Interchange File Format (IFF), is a generic container file format originally introduced by the Electronic Arts company in 1985 (in cooperation with Commodore-Amiga) in order to ease transfer of data between software produced by different companies.
IFF files do not have any common extension. Most files with .iff extension are in fact ILBM files, wrongly named so because they are the most common IFF files and most assume that they are the only type of IFF files (on many systems that generate IFF files, file extensions are not important).
Resource Interchange File Format is a format developed by Microsoft and IBM in 1991 that is based on IFF, except the byte order has been change to little endian to match the x86 processor architecture. Apple Computer's AIFF is a big endian audio file format developed from IFF. The TIFF image file format is unrelated.
Read more about Interchange File Format: Structure
Famous quotes containing the words interchange and/or file:
“The press and politicians. A delicate relationship. Too close, and danger ensues. Too far apart and democracy itself cannot function without the essential exchange of information. Creative leaks, a discreet lunch, interchange in the Lobby, the art of the unattributable telephone call, late at night.”
—Howard Brenton (b. 1942)
“A common and natural result of an undue respect for law is, that you may see a file of soldiers, colonel, captain, corporal, privates, powder-monkeys, and all, marching in admirable order over hill and dale to the wars, against their wills, ay, against their common sense and consciences, which makes it very steep marching indeed, and produces a palpitation of the heart.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)