Metaformats

A metaformat (or meta format) is a generic low-level file format used as a basis for defining high-level file formats.

Whether a format is a metaformat is ultimately a judgment call. There are no definitive answers to questions like: What is the difference between a container format and a metaformat? Or a serialization format and a metaformat? Is CSV a metaformat, or is it a database format? Should TIFF and PDF be considered to be metaformats, given all the subformats of them that have been defined?

Formats

 * IFF
 * ODL (NASA Object Description Language)
 * RIFF
 * SGML
 * XML

Links

 * W3C: Meta formats