Below are file extensions for common formats and types of files found on the Internet. After each the particular program needed to access the file is noted. This information is taken from Alfred Glossbrenner's Internet 101: A College Student's Guide (New York: 1995), 80-84.

.arc

Compressed archive. Requires ARCE.EXE to uncompress.

.arj

Compressed archive. Requires ARJ241A.EXE to uncompress.

.btoa

Binary to ASCII. Requires UNIX program BTOA or DOS program ATOE11 to convert back to binary.

.cpio

Archives created by UNIX CPIO tape archiving program. Requires UNIX PAX program.

.gif

Graphics Interchange Format file. Requires a viewer program to see the image.

.gz or .z

Compressed archive file. Requires GZIP124.ZIP

.Hqx or .hqx

Macintosh compression format. Requires Mac program BinHex4.0, Dos XBIN23 or UNIX MCVERT to convert.

.jpg

Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format. Requires a JPEG compatible viewer program.

.lha or .lzh

DOS compressed archive. Requires LHA program.

.mpg

Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) format. Requires MPEG compatible viewer to view video file.

.pit

Compressed file created by Macintosh PACKIt3.1.3. Requires UnpackIt

.ps or .PS

PostScript document. Requires PostScript compatible printer.

.sea

A Macintosh self-extracting archive.

.shar, .sh, .Shar

A Shell archive created by UNIX SHAR. Requires UNIX UNSHAR to uncompress.

.sit or .Sit

Compressed Macintosh file. Requires UNSTUFF.EXE or UNSIT30.ZIP

.tar

Compressed files. Requires TAR.ZIP or EXTAR10.ZIP

.tif

Tagged Image Format File. Requires correct viewer -- caution: TIFF files come in various versions.

.txt

Text file. Should be plain ASCII file.

.uu or .uue

A binary file in ASCII format. Requires UUDECODE program to convert back to binary.

.Z

A compressed file. Requires UNIX UNCOMPRESS, DOS U16.ZIP, or MacCompress 3.2

.zip

Compressed archive file. Requires PK204G.EXE