File converter
File converters are software components or stand-alone computer programs that output a file in a different file format than the one currently stored. In computer science, this process is generally referred to as conversion . Since the original file is usually retained, it is not "converted" in the literal sense. So-called codecs are used to read and write files in the various formats .
A number of office applications and editors are able to read files in different file formats and, if necessary, to save them in another. This is basically a conversion, but with these programs the processing of the data is usually in the foreground and not the conversion between different formats.
There are also programs whose sole purpose is file conversion. These programs can then generate one or more target files in new formats from one or more source files (e.g. LaTeX2html ). Some file converters also allow a large number of files to be converted using batch processing , also known as batch conversion. File converters are now also made available as a server application on an application server as an online (file) converter .
Converters that can save videos from the YouTube streaming platform locally in several formats (MP3, MP4, M4A, AAC, FLAC, OGG, WMA, AVI, WMV, 3GP) are very popular . This is legally permitted as long as it is a private copy . However, this violates the provider's terms of use .
So-called PDF converters allow the conversion of various document formats into the target format PDF and are also offered online (free of charge).
Some file converters are also offered as software extensions for certain applications (e.g. media converters as web browser plug-ins).
EDI converter are special file converters that the electronic data exchange ( electronic data interchange ) between different data processing systems come to use.