FILE_ID.DIZ

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FILE_ID.DIZ is the file name of a simple text file that was distributed together with the content described in it in a ZIP file on bulletin board systems (BBS for short). This description has been adopted on each BBS, which means that the author of the actual content and the various BBS can ensure that the description is correct and always the same. The file FILE_ID.DIZwas first described by Clark Development for the program PCBDescribeand adopted as the de facto standard . The file name extension .DIZ stands for English Description In ZIP, which can be translated as "Description in a ZIP archive".

function

The file was used to be able to automatically extract the description of a content distributed in a ZIP archive. Most of them were small shareware programs.

In order to avoid bad descriptions such as “great program” or ratings by the uploader such as “okay, but ...”, the respective author was given the opportunity FILE_ID.DIZto describe his program himself as well as possible using the ZIP archive . This description therefore comes from the author of the shareware program and not from the uploader, so that in the end the same description for the ZIP file is displayed on each BBS and not different each time. This made it easier for users to assess whether the shareware offered was the content they were looking for, even before the download .

Filename

The file must be no other names ending .DIZassume there explicitly FILE_ID.DIZof PCBDescribebeing processed. In capital letters of the file name is usually written so because in the days of MS-DOS and the IBM PC and compatible computers , the file system English File Allocation Table (FAT short) just saved capital letters; there was also an 8.3 limit. This convention was adopted for the ZIP archiving program PKZIP , which was widely used at the time .

Later the file can also be found in archives of other compression formats such as LHarc , ARJ , ACE and RAR .

content

The file is a simple ASCII - text file , with each text editor can be created and edited. Since the file on bulletin board systems (BBS) was originally mainly used for shareware, there is a regulation for members of the Association of Software Professionals , or ASP for short, for the content of this file.

After that, the content is limited to 10 lines with 45 characters per line. The limit is due to the BBS itself, which had a limit of 512 bytes for describing the files. The 10 × 45 limit ensures that the description is always complete.

The lines should not contain any spaces (formatting such as centering, etc.) and there should be no blank lines . The text may only consist of letters and numbers, as only these are internationally the same within the first 128 characters of the ASCII standard (the first 7 bits). The ASCII extension in the form of the different character set tables (8-bit), so-called English code pages , should be avoided as well as ANSI escape sequences ( control characters ), as these can be different depending on the configuration and the content is no longer on different systems or on the same systems in different languages ​​in the same way and as originally intended.

The following content was recommended:

  • the program name, recommended in capital letters
  • the version number, preceded by a small "v" in the form "v12.34"
  • identification as a member of the Association of Software Professionals , if any
  • if there are multiple disks : a brief description of the disk followed by the number in the form " Disk 2 of 5 "
  • the separator: a minus
  • the description

The official example (in English): 

MY PROGRAM v1.23 <ASP> - A program which will
do anything for anybody. Will run in only 2k
of memory. Can be run from the command line,
or installed as a TSR. Completely menu-
driven. Version 1.23 reduces the previous 4k
memory requirements, and adds an enhanced
graphical user interface. Also, MY PROGRAM 
now contains Windows and DESQview support. 
Coming soon - an OS/2 version.
From Do-It-All Software, Inc. $15.00

The example with multiple disks (in English): 

MY PROGRAM v1.23 <ASP> Program Executable 
Files - Disk 1 of 2
(gefolgt von der Beschreibung)

The description can then be omitted from the second disk: 

MY PROGRAM v1.23 <ASP> Documentation Files - 
Disk 2 of 2

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e FILEID.TXT v1.9 (English), Richard Holler, May 17, 1994; accessed on March 23, 2016.
  2. ↑ NARKIVE (Mailing List Archive): FILE_ID.DIZ Limit / Length (English); accessed on March 23, 2016.