Answer:
Of course. Pure ASCII files are rare, these days.
Of course. Pure ASCII files are rare, these days.
Most files contain information encoded by schemes other than ASCII. Executable files (.exe) mostly contain machine instructions. The TYPE command will not be successful in interpretting this information as character data. Here is what happens when TYPE is sent an executable file:
Only a limited range of byte patterns correspond to characters. The remaining patterns are sometimes called unprintable characters. Sometimes, depending on the application, the unprintable patterns correspond to special purpose characters or geometric shapes.
Most positions in the above picture are blank because TYPE could not interpret the corresponding byte as a character. Some positions are filled with special-purpose characters when a byte accidentally corresponded to a special purpose character. But some positions look like they correspond to legal ASCII.
Is some of the information in the executable file encoded as ASCII?