Weaving Information File (WIF)

WIF File Format Specification

Version: 1.1 · Effective: 1997 · Author: Shannon Young, describing the format by Ravi Nielsen and the 1996–97 WIF developer groups

This is a reference-style companion to the plain-language WIF 1.1 guide. It covers the same format and the same scope — what the WeaveIt applications read and write — laid out as tables for implementers. Where the two differ, the guide is authoritative.

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1. WIF File (.wif)

A WIF file is plain text in the INI style: a sequence of [SECTION] headers, each followed by Key=Value keylines. Section and key names are case-insensitive. A line whose first non-blank character is ; is a comment. All indices — ends, picks, shafts, treadles, colors — are 1-based.

1.1 Conventions

Topic	Rule
Encoding	Write UTF-8. Read UTF-8 first; fall back to ISO-8859-1.
Line endings	Write either. Read CRLF, LF, or a mix.
Comments	; at line start. Inline ; after a number or bool is a comment; after a string it is literal text.
Case	Section and key names are case-insensitive.
Order	Sections, and keylines within a section, may appear in any order.
Duplicate keys	An error. Keep the first or the last; do not crash.
Empty section	Treat as absent.
Decimals	Period separator, e.g. 0.05.

1.2 Data types

Type	Notes
string	Free text to end of line.
integer	Whole number. Treat as 32-bit.
decimal	Real number, e.g. 0.05 or 24.
bool	True: true, on, yes, 1. False: false, off, no, 0. Absent optional bool is false.
list	Comma-separated values of one type, e.g. 1,3,5. Empty list and omitted keyline are equivalent.

1.3 Defaults and sparse data

Row sections ([THREADING], [TREADLING], [LIFTPLAN], [WARP COLORS], [WEFT COLORS], and the spacing and thickness sections) need not list every end or pick. A reader:

1. Creates [WARP] Threads ends and [WEFT] Threads picks.
2. Gives each the [WARP] / [WEFT] default Color, Spacing, and Thickness, and sets every shaft and treadle to 0 (unused).
3. Applies the keylines present in the file over those defaults.

A writer may omit any keyline equal to its default, or write them all.

1.4 Header sections

[WIF] — Identifies the file. Required.

Key	Type	Notes
Version	string	Required. Always 1.1.
Source Program	string	Required. Name of the writing program.
Source Version	string	Optional. Version of the writing program.
Date	string	Required. Free text; no dependable format. Parse leniently or display as text.

[CONTENTS] — Table of contents. Required on write; advisory on read.

Key	Type	Notes
section name	bool	One keyline per section present, e.g. WEAVING=1. Only true entries are meaningful.

Readers build the section list by scanning for headers, not from [CONTENTS].

1.5 Project sections

[TEXT] — Title and author. Optional.

Key	Type	Notes
Title	string	Optional.
Author	string	Optional.

[NOTES] — Free-text notes. Optional.

Key	Type	Notes
line number	string	One keyline per line, from 1. Reader joins with newlines.

1.6 Loom section

[WEAVING] — The loom. Required when the file carries a threading, tie-up, treadling, or lift plan.

Key	Type	Notes
Shafts	integer	Required. > 0.
Treadles	integer	Required. > 0. Use the shaft count if the loom has no treadles.
Rising Shed	bool	Optional. 1 raises the selected shafts; 0 lowers them. Always write it; assume 1 if absent.

1.7 Warp and weft sections

[WARP] and [WEFT] — Thread count and defaults. Identical keys.

Key	Type	Notes
Threads	integer	Required. > 0. Number of ends (or picks).
Color	integer	Optional. Default color, as a [COLOR TABLE] index. Older files write index,R,G,B; read the first value.
Units	string	Required if Spacing, Thickness, or any spacing or thickness section is present. Inches or Centimeters.
Spacing	decimal	Optional. ≥ 0. Center-to-center distance, in Units. Equals 1 / sett.
Thickness	decimal	Optional. ≥ 0. Drawn yarn width, in Units.

1.8 Color sections

[COLOR PALETTE] — Size and channel range of the color table. Write whenever colors are used.

Key	Type	Notes
Entries	integer	Required. > 0. Row count of [COLOR TABLE].
Range	list	Required. min,max for each channel. Almost always 0,255.

[COLOR TABLE] — The colors.

Key	Type	Notes
color index	list	R,G,B, each within Range. Scale to 8-bit with (v - min) * 255 / (max - min).

[WARP COLORS] and [WEFT COLORS] — Per-end and per-pick color.

Key	Type	Notes
end / pick	integer	[COLOR TABLE] index. Absent → [WARP] / [WEFT] Color. Older files write index,R,G,B; read the first value.

1.9 Spacing and thickness sections

[WARP SPACING], [WEFT SPACING], [WARP THICKNESS], [WEFT THICKNESS] — Per-end and per-pick overrides.

Key	Type	Notes
end / pick	decimal	In [WARP] / [WEFT] Units. Absent → the Spacing or Thickness default.

1.10 Structure sections

A draft is defined by [THREADING] plus either [TIEUP] and [TREADLING], or [LIFTPLAN]. A file may carry all four.

[THREADING] — Shaft for each end.

