2007.07.03 18:37 "[Tiff] BigTIFF extension?", by Phil Harvey
Thread
2007.07.09 16:21 "Re: [Tiff] BigTIFF extension", by Andy Cave
Re: [Tiff] BigTIFF extensionI think that's even worse. Makes me wince.
I have to admit what I do... I use a folder whose name indicates what's in them - so I use "BigTIFF" as my folder with BigTIFF files in it. TIFF file names are used to store things like "Job Name", "Job Number, "Page Number", "Page Side", "Separation Color", "Unique ID",...
I never store the compression format, or strip vs tile format, etc.. in the file name - always in the folder they are in. So I have folders titled "Tiled TIFFs" with sub-folders for difference formats et al. Etc...
Regards,
Andy.
----- Original Message -----
From: Stephen Carlsen
To: Joris ; Gary McGath
Probably most of the arguments for and against using a different extension have now been stated and re-stated.*
So maybe it would be enlightening to inject a possible compromise position into the discussion. I don't love it, but I don't totally hate it, either.
Most of use can use filenames longer than 8.3 these days. So how about agreeing on a convention to use a 2-part file extension for BigTIFF files: ".x.tif" or some such thing. That way users (and tech support people, and developers) have some immediate clue that this is a BigTIFF file -- which could save significant tech support costs and headaches over the next N years of transition.
(To head off a predictable complaint: no, I'm not proposing this for every TIFF compression scheme and color space and whatever. I do think that the Big TIFF case is at least a little bit special -- It's the first thing that has ever caused a rewrite of the TIFF spec section on file structure (Header, IFD count, IFD fields, etc).
Admit it, don't you already label your own TIFF test files with some scheme like this, so that you can tell them apart at a glance? ;-)
* (My own first preference is still to consider these to be 2nd Generation TIFF files -- TIFF for a new millenium, if you will -- and use a new extension such as ".tf2".)
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