"EA IFF 85" Standard for Interchange Format Files Document Date: From: Status of Standard: 1$ Introduction Standards

are %ood for Soft&are De'elo(ers As home com(uter hard&are e'ol'es to )etter and )etter media machines the demand increases for higher *uality more detailed data$ Data de'elo(ment gets more e+(ensi'e re*uires more e+(ertise and )etter tools and has to )e shared across (ro,ects$ -hin. a)out se'eral (orts of a (roduct on one /D0#1" &ith 522" 3ytes of common data4 De'elo(ment tools need standard interchange file formats$ Imagine scanning in images of "(layer" sha(es mo'ing them to a (aint (rogram for editing then incor(orating them into a game$ 1r &riting a theme song &ith a "acintosh score editor and incor(orating it into an Amiga game$ -he data must at times )e transformed cli((ed filled out and mo'ed across machine .inds$ "edia (ro,ects &ill de(end on data transfer from gra(hic music sound effect animation and scri(t tools$ Standards are %ood for Soft&are 5sers /ustomers should )e a)le to mo'e their o&n data )et&een inde(endently de'elo(ed soft&are (roducts$ And they should )e a)le to )uy data li)raries usa)le across many such (roducts$ -he ty(es of data o),ects to e+change are o(en0ended and include (lain and formatted te+t raster and structured gra(hics fonts music sound effects musical instrument descri(tions and animation$ -he (ro)lem &ith e+(edient file formats ty(ically memory dum(s is that they6re too (ro'incial$ 3y designing data for one (articular use 7e$g$ a screen sna(shot8 they (reclude future e+(ansion 7&ould you li.e a full (age (icture9 a multi0(age document98$ In neglecting the (ossi)ility that other (rograms might read their data they fail to sa'e conte+tual information 7ho& many )it (lanes9 &hat resolution98$ Ignoring that other (rograms might create such files they6re intolerant of e+tra data 7te+ture (alette for a (icture editor8 missing data 7no color ma(8 or minor 'ariations 7smaller image8$ In (ractice a filed re(resentation should rarely mirror an in0memory re(resentation$ -he former should )e designed for longe'ity: the latter to o(timi;e the mani(ulations of a (articular (rogram$ -he same filed data &ill )e read into different memory formats )y different (rograms$ -he IFF (hiloso(hy: "A little )ehind0the0scenes con'ersion &hen (rograms read and &rite files is far )etter than <+" e+(licit con'ersion utilities for highly s(eciali;ed formats$" So &e need some standardi;ation for data interchange among de'elo(ment tools and (roducts$ -he more de'elo(ers that ado(t a standard the )etter for all of us and our customers$ =ere is "EA IFF 1!85" =ere is our offering: Electronic Arts6 IFF standard for Interchange File Format$ -he full name is "EA IFF 1!85"$ Alternati'es and ,ustifications are included for certain choices$ >u)lic domain su)routine (ac.ages January 14 1!85 Jerry "orrison Electronic Arts #eleased and in use

and utility (rograms are a'aila)le to ma.e it easy to &rite and use IFF0com(ati)le (rograms$ >art 1 introduces the standard$ >art ? (resents its re*uirements and )ac.ground$ >arts @ 4 and 5 define the (rimiti'e data ty(es F1#"s and AIS-s res(ecti'ely and ho& to define ne& high le'el ty(es$ >art B s(ecifies the to( le'el file structure$ A((endi+ A is included for *uic. reference and A((endi+ 3 names the committee res(onsi)le for this standard$ #eferences American <ational Standard Additional /ontrol /odes for 5se &ith AS/II A<SI standard @$B401!C! for an 80)it character set$ See also IS1 standard ?2?? and IS1DDIS standard B4?!$?$ AmigaEtmF is a trademar. of /ommodore0Amiga Inc$ -artan

/ A #eference "anual Samuel >$ =ar)ison and %uy A$ Steele Jr$ Aa)oratories$ >rentice0=all Engle&ood /liffs <J 1!84$

/om(iler /onstruction An Ad'anced /ourse edited )y F$ A$ 3auer and J$ Eic.el 7S(ringer0Gerlag 1!CB8$ -his )oo. is one of many sources for information on recursi'e descent (arsing$ DIF -echnical S(ecification 7c81!81 )y Soft&are Arts Inc$ DIFEtmF is the format for s(readsheet data interchange de'elo(ed )y Soft&are Arts Inc$ DIFEtmF is a trademar. of Soft&are Arts Inc$ Electronic ArtsEtmF is a trademar. of Electronic Arts$ "F-H-" IFF Formatted -e+t for a te+t format$ from Electronic Arts$ IFF su((lement document a

Inside "acintosh 7c8 1!8? 1!8@ 1!84 1!85 A((le /om(uter Inc$ (rogrammer6s reference manual$ A((le7#8 is a trademar. of A((le /om(uter Inc$ "acintoshEtmF is a trademar. licensed to A((le /om(uter Inc$

"IA3"" IFF Interlea'ed 3itma( from Electronic Arts$ IFF su((lement document for a raster image format$ "B8222 1BD@?03it "icro(rocessor >rogrammer6s #eference "anual7c8 1!84 1!8? 1!82 1!C! )y "otorola Inc$ >ostScri(t Aanguage "anual 7c8 1!84 Ado)e Systems Incor(orated$ >ostScri(tEtmF is a trademar. of Ado)e Systems Inc$ -imes and =el'etica7#8 are trademar.s of Allied /or(oration$ InterScri(t: A >ro(osal for a Standard for the Interchange of Edita)le Documents 7c81!84 Hero+ /or(oration$ Introduction to InterScri(t 7c8 1!85 Hero+ /or(oration$

?$ 3ac.ground for Designers >art ? is a)out the )ac.ground re*uirements and goals for the standard$ It6s geared for (eo(le &ho &ant to design ne& ty(es of IFF o),ects$ >eo(le ,ust interested in using the standard may &ish to s.i( this (art$ Ihat Do Ie <eed9 A standard should )e long on (rescri(tion and short on o'erhead$ It should gi'e lots of rules for designing (rograms and data files for synergy$ 3ut neither the (rograms nor the files should cost too much more than the e+(edient 'ariety$ Ihile &e6re loo.ing to a future &ith /D0#1"s and (er(endicular recording the standard must &or. &ell on flo((y dis.s$ For (rogram (orta)ility sim(licity and efficiency formats should )e designed &ith more than one im(lementation style in mind$ 7In (ractice (ure stream ID1 is ade*uate although random access ma.es it easier to &rite files$8 It ought to )e (ossi)le to read one of many o),ects in a file &ithout scanning all the (receding data$ Some (rograms need to read and (lay out their data in real time so &e need good com(romises )et&een generality and efficiency$ As much as &e need standards they can6t hold u( (roduct schedules$ So &e also need a .ind of decentrali;ed e+tensi)ility &here any soft&are de'elo(er can define and refine ne& o),ect ty(es &ithout some "standards authority" in the loo($ De'elo(ers must )e a)le to e+tend e+isting formats in a for&ard0 and )ac.&ard0com(ati)le &ay$ A central re(ository for design information and e+am(le (rograms can hel( us ta.e full ad'antage of the standard$ For con'enience data formats should heed the restrictions of 'arious (rocessors and en'ironments$ E$g$ &ord0alignment greatly hel(s B8222 access at insignificant cost to 8288 (rograms$ 1ther goals include the a)ility to share common elements o'er a list of o),ects and the a)ility to construct com(osite o),ects containing other data o),ects &ith structural information li.e directories$ And finally "Sim(le things should )e sim(le and com(le+ things should )e (ossi)le$" Alan Jay$ -hin. Ahead Aet6s thin. ahead and )uild (rograms that read and &rite files for each other and for (rograms yet to )e designed$ 3uild data formats to last for future com(uters so long as the o'erhead is acce(ta)le$ -his e+tends the usefulness and life of today6s (rograms and data$ -o ma+imi;e interconnecti'ity the standard file structure and the s(ecific o),ect formats must all )e general and e+tensi)le$ -hin. ahead &hen designing an o),ect$ It should ser'e many (ur(oses and allo& many (rograms to store and read )ac. all the information they need: e'en s*uee;e in custom data$ -hen a (rogrammer can store the a'aila)le data and is encouraged to include fi+ed conte+tual details$ #eci(ient (rograms can read the needed (arts s.i( unrecogni;ed stuff default missing data and use the stored conte+t to hel( transform the data as needed$ Sco(e

