FILE ID.DIZ

FILE_ID.DIZ is a file sometimes found within archives (such as ZIP files) containing software intended to be distributed, particularly by upload/download on bulletin board systems. It is a plain-text file describing the contents of the archive, with a specification as to its contents and format, to promote standardized description of such downloads. It was used primarily in the early 1990s, and was endorsed by the Association of Shareware Professionals, but in the present day its main use is in documenting "cracked" pirated copies of software in the "warez scene".

The "DIZ" extension stands for "Description In Zipfile", and is also (if written in lowercase as "diz", though in the DOS era filenames were usually shown in uppercase) "zip" upside down.

Characteristics of a standards-compliant FILE_ID.DIZ file include:


 * Limited to 10 lines of text, of up to 45 characters per line
 * ASCII characters only (no "high-ASCII" extended characters or other character sets)
 * Strictly for describing the files; no advertisments or other material

These standards weren't always strictly followed by file authors/uploaders, however.

Links

 * Specification (v1.9)
 * Wikipedia article