Accepted file types and formats | The Language Archive

The tables below list the accepted file types and formats in The Language Archive at the MPI for Psycholinguistics. We make a distinction between formats we support for long-term preservation, including format migrations if those formats become obsolete, and formats for which we can only guarantee preservation of the files themselves (bit-stream preservation) for a minimum period of 10 years, without the guarantee that we will be able to migrate them to future formats.

The listed file extensions are obligatory for deposited files; files will be rejected if their extensions differ from what is specified in the tables.

Long-term Preservation Formats

Media resources

Type	Format	Assigned MIME	Standard MIME	Extension	Remarks
Audio	WAV	audio/x-wav	audio/x-wav	.wav	16/24 bit, 44.1/48 kHz, uncompressed PCM, 1 or 2 tracks.
Video	MPEG1	video/x-mpeg1	video/mpeg	.mpg	Video stream bitrate min. 300 kbit/sec, resolution min. 352x240. Max 2 audio tracks.
	MPEG2	video/x-mpeg2	video/mpeg	.mpeg	MPEG2 Program Stream, video stream bitrate min. 3 mbit/sec, resolution min. 640x480. Max. 2 audio tracks.
	MPEG4	video/mp4	video/mp4	.mp4	Video codec: H.264, audio codec: AAC. Video stream bitrate min. 300 kbit/sec, resolution min. 352x240. Max. 2 audio tracks.
Image	JPEG	image/jpeg	image/jpeg	.jpg
	PNG	image/png	image/png	.png
	TIFF	image/tiff	image/tiff	.tiff
	SVG	image/svg+xml	image/svg+xml	.svg

Textual resources

Type	Format	Assigned MIME	Standard MIME	Extension	Remarks
Structured Annotation	EAF	text/x-eaf+xml	text/xml	.eaf	ELAN annotation file format
	PFSX	text/x-pfsx+xml	text/xml	.pfsx	ELAN settings file for a specific annotation file. Not strictly necessary to preserve but can be archived along with EAF for convenience.
	CHAT	text/x-chat	text/plain	.cha	CHILDES/CLAN text format. Use UTF-8 whenever possible
	Toolbox Text	text/x-toolbox-text	text/plain	.tbt	Use UTF-8 whenever possible.
	Praat TextGrid	text/praat-textgrid	text/praat-textgrid	.TextGrid	Praat TextGrid annotation file (only plain text variant is accepted, not binary). Use UTF-8 character encoding, not UTF-16.
Unstructured Annotation	Plain text	text/plain	text/plain	.txt	ASCII or UTF-8 character encoding required
	HTML	text/html	text/html	.html	ASCII or UTF-8 character encoding required
	PDF	application/pdf	application/pdf	.pdf	Embed non-standard fonts
Primary Text	Plain Text	text/plain	text/plain	.txt	ASCII or UTF-8 character encoding required
	HTML	text/html	text/html	.html	ASCII or UTF-8 character encoding required
	PDF	application/pdf	application/pdf	.pdf	Embed non-standard fonts
	ODT	application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text	application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text	.odt	Open Document Text
Lexicon	Toolbox Lexicon	text/x-toolbox-lexicon	text/plain	.tbx	Use UTF-8 whenever possible.
	CHAT lexicon	text/x-cut	text/plain	.cut	Use UTF-8 whenever possible
	Plain Text	text/plain	text/plain	.txt	ASCII or UTF-8 character encoding required
	HTML	text/html	text/html	.html	ASCII or UTF-8 character encoding required
Other	Toolbox type	text/x-toolbox-type	text/plain	.typ	Toolbox type file
	Toolbox language	text/x-toolbox-language	text/plain	.lng	Toolbox language file
	Toolbox sort order	Text/x-toolbox-sortorder	text/plain	.set	Toolbox sort order file
	XML	text/xml	text/xml	.xml	Generic XML file. Provide XML schema for non-standardised formats
	Schema	text/xml	text/xml	.xsd	XML Schema file
	KML	application/vnd.google-earth.kml+xml	application/vnd.google-earth.kml+xml	.kml	Google Earth KML GIS format
	ODS	application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet	application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet	.ods	Open Document Spreadsheet
	ODP	application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation	application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation	.odp	Open Document Presentation
	CSV	text/csv	text/csv	.csv	Comma Separated Values file, ASCII or UTF-8 character encoding required
	R script	text/x-R	text/x-R	.R	ASCII or UTF-8 character encoding required. Preserved as text, compatibility with future R versions cannot be guaranteed.
	R markdown	text/x-r-markdown	text/markdown	.Rmd, .rmd	ASCII or UTF-8 character encoding required.

Medium-term bit-stream preservation formats

Type	Format	Assigned MIME	File Extension(s)	Comment
Binary	NeuroScan image	application/x-neuroscan-img	.img	Needs accompanying .hdr file
	NeuroScan image header	application/x-neuroscan-img-hdr	.hdr	Needed for raw NeuroScan image data.
	Brain Vision EEG	application/x-brainvision-data	.eeg .seg	Needs accompanying .vhdr and .vmkr files to open.
	SPSS data	application/spss-sav	.sav
	SPSS result view	application/x-spss-spv	.spv
	NeuroScan History file	application/x-ehst	.ehst
	NeuroScan ehtp file	application/x-ehtp	.ehtp
	MATLAB data file	application/x-matlab-data	.mat .fig
	DICOM file	application/dicom	.IMA .ima .dcm
	BAM file	application/x-bam	.bam	compressed Sequence Alignment Map, gzip compatible
	BAI file	application/x-bai	.bai	index file for a BAM Sequence Alignment Map
“Text”	Brain Vision Header File	text/x-brainvision-header	.vhdr	Needed for opening raw Brain Vision EEG data
	Brain Vision Marker File	text/x-brainvision-marker	.vmkr	Needed for opening raw Brain Vision EEG data
	NeuroScan History info file	text/x-neuroscan-hfinf	.hfinf
	MATLAB script	text/x-matlab	.mat
	Presentation Script	text/x-presentation-script	.pcl .sce	Neurobehavioral Systems Presentation script
	Presentation Experiment Settings	text/x-presentation-settings	.exp	Neurobehavioral Systems Presentation Experiment Settings
	Praat Pitch	text/praat-pitch	.Praat .praat	Praat Pitch data text file (only plain text variant is accepted, not binary)

The archive accepts ZIP/GZIP files for certain types of collections, but only for the purpose of packaging large numbers of files that belong to one “bundle” and are in accepted formats as specified in the tables above. ZIP/GZIP files are generally not accepted for language corpora.