Downloads

Help and advice on downloading files

version 1.0, September 2006

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Downloading advice

It occurred to us, after working with many community groups, that whilst the 'Net allows you to download many types of file, very rarely, if ever, does a web site tell you what to do with the file to view their contents once you have downloaded them. This page is intended to address this deficit.

Links to downloadable files on the FRAW site are identified with large, rectangular graphical links. We've standardised the links so that they look the same across the web site. There are two broad types of link:

Yellow links – this tells you that the file is part of the FRAW site and so if you have a problem downloading/viewing the file, or you can't get it to work after it's downloaded, then it's our problem. If there is a problem with any of our files you should report it via the contacts page.
Blue links – this tells you that the file we're linking to is not part of the FRAW site, but it sits one someone else's site. In this case, if there's a problem with downloading or using the file, don't contact us! (contact the operators of the web site concerned).

Along with the file type icon, you will also see a list of the common filename extensions (the letters that follow the last '.' in the filename) that are associated with these kinds of file. Files are generally classified according to a MIME type, a globally recognised file format and filename extension that allows you to tell them apart. If you'd like to know more about this go to the IANA web site.

Another key aspect of indentifying the files from the FRAW site is that – unless you are told otherwise – the data on the FRAW site is in nearly every case available under an open license – meaning that you can use, extract, copy and reproduce the information for your own (non-commercial) purposes.

Finally, dealing with files can be complicated depending upon how they are packed. You web browser contains helpers that deal with most of the common file types, such as Adobe Acrobat or "PDF" files. For most people problems arise when they have to deal with compressed files, or files intended for use with other programs. The table below tells you how to deal with each of the different file types that are commonly available, and provides (where available) links to free software applications that will deal with these files

Note that, this guide is written specifically from the point of view of users of free/open source software. However, Windoze/Mac uses will find it helpful, and links are also provided for proprietary software users.

If you want to use this file and it's associated icons you can download a ZIP archive and unpack it to recover all the files.



Advice on working with files

Web indexes

This denotes a index page for a whole lot of other files. If you save or download this file all you will get is the index page itself, and not the files that the page lists. In order to download the index and all its associated links you need a "ripping" program such as webget (for Gnu/Linux) or Black Widow.

We use the "index" icon to make it clear that the link is to another index page, not a specific file that can be easily downloaded.

Common web site text/data files

The following are the most common file to be found on web sites that convey information, reports, etc.
 

File extensions:
.htm, .html, .shtml, .asp, .cfm, .xml		 HyperText Mark-up Language or "HTML" files are the basic files that run much of the World-Wide Web. These files should be viewable on any standsrd web browser, although problem with the display of data can occur because of difference between how different companies write their browser programs. Ideally, when you save a web page your browser should automatically collect all the images and other formatting information from the page and save that too. If not, consider using a more superior, open source broswer, such as Firefox.

File extensions:
.pdf		 Portable document format or "PDF" files are a means by which information can be distributed across many types of computer and printed exactly as the originator of the document intended. There are two classes of PDF file. Most are generated by Adobe Acrobat's proprietary software, and require Adobe's own reader program to access them (you can download the latest version of the Acrobat Reader program, for both Windoze, Mac and Gnu/Linux systems). "PDF" files are a version of the Acrobat standard that is generated by non-Adobe software, including many free/open source programs. To view PDF files without using Acrobat Reader (which is a good idea on older computers because the Adobe's program uses a lot of disk and memory) you could use KPDF or XPDF.

File extensions:
.txt, .asc, .csv		 Plain text or ASCII files are the most basic form of computer file – they are made up of text characters. As just about every type of computer reads plain text file they are often used as the most basic, fail-safe means of communicating files between different computer systems (e.g., web or "HTML" files are in fact plain text files).

The exact composition of the file is determined by its character encoding. Generally the terms "plaintext" or "ASCII" are interchangeable, but in reality the subtle differences between encoding systems can lead to inconsistencies in the interpretation of the file by text editors, word processors and other programs.

"Comma-" or "Tab-Separated Values" are formatted plain text files that are used to transfer tabular, spreadsheet or databased information between computer systems. These might have an ordinary ".txt" extension, but they should have a ".csv" extension to ensure that they are properly interpreted by the program that reads them.

File extensions:
.ps, .eps		 Postcript (".ps"), or Encapsulated Postscript (".eps") files are data formatted for sending to a printer. This was the way that formatted documents or report were distributed before the development of the Portable Document Format (in fact, PDF files are an extension of the Postscript system). As PDFs are now preferred Postscript files are now seldomly used, but can sometimes still be found online.

File extensions:
anything		 Where we link to a file type that is not covered by any of the classification given in this list we used the unknown icon – the actual file type will be decsibed in the accompnaying text.

