An archive file is a file that is composed of one or more files along with metadata. Archive files are used to collect multiple data files together into a single file for easier portability and storage, or simply to compress files to use less storage space. Archive files often store directory structures, error detection and correction information, arbitrary comments, and sometimes use built-in encryption.
Computer archive files are created by file archiver software, optical disc authoring software, and disk image software. The file extension or file header of the archive file are indicators of the file format used.
Features supported by various kinds of archives include file concatenation, data compression, encryption, file spanning, checksums, self-extraction, self-installation, source volume and medium information, directory structure information, package notes and description, and other meta-data.
Read more about Archive File: Archive Formats, Error Detection and Recovery
Famous quotes containing the words archive and/or file:
“To a historian libraries are food, shelter, and even muse. They are of two kinds: the library of published material, books, pamphlets, periodicals, and the archive of unpublished papers and documents.”
—Barbara Tuchman (1912–1989)
“While waiting to get married, several forms of employment were acceptable. Teaching kindergarten was for those girls who stayed in school four years. The rest were secretaries, typists, file clerks, or receptionists in insurance firms or banks, preferably those owned or run by the family, but respectable enough if the boss was an upstanding Christian member of the community.”
—Barbara Howar (b. 1934)