It is now common, especially when working on modern computers, to work with
Atari software as files or "images" containing the data from an entire disk,
data cassette, or cartridge as duplicated from the native media for the Atari.
Here is a list of file formats, arranged by their associated filename
extensions. These are all filename extensions used to name files containing
entire 8-bit Atari floppy disk images, cassette tape images, or cartridge
images.
.ATP -Atari Protected Disk Image Format. An open disk format suitable for
storing copy protected disks (similar to the APE .PRO format).
Version 1.6, 2004-4-11, by the ATP Working Group:
http://www.ataripreservation.org/websites/freddy.offenga/ATP16.htm
.ATR -Image format invented by Nick Kennedy, for his SIO2PC project.
Very similar to .XFD but with an added 16 byte header.
This is the most common image format, used with most 8-bit Atari
emulators running on other computer platforms.
SIO2PC is at http://pages.suddenlink.net/wa5bdu/sio2pc.htm
.ATX -Image format invented by Jorge Cwik (ijor), for VAPI project. Goal of
Vapi is the preservation of Atari software in its original unmodified
form, including custom format or copy protection. .ATX is a superset of
.ATR for single density; does not support other Atari disk densities.
.ATX is comparable to .IPF or .SCP (SuperCard Pro) file formats.
http://vapi.fxatari.com/
http://www.whizzosoftware.com/sio2arduino/vapi.html
http://atariage.com/forums/topic/252191-vapi-library-source-code/
.BIN -Same as .ROM, see below.
.CAR -Cartridge ROM image format invented for the Atari800 emulator. Format
includes information about cartridge type. Contains the 'CART'
signature at the beginning of the file. See:
http://sourceforge.net/p/atari800/source/ci/master/tree/DOC/cart.txt
.CAS -Cassette image format invented by Ernest R. Schreurs, for his
Digital Cassette Image system (includes CAS2SIO, WAV2CAS, and CAS2WAV
MS-DOS utilities). See: http://home.planet.nl/~ernest/
- The .CAS format was extended by Tomasz Krasuski to support non-
standard data (copy prevention mechanisms), for his A8CAS shared
library, tools, and emulator patch. http://a8cas.sourceforge.net/
- More .CAS tools:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/y7ah6lgz
Note that the .CAS format, both original and extended, only includes
the digital track; it does not include the audio track.
.DCM -Image format invented by Bob Puff for his Disk Communicator 3.2 utility.
Intended for use on native Atari hardware. A compressed data format.
DISKCOMM is at http://www.nleaudio.com/css/files/DISKCOM.ARC
.DCM specs at: http://home.planet.nl/~ernest/diskcomm.zip
.DD -Early filename extension used with double density disk images for use
with the Xformer emulators. Replaced by the .XFD extension.
.DI -Image format invented by Kolja Koischwitz & Christian Krueger for
800XL DJ, their 1050/XF551 disk drive emulator for the Atari
ST/TT/Falcon.
800XL Deejay: http://www.umich.edu/~archive/atari/Emulators/800xldj.lzh
.IPF -Interchangeable Preservation Format invented by the Software
Preservation Society (SPS), http://www.softpres.org/. A platform
agnostic format that is extremely low-level, representing the
information as it would have been read by a drive head. Comparable to
.SCP (SuperCard Pro) or the Atari-specific .ATX format. Images are
created on a modern computer using the KryoFlux USB-based floppy
controller: http://www.kryoflux.com/
.PRO -Proprietary image format invented by Steven Tucker, for his
APE ProSystem. http://www.atarimax.com/
.ROM ROM dump file, raw with no header information. Typically a cartridge
memory dump, but also used for an operating system memory dump.
.SCP -Image format invented by ICD, for SpartaDOS. Used with the external
SpartaDOS command SCOPY, distributed with SpartaDOS 3.2. Used when
working with native Atari hardware. A compressed data format.
.SCP -"Flux image file" format (platform agnostic) invented by Jim Drew for
his SuperCard Pro universal floppy disk copier/imager/converter
hardware/software for Windows PC. Comparable to .IPF or the Atari-
specific .ATX format. http://www.cbmstuff.com/proddetail.php?prod=SCP
.SD -Early filename extension used with single density disk images for use
with the Xformer emulators. Replaced by the .XFD extension.
.XFD -"Xformer Floppy Disk" image format invented by Emulators, Inc. (Darek
Mihocka) for the Xformer emulators (ST, PC). Known earlier, before
support for arbitrary disk sizes was added, as .SD or .DD depending on
the density of the imaged disk. The format consists simply of a raw
sector dump of a disk. Used with ST Xformer, PC Xformer, and
Xformer 2000 emulators.
Xformer emulators are at http://www.emulators.com/
See also: Atari Disk Image FAQ (Steve Tucker)
http://www.atarimax.com/ape/docs/DiskImageFAQ/
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