[THREADING]
1=1      ;end 1 on shaft 1
2=2
3=3
4=4

Key is the end; value is a list of shafts. More than one shaft per end is legal but rare. Absent end → shaft 0, unthreaded.

[TIEUP] (with [TREADLING]) — Shafts tied to each treadle.

[TIEUP]
1=1,2    ;treadle 1 moves shafts 1 and 2
2=2,3
3=3,4
4=1,4

Key is the treadle; value is a list of shafts, each ≤ [WEAVING] Shafts. Value 0 or absent → treadle unused.

[TREADLING] (with [TIEUP]) — Treadles pressed for each pick.

[TREADLING]
1=1
2=2
3=3
4=4

Key is the pick; value is a list of treadles. More than one treadle is multi-treadling; store as a list. Value 0 → no treadle pressed.

[LIFTPLAN] — Shafts raised for each pick, without treadles.

[LIFTPLAN]
1=1,2
2=2,3
3=3,4
4=1,4

Key is the pick; value is a list of shafts.

Reading. When [TIEUP], [TREADLING], and [LIFTPLAN] are all present, use the tie-up and treadling. Fall back to the lift plan only if either is missing.

Writing. Write [LIFTPLAN] for every draft. For floor-loom drafts, also write [TIEUP] and [TREADLING].

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2. Private sections

[PRIVATE <SourceID> <SectionName>] — Program-specific data outside the format.

Field	Type	Notes
SourceID	string	Short tag unique to the writing program.
SectionName	string	Section name within that program’s namespace.
keylines	—	Any content. No line may begin with [.

A reader skips any private section it does not recognize, resuming at the next line that begins with [.

[PRIVATE WEAVEIT AWESOME]
Sparkles=1

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3. Deprecated

Read only for compatibility. Never write.

Item	Notes
[WARP SYMBOL PALETTE], [WEFT SYMBOL PALETTE], [WARP SYMBOL TABLE], [WEFT SYMBOL TABLE], [WARP SYMBOLS], [WEFT SYMBOLS]	Symbols. Unused by current software. See the guide for value forms.
[WARP SPACING ZOOM], [WARP THICKNESS ZOOM], [WEFT SPACING ZOOM], [WEFT THICKNESS ZOOM]; Spacing Zoom, Thickness Zoom	Zoom. Not implemented.
[BITMAP FILE], [BITMAP IMAGE], [BITMAP IMAGE DATA]	Never implemented. Suspended at 1.1.
[TRANSLATIONS]	Suspended at 1.1.
[DESIGN]	Dropped at 1.1.
[WIF] Developers	Contact address. Privacy risk; ignore.
[TEXT] Address, EMail, Telephone, FAX	Personal contact data. Privacy risk; ignore.
[WARP] / [WEFT] Colors, Palette, ColorMix	Superseded by the color table.
[WEAVING] Profile	Obsolete.
Units=Decipoints	Treat as Inches.

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4. Integration notes

• Platform file type. On macOS and iOS, declare the shared UTI org.wif-format.wif. See Sharing the .wif File Type on macOS and iOS.
• Interoperability. Files most often fail to open elsewhere because of a missing [COLOR PALETTE] / [COLOR TABLE], a malformed [CONTENTS], non-UTF-8 bytes, or a private section line beginning with [.
• Shed direction. Rising Shed=0 inverts which face the drawdown shows.

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5. Reference

• Guide: wif-format_v1_1_guide.md
• Example file: twill-color-and-weave.wif
• Overview of all versions: README.md
• Original WIF 1.1 text (historical): Copyright © 1996, 1997 Ravi Nielsen
• Project site: wif-format.org
• Discussion: github.com/WIF-Format/WIFStandard

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Appendix A: Minimal WIF file

A 2-2 twill, straight-threaded on 4 shafts and 4 treadles, with alternating dark and light ends and picks.

[WIF]
Version=1.1
Source Program=Example
Date=March 3, 1996

[CONTENTS]
COLOR PALETTE=1
COLOR TABLE=1
WEAVING=1
WARP=1
WEFT=1
THREADING=1
TIEUP=1
TREADLING=1
LIFTPLAN=1
WARP COLORS=1
WEFT COLORS=1

[COLOR PALETTE]
Entries=2
Range=0,255

[COLOR TABLE]
1=32,32,32
2=240,240,240

[WEAVING]
Shafts=4
Treadles=4
Rising Shed=1

[WARP]
Threads=8
Color=1
Units=Inches
Spacing=0.05

[WEFT]
Threads=8
Color=2
Units=Inches
Spacing=0.05

[THREADING]
1=1
2=2
3=3
4=4
5=1
6=2
7=3
8=4

[TIEUP]
1=1,2
2=2,3
3=3,4
4=1,4

[TREADLING]
1=1
2=2
3=3
4=4
5=1
6=2
7=3
8=4

[LIFTPLAN]
1=1,2
2=2,3
3=3,4
4=1,4
5=1,2
6=2,3
7=3,4
8=1,4

[WARP COLORS]
2=2
4=2
6=2
8=2

[WEFT COLORS]
1=1
3=1
5=1
7=1

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Copyright © 2026 Shannon Young. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. The WIF format itself is unowned; see License and attribution.

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