IFF addresses these needs )y defining a standard file structure some initial data o),ect ty(es &ays to define ne& ty(es and rules for accessing these files$ Ie can accom(lish a great deal )y &riting (rograms according to this standard )ut don6t e+(ect direct com(ati)ility &ith e+isting soft&are$ Ie6ll need con'ersion (rograms to )ridge the ga( from the old &orld$ IFF is geared for com(uters that readily (rocess information in 80)it )ytes$ It assumes a "(hysical layer" of data storage and transmission that relia)ly maintains "files" as strings of 80)it )ytes$ -he standard treats a "file" as a container of data )ytes and is inde(endent of ho& to find a file and &hether it has a )yte count$ -his standard does not )y itself im(lement a cli()oard for cutting and (asting data )et&een (rograms$ A cli()oard needs soft&are to mediate access to maintain a "contents 'ersion num)er" so (rograms can detect u(dates and to manage the data in "'irtual memory"$ Data A)straction -he )asic (ro)lem is ho& to re(resent information in a &ay that6s (rogram0inde(endent com(iler0 inde(endent machine0inde(endent and de'ice0inde(endent$ -he com(uter science a((roach is "data a)straction" also .no&n as "o),ects" "actors" and "a)stract data ty(es"$ A data a)straction has a "concrete re(resentation" 7its storage format8 an "a)stract re(resentation" 7its ca(a)ilities and uses8 and access (rocedures that isolate all the calling soft&are from the concrete re(resentation$ 1nly the access (rocedures touch the data storage$ =iding muta)le details )ehind an interface is called "information hiding"$ Ihat data a)straction does is a)stract from details of im(lementing the o),ect namely the selected storage re(resentation and algorithms for mani(ulating it$ -he (o&er of this a((roach is modularity$ 3y ad,usting the access (rocedures &e can e+tend and restructure the data &ithout im(acting the interface or its callers$ /on'ersely &e can e+tend and restructure the interface and callers &ithout ma.ing e+isting data o)solete$ It6s great for interchange4 3ut &e seem to need the o((osite: fi+ed file formats for all (rograms to access$ Actually &e could file data a)stractions 7"filed o),ects"8 )y storing the data and access (rocedures together$ Ie6d ha'e to encode the access (rocedures in a standard machine0inde(endent (rogramming language la >ostScri(t$ E'en still the interface can6t e'ol'e freely since &e can6t u(date all co(ies of the access (rocedures$ So &e6ll ha'e to design our a)stract re(resentations for limited e'olution and occasional re'olution 7con'ersion8$ In any case today6s microcom(uters can6t (ractically store data a)stractions$ -hey can do the ne+t )est thing: store ar)itrary ty(es of data in "data chun.s" each &ith a ty(e identifier and a length count$ -he ty(e identifier is a reference )y name to the access (rocedures 7any local im(lementation8$ -he length count ena)les storage0le'el o),ect o(erations li.e "co(y" and "s.i( to ne+t" inde(endent of o),ect ty(e$ /hun. &riting is straightfor&ard$ /hun. reading re*uires a tri'ial (arser to scan each chun. and dis(atch to the (ro(er accessDcon'ersion (rocedure$ #eading chun.s nested inside other chun.s re*uires recursion )ut no loo.ahead or )ac.u($ -hat6s the main idea of IFF$ -here are of course a fe& other detailsI

>re'ious Ior. Ihere our needs are similar &e )orro& from e+isting standards$

1ur )asic need to mo'e data )et&een inde(endently de'elo(ed (rograms is similar to that addressed )y the A((le "acintosh des. scra( or "cli()oard" EInside "acintosh cha(ter "Scra( "anager"F$ -he Scra( "anager &or.s closely &ith the #esource "anager a handy filer and s&a((er for data o),ects 7te+t strings dialog &indo& tem(lates (ictures fontsI8 including ty(es yet to )e designed EInside "acintosh cha(ter "#esource "anager"F$ -he #esource "anager is a .in to Smalltal.6s o),ect s&a((er$ Ie &ill (ro)a)ly &rite a "acintosh des. accessory that con'erts IFF files to and from the "acintosh cli()oard for *uic. and easy interchange &ith (rograms li.e "ac>aint and #esource "o'er$ "acintosh uses a sim(le and elegant scheme of 40character "identifiers" to identify resource ty(es cli()oard format ty(es file ty(es and file creator (rograms$ Alternati'es are uni*ue ID num)ers assigned )y a central authority or )y hierarchical authorities uni*ue ID num)ers generated )y algorithm other fi+ed length character strings and 'aria)le length strings$ /haracter string identifiers dou)le as reada)le sign(osts in data files and (rograms$ -he choice of 4 characters is a good tradeoff )et&een storage s(ace fetchDcom(areDstore time and name s(ace si;e$ Ie6ll honor A((le6s designers )y ado(ting this scheme$ ">I/-" is a good e+am(le of a standard structured gra(hics format 7including raster images8 and its many uses EInside "acintosh cha(ter "Kuic.Dra&"F$ "acintosh (ro'ides Kuic.Dra& routines in #1" to create mani(ulate and dis(lay >I/-s$ Any a((lication can create a >I/- )y sim(ly as.ing Kuic.Dra& to record a se*uence of dra&ing commands$ Since it6s ,ust as easy to as. Kuic.Dra& to render a >I/- to a screen or a (rinter it6s 'ery effecti'e to (ass them )et&een (rograms say from an illustrator to a &ord (rocessor$ An im(ortant feature is the a)ility to store "comments" in a >I/- &hich Kuic.Dra& &ill ignore$ Actually it (asses them to your o(tional custom "comment handler"$ >ostScri(t Ado)e6s (rint file standard is a more general &ay to re(resent any (rint image 7&hich is a s(ecification for (utting mar.s on (a(er8 E>ostScri(t Aanguage "anualF$ In fact >ostScri(t is a full0fledged (rogramming language$ -o inter(ret a >ostScri(t (rogram is to render a document on a raster out(ut de'ice$ -he language is defined in layers: a le+ical layer of identifiers constants and o(erators: a layer of re'erse (olish semantics including sco(e rules and a &ay to define ne& su)routines: and a (rinting0s(ecific layer of )uilt0in identifiers and o(erators for rendering gra(hic images$ It is clearly a (o&erful 7-uring e*ui'alent8 image definition language$ >I/- and a su)set of >ostScri(t are candidates for structured gra(hics standards$ A >ostScri(t document can )e (rinted on any raster out(ut de'ice 7including a dis(lay8 )ut cannot generally )e edited$ -hat6s )ecause the original fle+i)ility and constraints ha'e )een discarded$ 3esides a >ostScri(t (rogram may use ar)itrary com(utation to su((ly (arameters li.e (lacement and si;e to each o(erator$ A Kuic.Dra& >I/- in com(arison is a more restricted format of gra(hic (rimiti'es (arameteri;ed )y constants$ So a >I/- can )e edited at the le'el of the (rimiti'es e$g$ mo'e or thic.en a line$ It cannot )e edited at the higher le'el of say the )ar chart data &hich generated the (icture$ >ostScri(t has another limitation: <ot all .inds of data amount to mar.s on (a(er$ A musical instrument descri(tion is one e+am(le$ >ostScri(t

is ,ust not geared for such uses$ "DIF" is another e+am(le of data )eing stored in a general format usa)le )y future (rograms EDIF -echnical S(ecificationF$ DIF is a format for s(readsheet data interchange$ DIF and >ostScri(t are )oth e+(ressed in (lain AS/II te+t files$ -his is 'ery handy for (rinting de)ugging e+(erimenting and transmitting across modems$ It can ha'e su)stantial cost in com(action and readD&rite &or. de(ending on use$ Ie &on6t store IFF files this &ay )ut &e could define an AS/II alternate re(resentation &ith a con'erter (rogram$ InterScri(t is Hero+6 standard for interchange of edita)le documents EIntroduction to InterScri(tF$ It a((roaches a harder (ro)lem: =o& to re(resent edita)le &ord (rocessor documents that may contain formatted te+t (ictures cross0references li.e figure num)ers and e'en highly s(eciali;ed o),ects li.e mathematical e*uations9 InterScri(t aims to define one standard re(resentation for each .ind of information$ Each InterScri(t0com(ati)le editor is su((osed to (reser'e the o),ects it doesn6t understand and e'en maintain nested cross0references$ So a sim(le &ord (rocessor &ould let you edit the te+t of a fancy document &ithout discarding the e*uations or disru(ting the e*uation num)ers$ 1ur tas. is similarly to store high le'el information and (reser'e as much content as (ractical &hile mo'ing it )et&een (rograms$ 3ut &e need to s(an a larger uni'erse of data ty(es and cannot e+(ect to centrally define them all$ Fortunately &e don6t need to ma.e (rograms (reser'e information that they don6t understand$ And for )etter or &orse &e don6t ha'e to tac.le general0(ur(ose cross0references yet$

