Editing GIS file format (section)

==Format characteristics==
Over a hundred distinct formats have been created for the storage of spatial data, of which 20-30 are currently in common usage for different purposes. These can be distinguished in a number of ways:
* ''Open'' formats are developed collectively by a community and are available for anyone to implement and contribute improvements, while ''Proprietary'' formats have been developed by a software company for use only in their own software and are generally maintained as a trade secret (although they are often reverse-engineered by others). A third category between these would include formats that are owned exclusively by one company or organization, but are published and available for implementation by anyone, such as the Esri [[Shapefile]].<ref name="shapefile" />
* Some file formats are ''[[text file]]s'' that can be read by humans (such as those based on [[XML]] or [[JSON]]), especially those intended for data exchange, while others are  ''[[binary file]]s'', most commonly those designed for native use in GIS software.
* ''Inherently spatial'' formats were designed specifically for storing geographic data, while others are ''spatial extensions'' to formats designed for a more general use (e.g., [[GeoTIFF]], [[spatial database]]s).
* Many data formats incorporate some form of ''[[data compression]]'', especially raster files. Generally, lossless compression methods are preferable over [[Lossy compression|lossy]] methods, because the original data values need to be retrieved.<ref name="bolstad">{{cite book |last1=Bolstad |first1=Paul |title=GIS Fundamentals: A First Text on Geographic Information Systems |date=2019 |publisher=XanEdu |location=Ann Arbor, MI |isbn=978-1-59399-552-2 |page=69}}</ref>