EDGAR Resources
Comparing and contrasting the ASCII and HTML EDGAR formats
EDGAR Formats: ASCII vs. HTML
What is it?
ASCII
ASCII is an acronym for the American Standard Code for Information Interchange. It was proposed in 1963 and adopted as a standard in 1968. The purpose of the standard was to create a compatible format through which computers and other processing equipment could share content. ASCII is extremely limited in what it can display. The core code has representations only for standard characters, no font or style information.
HTML
With the advent of graphical internet browsers, HTML arose as the language used to express not only the content of a file, but also its presentational appearance. HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. Browsers, such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer®, read a file's HTML code and interpret it to properly display the file's content for viewing.
HTML is a markup language you can use to create documents that are portable from one platform to another. It is a powerful data representation method that enhances the way you can represent public information, and the way our analysts and other end-users digest information throughout EDGAR.
Unlike ASCII, HTML is not limited in the manner in which content can be presented. With support for fonts, text styles, data tables, images, and more, HTML files represent a richer content source than ASCII files.
What's the Difference?
A cursory glance at the accompanying screenshots makes the difference between ASCII and HTML obvious. ASCII is the epitome of “Plain Text”. Areas of content relate through visual positioning only – via inserted spaces – there is no underlying structure nor presentational framework.
HTML, on the other hand, contains the structure and presentation that ASCII lacks. Content such as tables have an underlying framework so that elements can relate to each other both visually and structurally. The capabilities of the HTML language allow a transparency to the printed document that is impossible under the limitations of the ASCII format.
Screenshots
An ASCII Document
An HTML Document
Emerging Formats: XBRL
XBRL is an acronym for the Extensible Business Reporting Language. XBRL provides a mean for tagging individual items of financial data. By tagging the data in this manner, the information becomes accessible to “smart” computer recognition, analysis, and communication.
For more information on XBRL, visit our XBRL page.