@$ >rimiti'e Data -y(es Atomic com(onents such as integers and characters that are inter(reta)le directly )y the />5 are s(ecified in one format for all (rocessors$ Ie chose a format that6s most con'enient for the "otorola "/B8222 (rocessor E"B8222 1BD@?03it "icro(rocessor >rogrammer6s #eference "anualF$ <$3$: >art @ dictates the format for "(rimiti'e" data ty(es &here and only &here used in the o'erall file structure and standard .inds of chun.s 7/f$ /hun.s8$ -he num)er of such occurrences &ill )e small enough that the costs of con'ersion storage and management of (rocessor0 s(ecific files &ould far e+ceed the costs of con'ersion during ID1 )y "foreign" (rograms$ A (articular data chun. may )e s(ecified &ith a different format for its internal (rimiti'e ty(es or &ith (rocessor0 or en'ironment0 s(eci fic 'ariants if necessary to o(timi;e local usage$ Since that hurts data interchange it6s not recommended$ 7/f$ Designing <e& Data Sections in >art 4$8 Alignment All data o),ects larger than a )yte are aligned on e'en )yte addresses relati'e to the start of the file$ -his may re*uire (adding$ >ad )ytes are to )e &ritten as ;eros )ut don6t count on that &hen reading$ -his means that e'ery odd0length "chun." 7see )elo&8 must )e (added so that the ne+t one &ill fall on an e'en )oundary$ Also designers of structures to )e stored in chun.s should include (ad fields &here needed to align e'ery field larger than a )yte$ Leros should )e stored in all the (ad )ytes$ Justification: E'en0alignment causes a little e+tra &or. for files that are used only on certain (rocessors )ut allo&s B8222 (rograms to construct and scan the data in memory and do )loc. ID1$ Mou ,ust add an occasional (ad field to data structures that you6re going to )loc. readD&rite or else stream readD&rite an e+tra )yte$ And the same source code &or.s on all (rocessors$ 5ns(ecified alignment on the other hand &ould force B8222 (rograms to 7dis8assem)le &ord and long0&ord data one )yte at a time$ >retty cum)ersome in a high le'el language$ And if you don6t conditionally com(ile that out for other (rocessors you &on6t gain anything$ <um)ers <umeric ty(es su((orted are t&o6s com(lement )inary integers in the format used )y the "/B8222 (rocessor high )yte first high &ord first the re'erse of 8288 and B52? format$ -hey could (otentially include signed and unsigned 8 1B and @? )it integers )ut the standard only uses the follo&ing: 53M-E I1#D 5I1#D A1<% 8 1B 1B @? )its )its )its )its unsigned signed unsigned signed

-he actual ty(e definitions de(end on the />5 and the com(iler$ In this document &e6ll e+(ress data ty(e definitions in the / (rogramming language$ ESee / A #eference "anual$F In B8222 Aattice /: ty(edef unsigned char ty(edef short I1#D: ty(edef unsigned short 53M-E: DN 8 )its unsigned DN 1B )its signed ND 5I1#D: DN 1B )its unsigned ND ND

ty(edef long /haracters

A1<%:

DN @? )its signed

ND

-he follo&ing character set is assumed &here'er characters are used e$g$ in te+t strings IDs and -EH- chun.s 7see )elo&8$ /haracters are encoded in 80)it AS/II$ /haracters in the range <5A 7he+ 28 through DEA 7he+ CF8 are &ell defined )y the C0)it AS/II standard$ IFF uses the gra(hic grou( #JS 7S> he+ ?28 through #OS 7he+ CE8$ "ost of the control character grou( he+ 21 through he+ 1F ha'e no standard meaning in IFF$ -he control character AF 7he+ 2A8 is defined as a "ne&line" character$ It denotes an intentional line )rea. that is a (aragra(h or line terminator$ 7-here is no &ay to store an automatic line )rea.$ -hat is strictly a function of the margins in the en'ironment the te+t is (laced$8 -he control character ES/ 7he+ 138 is a reser'ed esca(e character under the rules of A<SI standard @$B401!C! American <ational Standard Additional /ontrol /odes for 5se &ith AS/II IS1 standard ?2?? and IS1DDIS standard B4?!$?$ /haracters in the range he+ CF through he+ FF are not glo)ally defined in IFF$ -hey are )est left reser'ed for future standardi;ation$ 3ut note that the F1#" ty(e F-H- 7formatted te+t8 defines the meaning of these characters &ithin F-H- forms$ In (articular character 'alues he+ CF through he+ !F are control codes &hile characters he+ A2 through he+ FF are e+tended gra(hic characters li.e as (er the IS1 and A<SI standards cited a)o'e$ ESee the su((lementary document "F-H-" IFF Formatted -e+t$F Dates A "creation date" is defined as the date and time a stream of data )ytes &as created$ 7Some systems call this a "last modified date"$8 Editing some data changes its creation date$ "o'ing the data )et&een 'olumes or machines does not$ -he IFF standard date format &ill )e one of those used in "S0D1S "acintosh or Amiga D1S 7(ro)a)ly a @?0)it unsigned num)er of seconds since a reference (oint8$ Issue: In'estigate these three$ -y(e IDs A "ty(e ID" "(ro(erty name" "F1#" ty(e" or any other IFF identifier is a @?0)it 'alue: the concatenation of four AS/II characters in the range # S 7S> he+ ?28 through #OS 7he+ CE8$ S(aces 7he+ ?28 should not (recede (rinting characters: trailing s(aces are o.$ /ontrol characters are for)idden$ ty(edef /=A# IDE4F: IDs are com(ared using a sim(le @?0)it case0de(endent e*uality test$ Data section ty(e IDs 7a.a F1#" ty(es8 are restriced IDs$ 7/f$ Data Sections$8 Since they may )e stored in filename e+tensions 7/f$ Single >ur(ose Files8 lo&er case letters and (unctuation mar.s are for)idden$ -railing s(aces are o.$ /arefully choose those four characters &hen you (ic. a ne& ID$ "a.e them mnemonic so (rogrammers can loo. at an interchange format file and figure out &hat .ind of data it contains$ -he name s(ace ma.es it (ossi)le for de'elo(ers scattered around the glo)e to generate ID 'alues &ith minimal collisions so long as they choose s(ecific

names li.e ""5S4" instead of general ones li.e "-M>E" and "FIAE"$ EA &ill "register" ne& F1#" ty(e IDs and format descri(tions as they6re de'ised )ut collisions &ill )e im(ro)a)le so there &ill )e no (ressure on this "clearinghouse" (rocess$ A((endi+ A has a list of currently defined IDs$ Sometimes it6s necessary to ma.e data format changes that aren6t )ac.&ard com(ati)le$ Since IDs are used to denote data formats in IFF ne& IDs are chosen to denote re'ised formats$ Since (rograms &on6t read chun.s &hose IDs they don6t recogni;e 7see /hun.s )elo&8 the ne& IDs .ee( old (rograms from stum)ling o'er ne& data$ -he con'entional &ay to chose a "re'ision" ID is to increment the last character if it6s a digit or else change the last character to a digit$ E$g$ first and second re'isions of the ID "HM" &ould )e "HM1" and "HM?"$ #e'isions of "/"A>" &ould )e "/"A1" and "/"A?"$ /hun.s /hun.s are the )uilding )loc.s in the IFF structure$ -he form e+(ressed as a / ty(edef is: ty(edef struct P ID c.ID: A1<% c.Si;e: DN si;eof7c.Data8 ND 53M-E c.DataEDN c.Si;e NDF: Q /hun.: Ie can diagram an e+am(le chun. a "/"A>" chun. containing 1? data )ytes li.e this: 0000000000000000 c.ID: R 6/"A>6 R c.Si;e: R 1? R c.Data: R 2 2 2 @? R 00000000 R 2 2 B4 2 R 1? )ytes R 2 2 B4 2 R 000000000 0000000000000000 -he fi+ed header (art means "=ere6s a ty(e c.ID chun. &ith c.Si;e )ytes of data$" -he c.ID identifies the format and (ur(ose of the chun.$ As a rule a (rogram must recogni;e c.ID to inter(ret c.Data$ It should s.i( o'er all unrecogni;ed chun.s$ -he c.ID also ser'es as a format 'ersion num)er as long as &e (ic. ne& IDs to identify ne& formats of c.Data 7see a)o'e8$ -he follo&ing c.IDs are uni'ersally reser'ed to identify chun.s &ith (articular IFF meanings: "AIS-" "F1#"" ">#1>" "/A- " and " "$ -he s(ecial ID " " 74 s(aces8 is a c.ID for "filler" chun.s that is chun.s that fill s(ace )ut ha'e no meaningful contents$ -he IDs "AIS1" through "AIS!" "F1#1" through "F1#!" and "/A-1" through "/A-!" are reser'ed for future "'ersion num)er" 'ariations$ All IFF0com(ati)le soft&are must account for these ?@ chun. IDs$ A((endi+ A has a list of (redefined IDs$ -he c.Si;e is a logical )loc. si;e ho& many data )ytes are in c.Data$ If c.Data is an odd num)er of )ytes long a 2 (ad )yte follo&s &hich is not included in c.Si;e$ 7/f$ Alignment$8 A chun.6s total (hysical si;e is c.Si;e rounded u( to an e'en num)er (lus the si;e of the header$ So the smallest chun. is 8 )ytes long &ith c.Si;e S 2$ For the sa.e of follo&ing chun.s (rograms must res(ect e'ery chun.6s c.Si;e as a 'irtual end0of0file for reading its c.Data e'en if that data is malformed e$g$ if nested contents are truncated$

