# Translate Format Information

Format information can include file attributes in the following categories:

- Major format

- File class

- Minor format

- Major version

- Minor version

Not all categories are required. Many formats only include major format and file class, or major format only.

The format information has the following structure:

    MajorFormat.FileClass.MinorFormat.MajorVersion.MinorVersion

For example:

    81.2.0.9.0

Each number in the format information represents a file attribute. The entry `81.2.0.9.0` represents a Lotus 1-2-3 Spreadsheet file version 9.0, where:

`81` = Lotus 1-2-3 Spreadsheet (major format)

`2` = Spreadsheet (file class)

`0` = not defined (minor format)

`9` = 9 (major version)

`0` = 0 (minor version)

The example above applies to `formats_e.ini` file. When extracting format information by using the function`getAutoDetectInfo()` method, the same format information is represented as `294.2.0.9`.

NOTE: The format values returned by `getAutoDetectInfo()` differ from those in `formats_e.ini` because the former defines a unique ID for each major format, whereas the latter uses a major version, minor version, and minor format to distinguish between formats.

## Distinguish Between Formats

The structure`getAutoDetectInfo()` methodprovides a unique ID for each major format. For example, a call to `getAutoDetectInfo()` returns `351.1.0` for a Microsoft Word 2003 XML format. The major format `351` is unique to this format.

Unlike `getAutoDetectInfo()`, the `formats_e.ini` file distinguishes between formats by using the major version number. For example, in `formats_e.ini`, a Microsoft Word 2003 XML format is defined as `285.1.0.100.0`. The major format `285` and file class `1` are the same values for generic XML. The major version `100` distinguishes the format as Microsoft Word 2003 XML.

The major version is used in `formats_e.ini` to specify the following formats:

- The Microsoft Office 2003 XML format has the same major format and file class as generic XML (`285.1`). It is distinguished from generic XML by using the following major versions:

  - Word: 100

  - Excel: 101

  - Visio: 110

- The XHTML format has the same major format and file class as HTML (`210.1`). It is distinguished from HTML by using the major version `100`.

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