Filename extension
A filename extension is a suffix to the name of a computer file applied to indicate the encoding convention (file format) of its contents. In some operating systems (for example Unix) it is optional, while in some others (such as Windows) it is a requirement. Some operating systems limit the length of the extension (such as DOS and OS/2, to three characters) while others (such as Unix) do not. Some operating systems (for example RISC OS) do not use file extensions. Filename extensions can be considered a type of metadata. They are commonly used to infer information about the way data might be stored in the file. The description above is meant to mostly explain the intent of filename extensions: an exact definition, giving the criteria for deciding what part of the file name is its extension, belongs to the rules of the specific filesystem used; usually the extension is the substring which follows the last occurrence, if any, of the dot character (e.g.
