Mark,

> Does anyone know if there is a "standard" list of these
> anywhere on the Internet? You know the kind of thing..
>
> .txt
> .doc
> .r1w

...

There are generally accepted standards, and then there are Microsoft
standards, then there are Unix standards and so forth.

Files with an extension of .txt, for example, are generally accepted
standards.  This means Text file, or that the file contains ASCII text.
.doc is another because MS got ahold of it early on, which means Microsoft
Word.  .zip is generally accepted to mean a file in PKZIP format.  .htm or
.html means a web page.

.asp, .htx. and the host of others that Microsoft has come up with are
Microsoft standards, and either work with other apps (.asp, for example,
will work in a Netscape browser, as will .htx).

The problem is that competing products will "usurp" the extensions for their
own use.  For example - .gif or .jpg/.jpeg are generally accepted standards
for their respective image files.  Install Photoshop or some other third
party image editor, and it will "associate" itself to that extension.
Install Office2000 (the preview, the technical or when it comes out)
PhotoDraw, and guess what happens to those associations?  They switch to
PhotoDraw.  BTW - it happens in reverse as well, so it's not just Microsoft
usurping the extension.

Unix standards such as .mak were used in Visual Basic up until 3.0 but were
changed to .vbp when they introduced Visual Studio.  Why?  If you tried to
open a .mak file, then Visual/C++ was opened instead of Visual Basic (unless
all you had was Visual Basic, then you were OK).

So, in a nutshell, those extensions which have been around for some time are
generally accepted standards - for the most part (there are exceptions such
as .dat).  There are others, such as "r1w" which associate to one
application only (Reflection/1 Settings File), and there are those which
conflict (.dat can mean a data file - but the Windows Registry also uses
.dat - system.dat and user.dat).  Is there anyplace on the Internet which
dictates these?  Not that I know of -- sorry.

Best Regards,
Joe Geiser

========================================================
Joe Geiser
CSI Business Solutions, LLC
** Your Client-Server and Internetworking Specialists **
Phone: +1 (215) 945-8100  Fax: +1 (215) 943-8408
Toll Free (US/Canada):  (877) 945-8100
========================================================