fileextensionsny8 Understanding HQX and MAP data formatsThis is another post from our series of posts helping you understand various computer file extensions and their applications.
For the newbies – ‘Computer file extensions’ is the term used for the suffix that appears at the end of file names and these are used to identify both what format the file has been saved as, and also tells your operating systemwhich program to open this file with. So, for example, an .avi file extension tells your operating system firstly that it is a video file, and secondly that it should be opened with your default video program such as Windows Media Player.
There are many different file extensions such as ‘.exe’ and ‘.jpg’. Whilst you are no doubt familiar with many of them such as .mp3 you may not be aware of what the .hqx and .map file formats are.
The file extension HQX is a file format exclusive to the Macintosh operating system. It is known as the ‘BinHex Encoded File’ and denotes Macintosh binary files encoded into ASCII files, containing only printable characters. Because all systems are able to handle ASCII files, the ‘BinHex Encoded File’ is useful when transferring files across different platforms such as sending an email to a Microsoft system.
Another file format is the file extension MAP, known as the ‘Image Map’ file. Image Mapping is a form of hyperlink where, instead of having clickable text which, when selected, redirects you to another website, people are able to access new sites by clicking a certain picture or area of a picture. For example, an image map may be a clickable country on a world map. The ‘Image Map’ file format saves the ‘hot spots’ on the image and the hyperlink destination. Although this is the primary use of the .map file format they are also associated with various other programs such as computer games.