Visual Codec Studio is an application that allows you to work with encoded files. Most of the files you download from the internet are compressed, and the most popular compression type is ZIP. Visual Codec Studio calls such compressed files encoded files, and can support potentially unlimited types of encoded files.
Encoded files are files that have been modified in some way for a particular purpose. For instance, an encrypted file is encoded in such a way that the original file is protected from unauthorized access. A compressed file is encoded in such a way that it takes much less space than the original file. Visual Codec Studio refers to each encoding type as a Codec.
A codec is the name given to the method by which files are encoded. Different encoding methods naturally result in different codecs. For example, the codec used in creating ZIP files is not the same as the codec used in creating CAB files. The files created by different codecs are classified under different file types.
You are probably already familiar with file types. Different files contain different information, represented internally in different ways. For Visual Codec Studio, each codec will be associated with a particular file type. For example, the ZIP and CAB codecs will each have their own file types, determined by their extensions, .ZIP and .CAB .
Visual Codec Studio supports different file types, and hence different codecs, by plug-ins. Plug-ins provide unlimited future potential for using Visual Codec Studio as new file types are invented.
You are also probably familiar with the concept of plug-ins as used by internet browsers such as Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. Used in these browsers, plug-ins allow the browser to properly display documents that it could not display before, without the plug-in.
The same metaphor holds true for Visual Codec Studio. Visual Codec Studio itself knows nothing about codecs and file types. It requires plug-ins to be able to work with encoded files. Although the lack of built-in support for any file type may seem like a weakness, it is in fact a great advantage. As long as you have the proper plug-in, using Visual Codec Studio you can open and work with virtually any kind of encoded file.
We have developed ten plug-ins for use with Visual Codec Studio. Bundled with these plug-ins, Visual Codec Studio can support the following file types.
For encoding:
ZIP, CAB, RAR, BH, LHA, ACE, JAR, TAR, GZIP.
For decoding:
ZIP, CAB, RAR, BH, LHA, ARJ, ZOO, ARC, TAR, GZIP, GZ, Z, ACE, JAR, PAK, TGZ, PKG, LZH, HA.
One of the best things about Visual Codec Studio is that it has potential for unlimited expansion. As more plug-ins become available for Visual Codec Studio, you will be able to work with even more file types.
We are presently developing plugins that will support the encoding of MP3, ARJ and PGP codecs. However, we will not be the sole providers for plug-ins. You can expect to see many more plug-ins appear in the future that support varying features for different codecs.
No. When we were making Visual Codec Studio, we wanted to create a universal plug-in specification. We called this specification Codex Plug-In Technology (Codex). Any application that conforms to the Codex standards can use your existing plug-ins! This means not only will you be seeing new plug-ins, but new applications that use them!
This is especially advantageous for you, because not only can you pick which plug-ins you want, you can also pick which applications you want to use those plug-ins with!