Ie can descri)e the synta+ of a chun. as a regular e+(ression &ith "T" re(resenting the c.Si;e i$e$ the length of the follo&ing P)racedQ )ytes$ -he "E2F" re(resents a sometimes needed (ad )yte$ 7-he regular e+(ressions in this document are collected in A((endi+ A along &ith an e+(lanation of notation$8 /hun. ::S ID TP 53M-EN Q E2F

1ne chun. out(ut techni*ue is to stream &rite a chun. header stream &rite the chun. contents then random access )ac. to the header to fill in the si;e$ Another techni*ue is to ma.e a (reliminary (ass o'er the data to com(ute the si;e then &rite it out all at once$ Strings String /hun.s and String >ro(erties

In a string of AS/II te+t AF denotes a forced line )rea. 7(aragra(h or line terminator8$ 1ther control characters are not used$ 7/f$ /haracters$8 -he c.ID for a chun. that contains a string of (lain unformatted te+t is "-EH-"$ As a (ractical matter a te+t string should (ro)a)ly not )e longer than @?CBC )ytes$ -he standard allo&s u( to ?@1 0 1 )ytes$ Ihen used as a data (ro(erty 7see )elo&8 a te+t string chun. may )e 2 to ?55 characters long$ Such a string is readily con'erted to a / string or a >ascal S-#I<%E?55F$ -he c.ID of a (ro(erty must )e the (ro(erty name not "-EH-"$ Ihen used as a (art of a chun. or data (ro(erty restricted / string format is normally used$ -hat means 2 to ?55 characters follo&ed )y a <5A )yte 7AS/II 'alue 28$ Data >ro(erties Data (ro(erties s(ecify attri)utes for follo&ing 7non0(ro(erty8 chun.s$ A data (ro(erty essentially says "identifier S 'alue" for e+am(le "HM S 712 ?228" telling something a)out follo&ing chun.s$ >ro(erties may only a((ear inside data sections 7"F1#"" chun.s cf$ Data Sections8 and (ro(erty sections 7">#1>" chun.s cf$ %rou( >#1>8$ -he form of a data (ro(erty is a s(ecial case of /hun.$ -he c.ID is a (ro(erty name as &ell as a (ro(erty ty(e$ -he c.Si;e should )e small since data (ro(erties are intended to )e accumulated in #A" &hen reading a file$ 7?5B )ytes is a reasona)le u((er )ound$8 Syntactically: >ro(erty::S /hun. Ihen designing a data o),ect use (ro(erties to descri)e conte+t information li.e the si;e of an image e'en if they don6t 'ary in your (rogram$ 1ther (rograms &ill need this information$ -hin. of (ro(erty settings as assignments to 'aria)les in a (rogramming language$ "ulti(le assignments are redundant and local assignments tem(orarily o'erride glo)al assignments$ -he order of assignments doesn6t matter as long as they (recede the affected chun.s$ 7/f$ AIS-s /A-s and Shared >ro(erties$8 Each o),ect ty(e 7F1#" ty(e8 is a local name s(ace for (ro(erty IDs$ -hin. of a "/"A>" (ro(erty in a "F1#" IA3"" as the *ualified ID "IA3"$/"A>"$ >ro(erty IDs s(ecified &hen an o),ect ty(e is designed 7and therefore .no&n to all clients8 are called "standard" &hile s(eciali;ed ones added later are "nonstandard"$

Ain.s Issue: A standard mechanism for "lin.s" or "cross references" is 'ery desira)le for things li.e com)ining images and sounds into animations$ >erha(s &e6ll define "lin." chun.s &ithin F1#"s that refer to other F1#"s or to s(ecific chun.s &ithin the same and other F1#"s$ -his needs further &or.$ EA IFF 1!85 has no standard lin. mechanism$ For no& it may suffice to read a list of say musical instruments and then ,ust refer to them &ithin a musical score )y inde+ num)er$ File #eferences Issue: Ie may need a standard form for references to other files$ A "file ref" could name a directory and a file in the same ty(e of o(erating system as the ref6s originator$ Follo&ing the reference &ould e+(ect the file to )e on some mounted 'olume$ In a net&or. en'ironment a file ref could name a ser'er too$ Issue: =o& can &e e+(ress o(erating0system inde(endent file refs9 Issue: Ihat a)out a means to reference a (ortion of another file9 Iould this )e a "file ref" (lus a reference to a "lin." &ithin the target file9

4$ Data Sections -he first thing &e need of a file is to chec.: Does it contain IFF data and if so does it contain the .ind of data &e6re loo.ing for9 So &e come to the notion of a "data section"$ A "data section" or IFF "F1#"" is one self0contained "data o),ect" that might )e stored in a file )y itself$ It is one high le'el data o),ect such as a (icture or a sound effect$ -he IFF structure "F1#"" ma.es it self0 identifying$ It could )e a com(osite o),ect li.e a musical score &ith nested musical instrument descri(tions$ %rou( F1#" A data section is a chun. &ith c.ID "F1#"" and this arrangement: F1#" ::S "F1#"" TP Form-y(e 7Aocal/hun. R F1#" R AIS- R /A-8N Q Form-y(e::S ID Aocal/hun. ::S >ro(erty R /hun. -he ID "F1#"" is a syntactic .ey&ord li.e "struct" in /$ -hin. of a "struct IA3"" containing a field "/"A>"$ If you see "F1#"" you6ll .no& to e+(ect a F1#" ty(e ID 7the structure name "IA3"" in this e+am(le8 and a (articular contents arrangement or "synta+" 7local chun.s F1#"s AIS-s and /A-s8$ 7AIS-s and /A-s are discussed in (art 5 )elo&$8 A "F1#" IA3"" in (articular might contain a local chun. "/"A>" an "IA3"$/"A>" 7to use a *ualified name8$ So the chun. ID "F1#"" indicates a data section$ It im(lies that the chun. contains an ID and some num)er of nested chun.s$ In reading a F1#" li.e any other chun. (rograms must res(ect its c.Si;e as a 'irtual end0of0file for reading its contents e'en if they6re truncated$ -he Form-y(e 7or F1#" ty(e8 is a restricted ID that may not contain lo&er case letters or (unctuation characters$ 7/f$ -y(e IDs$ /f$ Single >ur(ose Files$8 -he ty(e0s(ecific information in a F1#" is com(osed of its "local chun.s": data (ro(erties and other chun.s$ Each F1#" ty(e is a local name s(ace for local chun. IDs$ So "/"A>" local chun.s in other F1#" ty(es may )e unrelated to "IA3"$/"A>"$ "ore than that each F1#" ty(e defines semantic sco(e$ If you .no& &hat a F1#" IA3" is you6ll .no& &hat an IA3"$/"A> is$ Aocal chun.s defined &hen the F1#" ty(e is designed 7and therefore .no&n to all clients of this ty(e8 are called "standard" &hile s(eciali;ed ones added later are "nonstandard"$ Among the local chun.s (ro(erty chun.s gi'e settings for 'arious details li.e te+t font &hile the other chun.s su((ly the essential information$ -his distinction is not clear cut$ A (ro(erty setting cancelled )y a later setting of the same (ro(erty has effect only on data chun.s in )et&een$ E$g$ in the se*uence: (ro(1 S + 7(ro(< S 'alue8N (ro(1 S y the setting (ro(1 S + has no effect$

&here the (ro(<s are not (ro(1

-he follo&ing uni'ersal chun. IDs are reser'ed inside any F1#": "AIS-" "F1#"" ">#1>" "/A- " "JJJJ" "AIS1" through "AIS!" "F1#1" through "F1#!" and "/A-1" through "/A-!"$ 7/f$ /hun.s$ /f$ %rou( AIS-$ /f$

