Formats of IGT online Papers

Paper Format

Description

Pros

Cons

Example

Adobe Portable Document Format

the Portable Document Format (PDF) is the de facto standard for electronic distribution of documents because it is the best way to keep the look and feel of a text intact. PDF files are compact, cross platform and can be viewed by anyone with a free Acrobat Reader. Therefore we recommend to publish papers in this format. One can create PDF files from any application using Adobe Acrobat Distiller.

precise layout,
supports formula, graphics,
allows browsing through text by integrating table of contents,
supports a variety of MIME types,
small file size thanks to compression,
viewable from a variety of platforms as Windows, Mac, Unix.

browser must be configured with a special plug in, which is available free of charge from Adobe.

example with graphics.

(size 55 kB)

ASCII text

was the most common format for text files in computers and on the Internet.

supported by all browsers without any additional components.

for plain text only, without formatting, without graphics etc.

same example but without graphics.

(size 3 kB)

MS-Word text

proprietary text editor of Microsoft.

good formatting possibilities.

not portable, large files, only Word-95 supported.

same example with graphics.

(size 721 kB)

HTML text

the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the standard of the WWW.

supported by all browsers without any additional components.

limited formatting possibilities.

same example with graphics.

(size 58 kB)

Rich Text Format

export format supported by many text editors.

good formatting possibilities.

not portable, even larger files than for the MS-Word format.

same example with graphics.

(size 1700 kB)

Executable program

binary program file. May usually just be executed on the operating system where it was created.

not portable.

an example with output to the browser window.

Zipped archive

less a document format, but a format in which documents are compressed.

good formatting possibilities.

not portable, even larger files than for the MS-Word format.

same MS-Word example with graphics.

(size 57 kB)

Compiled HTML Help

Hypertext document in HTML Help format, the new Microsoft Help file format intended to replace WinHelp since Windows 98.

good formatting possibilities.

not portable, requires Internet Explorer.

classic Windows help

Hypertext document in WinHelp format (the classic Windows help format)).

good formatting possibilities.

not portable.