OT: origin of file length in WAV (Re: [linux-audio-user] Converting w64 to wav)

[Steve Harris]

On Sun, Jan 09, 2005 at 09:39:07 +0100, Andreas Kuckartz wrote:
> Steve Harris wrote:
> 
> > [OT] I have no idea why someone chose to add a required, fixed length file
> > length parameter to the WAV format, but they deserve a good wack with the
> > clue stick.
> 
> WAV is based on the "Resource Interchange Format" (RIFF) and the RIFF header
> contains an entry for the file length. RIFF is a modification of IFF and IFF was
> created by Electronic Arts for the Amiga.

I remember IFF 8SVX from my Amiga days, and it was reasonable (if
pointless) then to add a file length field and assume files would be <
2GB, but there was no need for WAV to carry it on.

- Steve