# Determine Format Support

After the file format is extracted, the detection module uses the `formats_e.ini` file to determine whether the format is supported by KeyView, and the appropriate structured access layer and reader to load.

The `formats_e.ini` file is in the directory `install\OS\bin`, where `install` is the path name of the Export installation directory and `OS` is the name of the operating system. It contains the following information:

- Coded format information. To translate this information, see Translate Format Information.

- The reader associated with each format. See Determine a Document Reader.

- Configuration parameters for out-of-process conversions.

- Locale settings for internal use.

Below are some entries from the `formats_e.ini` file:

    123=mw
    152=xyw
    178=wp6
    189=mw6
    2=af
    200=pdf
    205=mb
    210=htm
    251=htm

NOTE: The `formats_e.ini` file applies to all formats except graphics. Detection of graphics formats is handled by an internal module named KeyView Picture Interchange Format (KPIF).

## Refine Detection of Text Files

During text detection, KeyView analyzes the first 1 kB and last 1 kB of data in a document; if less than 10% of that data consists of non-ASCII characters, KeyView detects the document as a text file.

However, depending on the type of documents you are working with, the default settings might not provide the desired level of accuracy. Configuration flags allow you to change the amount of data to read at the end of a file, the percentage of non-ASCII characters permitted in a text file, and whether to use or ignore the file extension to determine the document format.

### Change the Amount of File Data to Read

During file detection, KeyView reads characters from the beginning and end of a file—by default, it reads the first and last 1,024 bytes of data. Large text files might contain many irrelevant characters at the end of a file, so KeyView might not accurately detect the file format. You can set a configuration flag to increase the amount of data to read from the end of a file during detection.

To change the amount of data to read during detection

- In the `formats_e.ini` file, set the following flag in the `detection_flags` section:

      [detection_flags]
      non_ascii_chars_end_block_size=kB

  where `kB` is the number of kilobytes to read from the end of the file, from `0` to `10`. The default value is `1`.

  NOTE: The file size must be greater than the value specified in the flag. If the flag value is greater than the file size, KeyView does not use the flag.

### Change the Percentage of Allowed Non-ASCII Characters

By default, if less than 10% of the analyzed data in a document consists of non-ASCII characters, it is detected as a text file. Depending on the type of files you are working with, changing the default percentage might increase detection accuracy.

To change the percentage of non-ASCII characters allowed in text files

- In the `formats_e.ini` file, set the following flag in the `detection_flags` section:

      [detection_flags]
      non_ascii_chars_in_text=N

  where `N` is the percentage of non-ASCII characters to allow in text files. Files that contain a lower percentage of non-ASCII characters than `N` are detected as text files. The default value is `10`.

### Use the File Extension for Detection

Sometimes KeyView detects certain file formats (such as CSV) as ASCII because of the content of the documents. In such cases, you can configure KeyView to use the file extension to determine the document format. Using the file extension can improve detection of formats such as CSV, but might not detect text files successfully if they have incorrect file extensions.

To use the file extension for ASCII files during detection

- In the `formats.ini` file, set the following flag in the `detection_flags` section:

      [detection_flags]
      use_extension_for_ascii=1

  The default is `0` (do not use the file extension).

## Allow Consecutive NULL Bytes in a Text File

By default, if a document contains consecutive `NULL` bytes, it is not detected as text. Depending on the type of files you are working with, changing the default might increase detection accuracy.

To allow consecutive NULL bytes of ASCII characters in text files

In the `formats.ini` file, set the following flag in the `detection_flags` section:

    [detection_flags]
    ascii_allow_null_bytes=1

The default value is `0` (do not allow consecutive `NULL` bytes).

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