Document Actions
File Extensions
File extensions are the most common method of distinguishing different file types. Images have .gif, .jpg, or .png extensions while Microsoft's Office programs have .doc (Word), .ppt (Powerpoint) or .xls (Excel) extensions. There is .pdf extensions for Adobe Acrobat and .html or .htm extensions for the Web. These are just some of the standard extensions that we have encountered in these age of electronic information. File extensions are usually added automatically while working on PCs while you have to add the file extension manually when you save your files in MACs.
Why can't I open my document?
Problem 1: Non standard file extensions
But there are instances when we encounter a non-standard file extension. We would try to open the file yet we end up seeing gibberish instead of the document we expected. Or the document won't open at all!! This happen because file associations cannot match the file extension with the application that is designed to open them.
Solution:
Never use period ( . ) in naming your file since most applications will assume that characters beyond the period is the extension of the file. Use a dash ( - ) instead.
| Dont | Do |
|---|---|
| resume.jsmith.doc | resume-jsmith.doc |
Problem 2: Older version vs Newer version
Some older version program cannot open documents created with newer versions unless the user knows to save the document to an older version. Take for example, MS Word. Word has gone through numerous versions and the current Word 2007 (and the rest of the applications under Office 2007) adds the character 'x' to its file extension. So instead of only having a .doc extension, Word 07 carries a .docx extension. If you send the document to a user who has the older version of Word, you will surely get a reply that they were not able to open the document.
Solution:
Make sure you know what version of the application they will be using to read the file. And instead of just clicking Save. Click Save As and change the format type to the version your reader is using. Remember that not all documents are the same even though they might have the same file extensions.
