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All files on a computer have a file type.
This filetype tells the computer what program was used
to create the file, and therefore what program should be used
to change, read, or use the file in the future.
On a PC, the filetype is indicated by a
three-character filename extension added onto the end
of the name of the file. For example, "XLS" (below)
means this file is an Excel spreadsheet, and the Excel program
will be used to open and work with this file whenever needed.
Other common filename extensions are .DOC
for word processing documents, .TXT for plain text
files, and .HTM for hypertext markup language documents
(Web pages). There are hundreds of file types.
If you don't see the three-character filename
extension when looking through folders on your PC, it's because
your PC is set to not display them, but displayed or not, on
a PC, the filename extension is always there and part of the
file name.
On a Macintosh, the file type is not part
of the file name. You can name a file anything you want on a
Mac without thinking about the type of file because the Mac OS
stores the file type information elsewhere. Mac files can
have filename extensions, but they do not have to.
When trying to read a Mac file on a PC,
the PC expects there to be a filename extension on the file's
name. Without the filename extension, the PC doesn't know what
program to use to open the file. When you double-click on a file
from a Mac, you will often get the following question:
All this means is the PC doesn't know which
program to use to open the file. Microsoft Word is often
a very good choice since it can open and examine all types of
files, even files it didn't create itself.
Of course, if you have a PC version of the
program that created the file on the Macintosh, that's the best
possible solution since very often (but not always) the PC version
of a program will open files from the Mac. Good luck!
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