File extensions:
.css		 Cascading StyleSheet (".css") files are part of the formatting system for the most recent types of web page. The design of the text, colour and spacings within the page is separated from the content and stored as an external stylesheet that is shared by more than one page. If you download an HTML file that uses an external stylesheet you'll also have to download the CSS file or it will not display correctly.

File extensions:
.rss		 Rich Site Summary, RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication files are a way of summarising the content of a web site as a single file that can be read and searched with an RSS reader program. Using programs running on a server RSS files can also be merged to provide access to the content of one web site from another.

Graphics






File extensions:
.gif, .jpg, .jpeg, .ico, .png, .tif, .tiff		 These files are used to hold pictures/images. On the FRAW site we use PNG files by preference as they are an open standard (there are copyright issues related to the use of GIF and JPEG files).

Multimedia






File extensions:
.avi, .mpg, .mpeg, .mov, .qt, .rm, .ram, .wmv		 These file types are movie/motion picture formats. AVI files (".avi") can be read by various programs, but problems arise because of the need for plug-in or CODEC files to interpret the encoding of the audio or video data (same same problem also applies with MPEG and MOV files). MPEG (".mpg" or ".mpeg") is a compressed video file format (the video data takes up less space than an AVI file). Quicktime (".qt" or ".mov") files are a compressed format similar to MPEG but they usually generated by Apple's Mackintosh system. Realmedia (".rm" or ".ram") file are highly compressed video and audio files for use with the Realtime viewer program. Windows Media Viewer (".wmv") files are a compressed file format used with Microsoft's Windows Media program.

File extensions:
.swf		 Flash files are a plug-in for web pages providing compressed audio or animation/video functions within web pages. The flash files can be downloaded and viewed with a web browser separately from the main web page.



File extensions:
.mp3, .ogg, .wav		 These are audio file formats. Wave audio (".wav") are the most basic form of sound file, containing uncompressed PCM data from a sound card. MP3 and OGG files are compressed sound files, which use specialised algorithms to encode the audio information in a much smaller space. Currently the MP3 format has many copyright/patent problems, and so our preference is to use OGG files for audio.

Free Software Applications

The Free Range Activism Web Site, and those who maintain it, use only free/open source software. Where possible, we will always use free software, or open standard files, on the web site.






File extensions:
.odb, .odg, .odp, .ods, .odt		 OpenOffice is the free alternative to Microsoft Office. OpenOffice comprises various programs/file formats: Database (".odb"), Drawing ("odg"), Presentation ("odp"), Spreadsheet ("ods"), and Writer ("odt").

File extensions:
.sla, .scd		 Scribus is a free desktop publishing application.

Proprietary Software Apps






File extensions:
.mdb, .xls, .ppt, .rtf, .doc		 Microsoft Office files – these require Microsoft Office to read them, or a program that is capable of reading the version of Office that generated the file.


File extensions:
.com, .exe, .dll		 Microsoft executable files – these only work with Microsoft operating systems.

Compressed/Archived Files

Compressed or archive files require a program to "unpack" the files that they contain.





File extensions:
.gz, .gzip, .zip, .tar, .tgz		 On Microsoft systems "Zip" files are the standard archive format, and require pkzip or Winzip to unpack them – on Gnu/Linux systems these files can be unpacked with unzip (from the console) or Archive Manager (from the desktop). "GZip" are files similar to Zip files, but usually only found on Gnu/Linux and Unix systems, and can be unpacked with gunzip (from the console) or Archive Manager (from the desktop). "Tar" or "Tarball" files are uncompressed archives, and can be unpacked with tar (from the console) or Archive Manager (from the desktop). "TGZ" are GZipped Tar files (archived and then compressed) and require both gunzip and tar (from the console) or Archive Manager (from the desktop) to unpack them.

Programming/Scripting Files



File extensions:
.c, .cpp, .c++		 Files associated with the C programming language – you need a compiler to turn it into an executable program.



File extensions: .java, .class, .jar		 Files associated with the Java programming language – you need a Java interpreter/console to run the programs.





File extensions:
.cgi, .php, .pl, .js, .vb, .vbs		 Web scripting files – these are usually installed on a web server. PHP, CGI and Perl files are interpreted by the web server to generate a web page. JavaScript (".js") and VBScript (".vb" or ".vbs") files can be run on the server (server-side), or from the client computer (client-side) whilst browsing a web page.

File extensions:
.rpm		 RPM (RedHat Package Manager) files are software packages that install on many free software systems.

File extensions:
.sh		 "Shell programs" run from the command line (or command shell) on Unix and Gnu/Linux systems. There are different types of shell console – unless otherwise stated the shell files on this site use the bash shell.

The Free Range Activism Website – http://www.fraw.org.uk/

© Paul Mobbs/The Free Range Network 1996–2006
The content of the FRAW site is available for use under open licenses – for further details see the copyright page
For more information on FRAW and the Free Range Network email fraw@fraw.org.uk

location – http://www.fraw.org.uk/file_icons/file_icons.shtml
last updated – 21st September 2006