tekstitiedostomuodon

Tekstitiedostomuoto refers to the fundamental way plain text data is organized and stored in a computer file. Unlike rich text formats that can contain formatting information like fonts, colors, and layout, text files store only the characters themselves. This simplicity makes them universally compatible across different operating systems and applications.

The basic unit of a text file is a character, which is represented by a specific numerical encoding. Historically, ASCII was a dominant encoding, but modern systems predominantly use Unicode, with UTF-8 being the most common implementation. Unicode allows for a much wider range of characters, including those from various languages and special symbols.

Text files are typically structured using lines of text, separated by newline characters. The specific character or sequence of characters used to denote a newline can vary between operating systems: Windows uses a carriage return followed by a line feed (CRLF), while Unix-like systems (Linux, macOS) use only a line feed (LF). This difference, though subtle, can sometimes cause compatibility issues when transferring text files between platforms.

Common examples of text file formats include .txt, .csv (comma-separated values), .html (hypertext markup language), and .json (JavaScript object notation). While some of these have specific structures and conventions for organizing data or defining content, they all fundamentally rely on the storage of plain text characters. Their openness and lack of proprietary formatting make them ideal for simple data storage, configuration files, and inter-application communication.