number is any of the following:
* A unique value with unexplained meaning or multiple occurrences which could (preferably) be replaced with a named constant
* A constant numerical or text value used to identify a ...
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Substitute character
In computer data, a substitute character (␚) is a control character that is used to pad transmitted data in order to send it in blocks of fixed size, or to stand in place of a character that is recognized to be invalid, erroneous or unrepres ...
(for the
1Ah (^Z) "end-of-file" marker used in many signatures)
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file (command)
The file command is a standard program of Unix and Unix-like operating systems for recognizing the type of data contained in a computer file.
History
The original version of file originated in Unix Research Version 4 in 1973. System V brought ...
References
External links
Gary Kessler's list of file signatures*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20100502014229/http://docsrv.sco.com:507/en/man/html.C/compress.C.html Man page for compress, uncompress, and zcat on SCO Open ServerPublic Database of File SignaturesComplete list of magic numbers with sample filesthe original libmagic data files with thousands of entriesas used by
file (command)
The file command is a standard program of Unix and Unix-like operating systems for recognizing the type of data contained in a computer file.
History
The original version of file originated in Unix Research Version 4 in 1973. System V brought ...
{{Computer files
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