Bitstream format - what is it?

[mpostol]

Recognizing bitstreams as the information representation we must deal with the next two terms: text and document. Sometimes we may also encounter the terms: formatted document or rich text format. Understanding these terms is a vital problem for software developers. In other words, we must face up the following questions:

• What conditions must be met to recognize bitstream as text?
• What conditions must be met to recognize the text as a document?
• What conditions must be met to recognize the document as a formatted document?

[mpostol]

Based on the article: External Streaming Data - Bitstream Format, the following answer could be provided:

• What conditions must be met to recognize a bitstream as text?
  • An encoding must be associated directly or indirectly
• What conditions must be met to recognize the text as a document?
  • A bitstream must be associated with comprehensible syntax and semantics (to validate the text) rules (to associate meaning to a bitstream)
• What conditions must be met to recognize the document as a formatted document?
  • Metadata must be added to the text