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Text file
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<p>A text file (sometimes spelled textfile; an old alternative name is flat file) is a kind of <a href="/facts/Computer_file/FjFH3Ufm">computer file</a> that is structured as a sequence of <a href="/facts/Line_(text_file)/V7FJM1ga">lines</a> of <a href="/facts/Electronic_text/Aqe8yJR9">electronic text</a>. A text file exists <a href="/facts/Data_storage/uCvJ6nrq">stored as data</a> within a <a href="/facts/Computer_file_system/FdPm90uc">computer file system</a>. </p><p>In operating systems such as <a href="/facts/CP%2fM/n5rTgXdC">CP/M</a>, where the operating system does not keep track of the file size in bytes, the end of a text file is denoted by placing one or more special characters, known as an <a href="/facts/End-of-file/VVBQjjN0">end-of-file</a> (EOF) marker, as padding after the last line in a text file. In modern operating systems such as <a href="/facts/DOS/sWwDXNmX">DOS</a>, <a href="/facts/Microsoft_Windows/bwhAhuSL">Microsoft Windows</a> and <a href="/facts/Unix-like/YAKrAxzd">Unix-like</a> systems, text files do not contain any special EOF character, because file systems on those operating systems keep track of the file size in bytes. </p><p>Some operating systems, such as <a href="/facts/Multics/y7A5peyu">Multics</a>, Unix-like systems, CP/M, DOS, the <a href="/facts/Classic_Mac_OS/I5fQq44K">classic Mac OS</a>, and Windows, store text files as a sequence of bytes, with an <a href="/facts/Newline/ffeJz4Nn">end-of-line</a> <a href="/facts/Delimiter/wRAQxIKV">delimiter</a> at the end of each line. Other operating systems, such as <a href="/facts/OpenVMS/rAnHAgpD">OpenVMS</a> and <a href="/facts/OS%2f360_and_successors/nQbdNbx6">OS/360 and its successors</a>, have <a href="/facts/Record-oriented_filesystem/LGEHrRj2">record-oriented filesystems</a>, in which text files are stored as a sequence either of fixed-length records or of variable-length records with a record-length value in the record header. </p><p>"Text file" refers to a type of container, while <a href="/facts/Plain_text/TSlSSAg2">plain text</a> refers to a type of content. </p><p>At a generic level of description, there are two kinds of computer files: text files and <a href="/facts/Binary_file/ysttM8hh">binary files</a>. </p>