isr.co.ro : glossary Encode In general, to produce a string of symbols or numbers corresponding to an input value. Particularly on the Internet, to produce a file that can be stored and transmitted using the Internet's usual routines from a file containing a data type the system isn't set up to handle. Encoding is necessary because parts of the Internet, such as the mail system and Usenet newsgroups, were set up expecting only text files. In order to transmit programs, spreadsheets, and other formatted files that might contain characters not allowed in text, as well as Macintosh files that contain multiple parts (forks), the files must be converted to a form that looks like text. You then convert the files back to the original form as you download them, or you use a decoding utility afterwards. For PC files and Unix programs, the most popular form of encoding is UUencoding. For Macintosh files, it's BinHex. To convert an analog signal, such as normal video, to its digital equivalent. To "digitize" a signal.