%rou( >#1>$8 For clarity ty(e IDs either$

these uni'ersal chun. names may not )e F1#"

>art 5 )elo& tal.s a)out grou(ing F1#"s into AIS-s and /A-s$ -hey let you grou( a )unch of F1#"s )ut don6t im(ose any (articular meaning or constraints on the grou(ing$ #ead on$ /om(osite F1#"s A F1#" chun. inside a F1#" is a full0fledged data section$ -his means you can )uild a com(osite o),ect li.e a multi0frame animation se*uence from a'aila)le (icture F1#"s and sound effect F1#"s$ Mou can insert additional chun.s &ith information li.e frame rate and frame count$ 5sing com(osite F1#"s you le'erage on e+isting (rograms that create and edit the com(onent F1#"s$ -hose editors may e'en loo. into your com(osite o),ect to co(y out its ty(e of com(onent although it6ll )e the rare (rogram that6s fancy enough to do that$ Such editors are not allo&ed to re(lace their com(onent o),ects &ithin your com(osite o),ect$ -hat6s )ecause the IFF standard lets you s(ecify consistency re*uirements for the com(osite F1#" such as maintaining a count or a directory of the com(onents$ 1nly (rograms that are &ritten to u(hold the rules of your F1#" ty(e should create or modify such F1#"s$ -herefore in designing a (rogram that creates com(osite o),ects you are strongly re*uested to (ro'ide a facility for your users to im(ort and e+(ort the nested F1#"s$ Im(ort and e+(ort could mo'e the data through a cli()oard or a file$ =ere are se'eral e+isting F1#" ty(es and rules for defining ne& ones$ F-HAn F-H- data section contains te+t &ith character formatting information li.e fonts and faces$ It has no (aragra(h or document formatting information li.e margins and (age headers$ F1#" F-H- is &ell matched to the te+t re(resentation in Amiga6s Intuition en'ironment$ See the su((lemental document "F-H-" IFF Formatted -e+t$ IA3" "IA3"" is an InterAea'ed 3it"a( image &ith color ma(: a machine0inde(endent format for raster images$ F1#" IA3" is the standard image file format for the /ommodore0Amiga com(uter and is useful in other en'ironments too$ See the su((lemental document "IA3"" IFF Interlea'ed 3itma($ >I/S -he data chun. inside a ">I/S" data section has ID ">I/-" and holds a Kuic.Dra& (icture$ Issue: Allo& more than one >I/- in a >I/S9 See Inside "acintosh cha(ter "Kuic.Dra&" for details on >I/-s and ho& to create and dis(lay them on the "acintosh com(uter$ -he only standard (ro(erty for >I/S is "HM" an o(tional (ro(erty that indicates the (osition of the >I/- relati'e to "the )ig (icture"$ -he contents of an HM is a Kuic.Dra& >oint$ <ote: >I/- may )e limited to "acintosh use in &hich case there6ll )e another format for structured gra(hics in other en'ironments$ 1ther "acintosh #esource -y(es Some other "acintosh resource ty(es could )e ado(ted for use &ithin

IFF files: (erha(s "I#-

I/<

I/<T

and S-#T$

Issue: /onsider the candidates and reser'e some more IDs$ Designing <e& Data Sections Su((lemental documents &ill define additional o),ect ty(es$ A su((lement needs to s(ecify the o),ect6s (ur(ose its F1#" ty(e ID the IDs and formats of standard local chun.s and rules for generating and inter(reting the data$ It6s a good idea to su((ly ty(edefs and an e+am(le source (rogram that accesses the ne& o),ect$ See "IA3"" IFF Interlea'ed 3itma( for a good e+am(le$ Anyone can (ic. a ne& F1#" ty(e ID )ut should reser'e it &ith Electronic Arts at their earliest con'enience$ EIssue: EA contact (erson9 =and this off to another organi;ation9F Ihile decentrali;ed format definitions and e+tensions are (ossi)le in IFF our (reference is to get design consensus )y committee im(lement a (rogram to read and &rite it (erha(s tune the format and then (u)lish the format &ith e+am(le code$ Some organi;ation should remain in charge of ans&ering *uestions and coordinating e+tensions to the format$ If it )ecomes necessary to re'ise the design of some data section its F1#" ty(e ID &ill ser'e as a 'ersion num)er 7/f$ -y(e IDs8$ E$g$ a re'ised "GDE1" data section could )e called "GDE1"$ 3ut try to get )y &ith com(ati)le re'isions &ithin the e+isting F1#" ty(e$ In a ne& F1#" ty(e the rules for (rimiti'e data ty(es and &ord0alignment 7/f$ >rimiti'e Data -y(es8 may )e o'erriden for the contents of its local chun.s )ut not for the chun. structure itself if your documentation s(ells out the de'iations$ If machine0s(ecific ty(e 'ariants are needed e$g$ to store 'ast num)ers of integers in re'erse )it order then outline the con'ersion algorithm and indicate the 'ariant inside each file (erha(s 'ia different F1#" ty(es$ <eedless to say 'ariations should )e minimi;ed$ In designing a F1#" ty(e enca(sulate all the data that other (rograms &ill need to inter(ret your files$ E$g$ a raster gra(hics image should s(ecify the image si;e e'en if your (rogram al&ays uses @?2 + ?22 (i+els + @ )it(lanes$ #ecei'ing (rograms are then em(o&ered to a((end or cli( the image rectangle to add or dro( )it(lanes etc$ -his ena)les a lot more com(ati)ility$ Se(arate the central data 7li.e musical notes8 from more s(eciali;ed information 7li.e note )eams8 so sim(ler (rograms can e+tract the central (arts during read0in$ Aea'e room for e+(ansion so other (rograms can s*uee;e in ne& .inds of information 7li.e lyrics8$ And remem)er to .ee( the (ro(erty chun.s managea)ly short let6s say ? ?5B )ytes$ Ihen designing a data o),ect try to stri.e a good tradeoff )et&een a su(er0general format and a highly0s(eciali;ed one$ Fit the details to at least one (articular need for e+am(le a raster image might as &ell store (i+els in the current machine6s scan order$ 3ut add the .ind of generality that ma.es it usa)le &ith foreseea)le hard&are and soft&are$ E$g$ use a &hole )yte for each red green and )lue color 'alue e'en if this year6s com(uter has only 40)it 'ideo DA/s$ -hin. ahead and hel( other (rograms so long as the o'erhead is acce(ta)le$ E$g$ run com(ress a raster )y scan line rather than as a unit so future (rograms can s&a( images )y scan line to and from secondary storage$ -ry to design a general (ur(ose "least common multi(le" format that encom(asses the needs of many (rograms &ithout getting too com(licated$ Aet6s coalesce our uses around a fe& such formats &idely se(arated

in the 'ast design s(ace$ -&o factors ma.e this fle+i)ility and sim(licity (ractical$ First file storage s(ace is getting 'ery (lentiful so com(action is not a (riority$ Second nearly any locally0(erformed data con'ersion &or. during file reading and &riting &ill )e chea( com(ared to the ID1 time$ It must )e o. to co(y a AIS- or F1#" or /A- intact e$g$ to incor(orate it into a com(osite F1#"$ So any .ind of internal references &ithin a F1#" must )e relati'e references$ -hey could )e relati'e to the start of the containing F1#" relati'e from the referencing chun. or a se*uence num)er into a collection$ Iith com(osite F1#"s you le'erage on e+isting (rograms that create and edit the com(onents$ If you &rite a (rogram that creates com(osite o),ects (lease (ro'ide a facility for your users to im(ort and e+(ort the nested F1#"s$ -he im(ort and e+(ort functions may mo'e data through a se(arate file or a cli()oard$ Finally don6t forget to s(ecify all im(lied rules in detail$

