Editing FILE ID.DIZ (section)

==Formal structure==
While real-world use among BBSs varied, with the [[software piracy|NPD]] world and even different BBS brands coming up with expanded versions, the official format is:

Plain, 7-bit ASCII text, each line no more than 45 characters wide.

# '''Program/file name:''' Ideally, all uppercase and followed by one space. Carriage returns are ignored in this file.
# '''Version number:''' In the format "v1.123", followed by a space.
# '''ASP number:''' Only if an actual ASP member, otherwise ignored.
# '''Description separator:''' A single short hyphen "-".
# '''Description:''' The description of the file. The first two lines should be the short summary, as older boards cut off the rest. Anything beyond that should be extended description, for up to eight lines, the official cut-off size. Additional text could be included beyond that but might not be included by the board.

Many archives would stick strictly to the 45-character plain ASCII format for the first 8 lines, then contain an appended 80-character wide 8-bit ASCII or [[ANSI graphic]] page with better-formatted documentation after that.<ref>[http://pcmicro.com/getdiz/file_id.html Copy of official FILE_ID.DIZ documentation].</ref>