OCR
GCSE
ICT
Methods of storing data and file
formats for storing data
FILE MANAGEMENT -WHY IT IS IMPORTANT
Why is File Management important?
 It helps for Jackie and Cable Ties Ltd to stay
organised, so that information can be located by
her or any other authorised person.
 Setting up a good structure with sensible file
names saves time in the long term.
 A sensible file name is a name that best describes
the information that is contained in the file.

FILE MANAGEMENT -WHY IT IS IMPORTANT
Naming Conventions
 Jackie has created a FILE called
 New_Clients_April 17th 2014_V1.docx
 This shows that the file is called New Clients and
that it is Version 1 and the date shows the time
when Jackie last updated the file without having
have to open it.
 Now Jackie needs to create a FOLDER to store
the file or document.

FILE MANAGEMENT -WHY IT IS
IMPORTANT
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FOLDERS
A FOLDER is a container for storing files.
A SUB-FOLDER is a folder within a folder. This may be
CLIENTS, TECHNICIANS, EQUIPMENT etc
FILES
Jackie knows that the folders must be understandable to
others. A file is the name given to every document that you
save on your computer such as word processing,
spreadsheet, databases or images. They all have different
file extensions for example docx, jpeg.
Jackie when she saves her work she saves it in her normal
file type e.g. word processing will be .docx AND as a PDF so
that the formatting and features will not be lost.
Hierarchical
Folder Structure
Clients
Clients 2014
Clients 2014
Cable Ties Ltd
Technicians
Equipment
Clients 2013
Clients 2013
Chief
Technicians
Technicians
Electrical Equipment
Archiving
• Archiving is a backup that is taken in case the
original is lost.
• Archives are the backups that are not needed in
the immediate short term but maybe required
for future reference
• Instead of saving these files on computer it is
better to save them on backing removable
storage (as mentioned previously) and store
them in a fireproof building away from the main
site
LESSON OVERVIEW

In this lesson you will learn about various file formats
used, the reason they are needed and the difference
between open source and proprietary formats.
INTRODUCTION

You will have seen file formats every time you
are in a ICT lesson.
WHY ARE THEY NEEDED?

Files created by software applications are stored so
that they can be retrieved for later use. A particular
file format will tell the operating system which
application needs to open it.
.docx = Word file
.psd = Photoshop file
.xlsx = Excel spreadsheet
file
.swf = Flash Player file
.pubx = Desktop publisher
file
.wmv = Windows Media Player file
.pptx = PowerPoint file
.pdf = Acrobat file
.mdbx = Access database
file

The unique set of letters are used to ensure that the
files are opened quickly by the correct applications.
STRUCTURE

Each file format follows a certain structure.
.pptx
.docx
.pub
.avi
.wmv
.jpg
. docx
Full
stop
Unique group
of letters
TASK 1


Resource 1 – file type
software icon
Match the file type icons to
the programs that open
them.
PROPRIETARY & OPEN FORMATS

File formats can be grouped into two types:
Proprietary
Proprietary formats are those owned by commercial
companies and are only used by software made by the
owners.
Open
Open formats are used by a variety of software applications
and can be used to transfer data between applications.
TASK 2

Open up, Resource 2 - Spider Diagram
(proprietary and open formats).docx
TASK 2 – PROPRIETARY FORMATS
As a class fill in the empty boxes
Format
Meaning
Typically used to store
.doc
.docx
Microsoft Word document
Word-processed letters and other
typed documents
.xls
.xlsx
.ppt
.pptx
.fla
.wma
TASK 2 – PROPRIETARY FORMATS
Format
Meaning
Typically used to store
.doc
.docx
Microsoft Word document
Word-processed letters and other
typed documents
.xls
.xlsx
Microsoft Excel document
Spreadsheets
.ppt
.pptx
Microsoft Powerpoint document
Slideshow presentation
.fla
Adobe Flash movie/animation
Animations/movies
.wma
Windows Media Audio
Audio/sounds
TASK 2 – OPEN FORMATS
As a class fill in the empty boxes
Format
.aac
.rtf
.csv
.exe
.txt
.pdf
.mp3
.aiff
.wav
Meaning
Advanced audio coding
Typically used to store
Audio/sound stored without loss of data
TASK 2 – OPEN FORMATS
As a class fill in the empty boxes
Format
.aac
Meaning
Advanced audio coding
Typically used to store
Audio/sound stored without loss of data
.rtf
Rich text format
Word-processed documents
.csv
Comma separated values
Lists of data used to transfer data
between applications
.exe
Executable file
Applications that can be run on
computer systems
.txt
Text
Unformatted text files
.pdf
Portable document format
Formatted documents
.mp3
MPEG audio layer 3
Audio/sound store with loss of data
.aiff
Apples audio format
Audio/sound
.wav
Microsoft audio format
Audio/sound
EXAM STYLE QUESTIONS