5$ AIS-s

/A-s

and Shared >ro(erties

Data often needs to )e grou(ed together li.e a list of icons$ Sometimes a tric. li.e arranging little images into a )ig raster &or.s )ut generally they6ll need to )e structured as a first class grou($ -he o),ects "AIS-" and "/A-" are IFF0uni'ersal mechanisms for this (ur(ose$ >ro(erty settings sometimes need to )e shared o'er a list of similar o),ects$ E$g$ a list of icons may share one color ma($ AIS- (ro'ides a means called ">#1>" to do this$ 1ne (ur(ose of a AIS- is to define the sco(e of a >#1>$ A "/A-" on the other hand is sim(ly a concatenation of o),ects$ Sim(ler (rograms may s.i( AIS-s and >#1>s altogether and ,ust handle F1#"s and /A-s$ All "fully0conforming" IFF (rograms also .no& a)out "/A- " "AIS-" and ">#1>"$ Any (rogram that reads a F1#" inside a AIS- must (rocess shared >#1>s to correctly inter(ret that F1#"$ %rou( /AA /A- is ,ust an unty(ed grou( of data o),ects$ Structurally a /A- is a chun. &ith chun. ID "/A- " containing a "contents ty(e" ID follo&ed )y the nested o),ects$ -he c.Si;e of each contained chun. is essentially a relati'e (ointer to the ne+t one$ /A::S "/A- " TP /ontents-y(e 7F1#" R AIS- R /A-8N Q /ontents-y(e ::S ID 00 a hint or an "a)stract data ty(e" ID In reading a /A- li.e any other chun. (rograms must res(ect it6s c.Si;e as a 'irtual end0of0file for reading the nested o),ects e'en if they6re malformed or truncated$ -he "contents ty(e" follo&ing the /A-6s c.Si;e indicates &hat .ind of F1#"s are inside$ So a /A- of IA3"s &ould store "IA3"" there$ It6s ,ust a hint$ It may )e used to store an "a)stract data ty(e"$ A /Acould ,ust ha'e )lan. contents ID 7"JJJJ"8 if it contains more than one .ind of F1#"$ /A- defines only the format of the grou($ -he grou(6s meaning is o(en to inter(retation$ -his is li.e a list in AIS>: the structure of cells is (redefined )ut the meaning of the contents as say an association list de(ends on use$ If you need a grou( &ith an enforced meaning 7an "a)stract data ty(e" or Smalltal. "su)class"8 some consistency constraints or additional data chun.s use a com(osite F1#" instead 7/f$ /om(osite F1#"s8$ Since a /A- ,ust means a concatenation of o),ects /A-s are rarely nested$ >rograms should really merge /A-s rather than nest them$ %rou( AISA AIS- defines a grou( 'ery much li.e /A- )ut it also gi'es a sco(e for >#1>s 7see )elo&8$ And unli.e /A-s AIS-s should not )e merged &ithout understanding their contents$ Structurally a AIS- is a chun. &ith c.ID "AIS-" containing a "contents ty(e" ID o(tional shared (ro(erties and the nested contents 7F1#"s AIS-s and /A-s8 in that order$ -he c.Si;e of each contained chun. is a relati'e (ointer to the ne+t one$ A AIS- is not an ar)itrary lin.ed list the cells are sim(ly concatenated$

AIS::S "AIS-" TP /ontents-y(e >#1>N 7F1#" R AIS- R /A-8N Q /ontents-y(e ::S ID %rou( >#1> >#1> chun.s may a((ear in AIS-s 7not in F1#"s or /A-s8$ -hey su((ly shared (ro(erties for the F1#"s in that AIS-$ -his a)ility to ele'ate some (ro(erty settings to shared status for a list of forms is useful for )oth indirection and com(action$ E$g$ a list of images &ith the same si;e and colors can share one "si;e" (ro(erty and one "color ma(" (ro(erty$ Indi'idual F1#"s can o'erride the shared settings$ -he contents of a >#1> is li.e a F1#" &ith no data chun.s: >#1> It means ::S ">#1>" TP Form-y(e >ro(ertyN Q "=ere are the shared (ro(erties for F1#" ty(e UUForm-y(eV$"

A AIS- may ha'e at most one >#1> of a F1#" ty(e and all the >#1>s must a((ear )efore any of the F1#"s or nested AIS-s and /A-s$ Mou can ha'e su)se*uences of F1#"s sharing (ro(erties )y ma.ing each su)se*uence a AIS-$ Sco(ing: -hin. of (ro(erty settings as 'aria)le )indings in nested )loc.s of a (rogramming language$ Ihere in / you could &rite: -EH-WF1<- te+tWfont S /ourier: DN (rogram6s glo)al default ND ND ND

File78: P -EH-WF1<- te+tWfont S -imes#oman:

DN shared setting

P -EH-WF1<- te+tWfont S =el'etica: DN local setting >rint7"=ello "8:DN uses font =el'etica ND Q P >rint7"there$"8:DN uses font -imes#oman ND Q Q An IFF file could contain: AIS- P >#1> -EH- P F1<- P-imes#omanQ Q DN shared setting ND

F1#" -EH- P F1<- P=el'eticaQDN local settingND /=#S P=ello Q DN uses font =el'etica Q F1#" -EH- P /=#S Pthere$Q Q Q DN uses font -imes#oman ND

ND

-he shared (ro(erty assignments selecti'ely o'erride the reader6s glo)al defaults )ut only for F1#"s &ithin the grou($ A F1#"6s o&n (ro(erty assignments selecti'ely o'erride the glo)al and grou(0su((lied 'alues$ So &hen reading an IFF file .ee( (ro(erty settings on a stac.$ -hey6re designed to )e small enough to hold in main memory$

Shared (ro(erties are semantically e*ui'alent to co(ying those (ro(erties into each of the nested F1#"s right after their F1#" ty(e IDs$ >ro(erties for AIS1(tional "(ro(erties for AIS-" store the origin of the list6s contents in a >#1> chun. for the fa.e F1#" ty(e "AIS-"$ -hey are the (ro(erties originating (rogram "1>%"" (rocessor family "1/>5" com(uter ty(e "1/">" com(uter serial num)er or net&or. address "1S< " and user name "5<A""$ In our im(erfect &orld these could )e called u(on to distinguish )et&een unintended 'ariations of a data format or to &or. around )ugs in (articular originatingDrecei'ing (rogram (airs$ Issue: S(ecify the format of these (ro(erties$ A creation date could also )e stored in a (ro(erty )ut let6s as. that file creating editing and trans(orting (rograms maintain the correct date in the local file system$ >rograms that mo'e files )et&een machine ty(es are e+(ected to co(y across the creation dates$

B$ Standard File Structure File Structure 1'er'ie& An IFF file is ,ust a single chun. of ty(e F1#" AIS- or /A-$ -herefore an IFF file can )e recogni;ed )y its first 4 )ytes: "F1#"" "AIS-" or "/A- "$ Any file contents after the chun.6s end are to )e ignored$ Since an IFF file can )e a grou( of o),ects (rograms that readD&rite single o),ects can communicate to an e+tent &ith (rograms that readD&rite grou(s$ Mou6re encouraged to &rite (rograms that handle all the o),ects in a AIS- or /A-$ A gra(hics editor for e+am(le could (rocess a list of (ictures as a multi(le (age document one (age at a time$ >rograms should enforce IFF6s syntactic rules &hen reading and &riting files$ -his ensures ro)ust data transfer$ -he (u)lic domain IFF readerD&riter su)routine (ac.age does this for you$ A utility (rogram "IFF/hec." is a'aila)le that scans an IFF file and chec.s it for conformance to IFF6s syntactic rules$ IFF/hec. also (rints an outline of the chun.s in the file sho&ing the c.ID and c.Si;e of each$ -his is *uite handy &hen )uilding IFF (rograms$ E+am(le (rograms are also a'aila)le to sho& details of reading and &riting IFF files$ A merge (rogram "IFFJoin" &ill )e a'aila)le that logically a((ends IFF files into a single /A- grou($ It "un&ra(s" each in(ut file that is a /A- so that the com)ined file isn6t nested /A-s$ If &e need to re'ise the IFF standard the three anchoring IDs &ill )e used as "'ersion num)ers"$ -hat6s &hy IDs "F1#1" through "F1#!" "AIS1" through "AIS!" and "/A-1" through "/A-!" are reser'ed$ IFF formats are designed for reasona)le (erformance &ith flo((y dis.s$ Ie achie'e considera)le sim(licity in the formats and (rograms )y relying on the host file system rather than defining uni'ersal grou(ing structures li.e directories for AIS- contents$ 1n huge storage systems IFF files could )e leaf nodes in a file structure li.e a 30tree$ Aet6s ho(e the host file system im(lements that for us4 -hre are t&o .inds of IFF files: single (ur(ose files and scra( files$ -hey differ in the inter(retation of multi(le data o),ects and in the file6s e+ternal ty(e$ Single >ur(ose Files A single (ur(ose IFF file is for normal "document" and "archi'e" storage$ -his is in contrast &ith "scra( files" 7see )elo&8 and tem(orary )ac.ing storage 7non0interchange files8$ -he e+ternal file ty(e 7or filename e+tension de(ending on the host file system8 indicates the file6s contents$ It6s generally the F1#" ty(e of the data contained hence the restrictions on F1#" ty(e IDs$ >rogrammers and users may (ic. an "intended use" ty(e as the filename e+tension to ma.e it easy to filter for the rele'ant files in a filename re*uestor$ -his is actually a "su)class" or "su)ty(e" that con'eniently se(arates files of the same F1#" ty(e that ha'e different uses$ >rograms cannot demand conformity to its e+(ected su)ty(es &ithout o'erly restricting data interchange since they cannot .no& a)out the su)ty(es to )e used )y future (rograms that users &ill &ant to e+change data &ith$ Issue: =o& to generate @0letter "S0D1S e+tensions from 40letter F1#" ty(e IDs9

