Sustainability of Digital Formats
 Planning for Library of Congress Collections

Format Description Categories >> Browse Alphabetical List >> Back

Identification and description

Full name	Electronic Arts Interchange File Format 1985 (EA IFF 85)
Description	Generic wrapper format developed for data interchange and interoperability.
Production phase	Various, depends upon application.
Relationship to other formats
Supertype of	AIFF, Audio Interchange File Format
Supertype of	DSDIFF_1_5, Direct Stream Digital Interchange File Format, Version 1.5
Supertype of	Wrappers for other applications, not documented here

Local use

LC experience or existing holdings	None
LC preference	None

Sustainability factors

Disclosure	Fully documented. Developed by Electronic Arts.
Documentation	EA documentation is provided online by various third parties.
Adoption	Unknown to the compilers of this document; see also AIFF.
Licensing and patent claims	None.
Transparency	Transparent wrapper. Transparency of bitstreams within subtypes varies; for example, see LCPM and DSD.
Self-documentation	The format includes headers and identifiers associated with various "chunks," as the elements within the file are called. These headers contain encoded information (as specified) used to characterize the chunk's role and characteristics.
External dependencies	None
Technical protection considerations	None known to the compilers of this document.

Quality and functionality factors

Normal rendering	Not applicable
Clarity (support for high image resolution)	Not applicable
Fidelity (support for high audio resolution)	Not applicable
Support for multiple sound channels	Not applicable
Support for downloadable or user-defined sounds, samples, and patches	Not applicable
Functionality beyond normal rendering	Not applicable

File type signifiers

Tag type	Value	Note
Filename Extension	Varies by application
Internet Media Type	Varies by application
Magic numbers	Varies by application
Forms and chunks	Varies by application	For more information, see http://www.borg.com/~jglatt/tech/aboutiff.htm

Notes

General

History

The format was brought to completion in 1985 by the electronic gaming company Electronic Arts; some of the information about IFF refers to the Commodore-Amiga computer company and three Commodore-Amiga staff members are listed as co-authors of a key piece of documentation. An outline of the history of Electronic Arts is provided by the Wikipedia. The IFF format was influential and is cited as the source of ideas and approach by the creators of other tagged formats, e.g., RIFF and SMF.

Format specifications

URLs
• IFF information, from a third party (http://http://www.martinreddy.net/gfx/2d/IFF.txt).
Print

Useful references

URLs
• EA IFF 85 from the Object Systems Group, University of Geneva, Switzerland (http://cui.unige.ch/OSG/info/AudioFormats/ap06.html)
• Electronic Arts in Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Arts).
• About IFF (http://www.borg.com/~jglatt/tech/aboutiff.htm)

Print