File viewer
A file viewer ( english file viewer ) is a software for displaying a file stored digital data . As a rule, the viewer only works with read access . This differs from its counterpart, the editor .
In addition to pure viewing programs that work exclusively with read access, there are also programs that have been expanded so that there are also limited options for change. This can be, for example, the red pen function for viewers of CAD drawings , with which additions or notes to the original file are saved, or a tagging function. Pure viewers are usually also made available free of charge for commercial use. Compared to the corresponding full versions, these applications are typically much leaner and therefore not only save storage space, but usually also have significantly shorter loading times. Depending on the disclosure and license conditions of the file format, there are sometimes only viewers from the original software manufacturer, but sometimes also from commercial third-party manufacturers or open applications from the developer community.
Programs that are specially designed for image files are also called image viewers . A special subgroup are the 3D viewers, with which you can rotate 3D models in space and thus view them from all sides. Another group is the document viewer .
Examples of file viewers
- for different image file formats see image viewer
- for various CAD file formats
3D_Analyzer, 3DViewStation, Spinfire, 3D-Tool- for AutoCAD files
DWG TrueView, Autodesk AutoCAD 360 and Teigha Viewer
- for AutoCAD files
- for plot files in formats such as PCL or HPGL
SwiftView or VcView - for text files
more , less , xless ,vim -R(avoids unintentional writing) - in addition to text editors - for document formats
- for PDF files see list of PDF software
- for PostScript files
Evince or Ghostview - for DVI ( TeX )
xdvi and yap, as well as universal viewers in Linux desktop environments, see DVI viewer
- WordPad renders various document files , similar to Visioo Writer for OpenDocument and OpenOffice.org files
- Office applications (if formats from other manufacturers can be imported; spreadsheets included)
Some of these popular viewers listed as examples already contain note functions or can add comments or markings. Depending on the transfer parameters or access rights, these are also limited to pure file viewing.