"ost single (ur(ose files &ill )e a single F1#" 7(erha(s a com(osite F1#" li.e a musical score containing nested F1#"s li.e musical instrument descri(tions8$ If it6s a AIS- or a /A- (rograms should s.i( o'er unrecogni;ed o),ects to read the recogni;ed ones or the first recogni;ed one$ -hen a (rogram that can read a single (ur(ose file can read something out of a "scra( file" too$ Scra( Files A "scra( file" is for ma+imum interconnecti'ity in getting data )et&een (rograms: the core of a cli()oard function$ Scra( files may ha'e ty(e "IFF " or filename e+tension "$IFF"$ A scra( file is ty(ically a /A- containing alternate re(resentations of the same )asic information$ Include as many alternati'es as you can readily generate$ -his redundancy im(ro'es interconnecti'ity in situations &here &e can6t ma.e all (rograms read and &rite su(er0general formats$ EInside "acintosh cha(ter "Scra( "anager"$F E$g$ a gra(hically0 annotated musical score might )e su((lemented )y a stri((ed do&n 40'oice melody and )y a te+t 7the lyrics8$ -he originating (rogram should &rite the alternate re(resentations in order of "(reference": most (referred 7most com(rehensi'e8 ty(e to least (referred 7least com(rehensi'e8 ty(e$ A recei'ing (rogram should either use the first a((earing ty(e that it understands or search for its o&n "(referred" ty(e$ A scra( file should ha'e at most one alternati'e of any ty(e$ 7A AISof same ty(e o),ects is o. as one of the alternati'es$8 3ut don6t count on this &hen reading: ignore e+tra sections of a ty(e$ -hen a (rogram that reads scra( files can read something out of single (ur(ose files$ #ules for #eader >rograms =ere are some notes on )uilding (rograms that read IFF files$ If you use the standard IFF reader module "IFF#$/" many of these rules and details &ill )e automatically handled$ 7See "Su((ort Soft&are" in A((endi+ A$8 Ie recommend that you start from the e+am(le (rogram "Sho&IA3"$/"$ Mou should also read u( on recursi'e descent (arsers$ ESee for e+am(le /om(iler /onstruction An Ad'anced /ourse$F X -he standard is 'ery fle+i)le so many (rograms can e+change data$ -his im(lies a (rogram has to scan the file and react to &hat6s actually there in &hate'er order it a((ears$ An IFF reader (rogram is a (arser$ X For interchange to really &or. (rograms must )e &illing to do some con'ersion during read0in$ If the data isn6t e+actly &hat you e+(ect say the raster is smaller than those created )y your (rogram then ad,ust it$ Similarly your (rogram could cro( a large (icture add or dro( )it(lanes and createDdiscard a mas. (lane$ -he (rogram should gi'e u( gracefully on data that it can6t con'ert$ X If it doesn6t start &ith "F1#"" an IFF085 file$ X For any chun. you encounter to understand its contents$ "AIS-" or "/A- " it6s not

you must recogni;e its ty(e ID

X For any F1#" chun. you encounter you must recogni;e its F1#" ty(e ID to understand the contained "local chun.s"$ E'en if you don6t

recogni;e the F1#" ty(e and /A-s of interest$ X

you can still scan it for nested F1#"s

AIS-s

Don6t forget to s.i( the (ad )yte after e'ery odd0length chun.$

X /hun. ty(es AIS- F1#" >#1> and /A- are generic grou(s$ -hey al&ays contain a su)ty(e ID follo&ed )y chun.s$ X #eaders ought to handle a /A- of F1#"s in a file$ Mou may treat the F1#"s li.e document (ages to se*uence through or ,ust use the first F1#"$ X Sim(ler IFF readers com(letely s.i( AIS-s$ "Fully IFF0conforming" readers are those that handle AIS-s e'en if ,ust to read the first F1#" from a file$ If you do loo. into a AIS- you must (rocess shared (ro(erties 7in >#1> chun.s8 (ro(erly$ -he idea is to get the correct data or none at all$ X -he nicest readers are &illing to loo. into unrecogni;ed F1#"s for nested F1#" ty(es that they do recogni;e$ For e+am(le a musical score may contain nested instrument descri(tions and an animation file may contain still (ictures$ <ote to (rogrammers: >rocessing >#1> chun.s is not sim(le4 Mou6ll need some )ac.ground in inter(reters &ith stac. frames$ If this is foreign to you )uild (rograms that readD&rite only one F1#" (er file$ For the more intre(id (rogrammers the ne+t (aragra(h summari;es ho& to (rocess AIS-s and >#1>s$ See the general IFF reader module "IFF#$/" and the e+am(le (rogram "Sho&IA3"$/" for details$ Allocate a stac. frame for e'ery AIS- and F1#" you encounter and initiali;e it )y co(ying the stac. frame of the (arent AIS- or F1#"$ At the to( le'el you6ll need a stac. frame initiali;ed to your (rogram6s glo)al defaults$ Ihile reading each AIS- or F1#" store all encountered (ro(erties into the current stac. frame$ In the e+am(le Sho&IA3" each stac. frame has a (lace for a )itma( header (ro(erty IA3"$3"=D and a color ma( (ro(erty IA3"$/"A>$ Ihen you finally get to the IA3"6s 31DM chun. use the (ro(erty settings accumulated in the current stac. frame$ An alternate im(lementation &ould ,ust remem)er >#1>s encountered forgetting each on reaching the end of its sco(e 7the end of the containing AIS-8$ Ihen a F1#" HHHH is encountered scan the chun.s in all remem)ered >#1>s HHHH in order as if they a((eared )efore the chun.s actually in the F1#" HHHH$ -his gets tric.ier if you read F1#"s inside of F1#"s$ #ules for Iriter >rograms =ere are some notes on )uilding (rograms that &rite IFF files &hich is much easier than reading them$ If you use the standard IFF &riter module "IFFI$/" 7see "Su((ort Soft&are" in A((endi+ A8 many of these rules and details &ill automatically )e enforced$ See the e+am(le (rogram "#a&?IA3"$/"$ X An IFF file is a single F1#" AISor /A- chun.$

X Any IFF085 file must start &ith the 4 characters "F1#"" "AIS-" or "/A- " follo&ed )y a A1<% c.Si;e$ -here should )e no data after the chun. end$ X /hun. ty(es AIS- F1#" >#1> and /A- are generic$ -hey al&ays contain a su)ty(e ID follo&ed )y chun.s$ -hese three IDs are uni'ersally reser'ed as are "AIS1" through "AIS!" "F1#1" through "F1#!" "/A-1" through "/A-!" and " "$

Don6t forget to &rite a 2 (ad )yte after each odd0length chun.$

X Four techni*ues for &riting an IFF grou(: 718 )uild the data in a file ma((ed into 'irtual memory 7?8 )uild the data in memory )loc.s and use )loc. ID1 7@8 stream &rite the data (iecemeal and 7don6t forget48 random access )ac. to set the grou( length count and 748 ma.e a (reliminary (ass to com(ute the length count then stream &rite the data$ X Do not try to edit a file that you don6t .no& ho& to create$ >rograms may loo. into a file and co(y out nested F1#"s of ty(es that they recogni;e )ut don6t edit and re(lace the nested F1#"s and don6t add or remo'e them$ -hat could ma.e the containing structure inconsistent$ Mou may &rite a ne& file containing items you co(ied 7or co(ied and modified8 from another IFF file )ut don6t co(y structural (arts you don6t understand$ X Mou must adhere to the synta+ descri(tions in A((ende+ A$ E$g$ >#1>s may only a((ear inside AIS-s$

A((endi+ A$ #eference -y(e Definitions -he follo&ing / ty(edefs descri)e standard IFF structures$ Declarations to use in (ractice &ill 'ary &ith the />5 and com(iler$ For e+am(le B8222 Aattice / (roduces efficient com(arison code if &e define ID as a "A1<%"$ A macro ""a.eID" )uilds these IDs at com(ile time$ DN Standard IFF ty(es ty(edef ty(edef ty(edef ty(edef e+(ressed in B8222 Aattice /$ ND ND ND ND

unsigned char 53M-E: DN 8 )its unsigned short I1#D: DN 1B )its signed ND unsigned short 5I1#D: DN 1B )its unsigned long A1<%: DN @? )its signed ND DN 4 chars in 6 6 through 6O6

ty(edef char IDE4F:

ty(edef struct P ID c.ID: A1<% c.Si;e: DN si;eof7c.Data8 53M-E c.DataEDN c.Si;e NDF: Q /hun.:

ND

DN ID ty(edef and )uilder for B8222 Aattice /$ ND ty(edef A1<% ID: DN 4 chars in 6 6 through 6O6 ND Tdefine "a.eID7a ) c d8 7 7a8UUUU?4 R 7)8UUUU1B R 7c8UUUU8 R 7d8 8 DN %lo)ally reser'ed IDs$ ND Tdefine IDWF1#" "a.eID76F6 Tdefine IDWAIS"a.eID76A6 Tdefine IDW>#1> "a.eID76>6 Tdefine IDW/A"a.eID76/6 Tdefine IDWFIAAE# "a.eID76 6 Synta+ Definitions =ere6s a collection of the synta+ definitions in this document$ /hun. ::S ID TP 53M-EN Q E2F 616 6I6 6#6 6A6 6 6 6#6 6S6 616 6-6 6 6 6"68 6-68 6>68 6 68 6 68

>ro(erty::S /hun. F1#" ::S "F1#"" TP Form-y(e 7Aocal/hun. R F1#" R AIS- R /A-8N Q Form-y(e::S ID Aocal/hun. ::S >ro(erty R /hun. /A::S "/A- " TP /ontents-y(e 7F1#" R AIS- R /A-8N Q /ontents-y(e ::S ID 00 a hint or an "a)stract data ty(e" ID AIS>#1> ::S "AIS-" TP /ontents-y(e >#1>N 7F1#" R AIS- R /A-8N Q ::S ">#1>" TP Form-y(e >ro(ertyN Q

In this e+tended regular e+(ression notation the to.en "T" re(resents a c.Si;e A1<% count of the follo&ing P)racedQ data )ytes$ Aiteral items are sho&n in "*uotes" Es*uare )rac.eted itemsF are o(tional and "N" means 2 or more instances$ A sometimes0needed (ad )yte is sho&n as "E2F"$ Defined /hun. IDs

-his is a ta)le of currently defined chun. IDs$ Ie may also )orro& some "acintosh IDs and data formats$ %rou( chun. IDs F1#" AIS- >#1> /A-$ Future re'ision grou( chun. IDs F1#1 I F1#! AIS1 I AIS! /A-1 I /A-!$ F1#" ty(e IDs 7-he a)o'e grou( chun. IDs may not )e used for F1#" ty(e IDs$8 7Ao&er case letters and (unctuation mar.s are for)idden in F1#" ty(e IDs$8 8SGH 80)it sam(led sound 'oice A<3" animated )itma( F<-# raster font F<-G 'ector font F-H- formatted te+t %S/# general0use musical score IA3" interlea'ed raster )itma( image >DEF Delu+e >rint (age definition >I/S "acintosh (icture >A3" 7o)solete8 5S/# 5huru Sound Soft&are musical score 5G1H 5huru Sound Soft&are "acintosh 'oice S"5S sim(le musical score GDE1 Delu+e Gideo /onstruction Set 'ideo$ Data chun. IDs "JJJJ" -EH- >I/-$ >#1> AIS- (ro(erty IDs 1>%" 1/>5 1/"> 1S< 5<A"$

Su((ort Soft&are -hese (u)lic domain / source (rograms are a'aila)le for use in )uilding IFF0com(ati)le (rograms: IFF$= IFF#$/ IFFI$/ IFF reader and &riter (ac.age$ -hese modules handle many of the details of relia)ly reading and &riting IFF files$ IFF/hec.$/ -his handy utility (rogram scans an IFF file chec.s that the contents are &ell formed and (rints an outline of the chun.s$ >ac.er$/ 5n>ac.er$/

>A/JE#$=

#un encoder and decoder used for IA3" files$ IA3"$= IA3"#$/ IA3"I$/ #eader and &riter su((ort routines for raster image F1#" IA3"$ IA3"# calls IFF# and 5n>ac.er$ IA3"I calls IFFI and >ac.er$ Sho&IA3"$/ E+am(le caller of IFF# and IA3"# modules$ -his /ommodore0Amiga (rogram reads and dis(lays a F1#" IA3"$ #a&?IA3"$/ E+am(le IA3" &riter (rogram$ As a demonstration it reads a ra& raster image file and &rites the image as a F1#" IA3" file$ IA3"?#a&$/ E+am(le IA3" reader (rogram$ #eads a F1#" IA3" file and &rites it into a ra& raster image$ #E"AAA1/$= #emalloc$c "emory allocation routines used in these e+am(les$ I<-5AAA$= #EAD>I/-$= generic "include almost e'erything" include0file &ith the se*uence of includes correctly s(ecified$ #ead>ict$c gi'en an IA3" file a color ma( >5->I/-$= >ut>ict$c gi'en a )itma( and a color ma( an IA3" file$ %I1$= %io$c sa'e it as read it into a )itma( and

generic ID1 s(eedu( (ac.age$ Attem(ts to s(eed dis. ID1 )y )uffering &rites and reads$ sam(le call to gio$ reads in IA3" file (rints out ascii re(resentation for including in / files$ (rints out a /0language re(resentation of data for

giocall$c il)mdum($c )m(rintc$c

a )itma($

E+am(le Diagrams =ere6s a )o+ diagram for an e+am(le IFF file a raster image F1#" IA3"$ -his F1#" contains a )itma( header (ro(erty chun. 3"=D a color ma( (ro(erty chun. /"A> and a raster data chun. 31DM$ -his (articular raster is @?2 + ?22 (i+els + @ )it (lanes uncom(ressed$ -he "2" after the /"A> chun. re(resents a ;ero (ad )yte: included since the /"A> chun. has an odd length$ -he te+t to the right of the diagram sho&s the outline that &ould )e (rinted )y the IFF/hec. utility (rogram for this (articular file$ Y00000000000000000000000000000000000Y R6F1#"6 ?42C2 R Y00000000000000000000000000000000000Y R6IA3"6 R Y00000000000000000000000000000000000Y R Y0000000000000000000000000000000Y R R R 63"=D6 ?2 R R R R @?2 ?22 2 2 @ 2 2 $$$ R R R Y 000000000000000000000000000000Y R R R 6/"A>6 ?1 R R R R 2 2 2: @? 2 2: B4 2 2: $$ R R R Y0000000000000000000000000000000Y R R 2 R Y00000000000000000000000000000000000Y R631DM6 ?4222 R R2 2 2 $$$ R Y00000000000000000000000000000000000Y F1#" ?42C2 I3A"

$3"=D $/"A>

?2 ?1

$31DM ?4222

-his second diagram sho&s a AIS- of t&o F1#"s IA3" sharing a common 3"=D (ro(erty and a common /"A> (ro(erty$ Again the te+t on the right is an outline a la IFF/hec.$ Y00000000000000000000000000000000000000000Y R6AIS-6 48114 R Y00000000000000000000000000000000000000000Y R6AAAA6 R R Y00000000000000000000000000000000000Y R R R6>#1>6 B? R R R Y00000000000000000000000000000000000Y R R R6IA3"6 R R R Y00000000000000000000000000000000000Y R R R Y0000000000000000000000000000000Y R R R R R 63"=D6 ?2 R R R R R R @?2 ?22 2 2 @ 2 2 $$$ R R R R R R 000000000000000000000000000000Y R R R R R 6/"A>6 ?1 R R R R R R 2 2 2: @? 2 2: B4 2 2: $$ R R R R R Y0000000000000000000000000000000Y R R R R 2 R R R Y00000000000000000000000000000000000Y R R Y00000000000000000000000000000000000Y R R R6F1#"6 ?421? R R R Y00000000000000000000000000000000000Y R R R6IA3"6 R R R Y00000000000000000000000000000000000Y R R R Y00000000000000000000000000000Y R R R R R631DM6 ?4222 R R R R R R2 2 2 $$$ R R R R R Y00000000000000000000000000000Y R R R Y00000000000000000000000000000000000Y R

AIS$>#1>

48114 B?

AAAA IA3"

$$3"=D $$/"A>

?2 ?1

$F1#"

?421?

IA3"

$$31DM

?4222

R Y00000000000000000000000000000000000Y R R R6F1#"6 ?421? R R R Y00000000000000000000000000000000000Y R R R6IA3"6 R R R Y00000000000000000000000000000000000Y R R R Y00000000000000000000000000000Y R R R R R631DM6 ?4222 R R R R R R2 2 2 $$$ R R R R R Y00000000000000000000000000000Y R R R Y00000000000000000000000000000000000Y R Y00000000000000000000000000000000000000000Y

$F1#"

?421?

IA3"

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