How do file formats work?

[seriously disabled]

How do file formats work and how do you create new file formats?

 

I couldn't find books which discuss file formats. There are many books on computer architecture/organization, data structures, compilers etc but I couldn't find any books which teach the basics of file formats and how to create file formats.

 

So if anyone could recommend any, this would be highly appreciated.

Edited July 19, 2009 by Uri

[Klaynos]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_formats

 

What you do is you write a specification, so you write a document that tells others (and reminds you) what the data in the file means. And then you decide to call it a .uri and then whenever you write a .uri file you can use your original document to understand what it means. If other people adopt the same file format and also call it a .uri then you have created a convention which people stick to... There's not much more to it than that.