Computable Document Format

Computable Document Format

Filename extension	.cdf
Internet media type	application/cdf
Uniform Type Identifier	com.wolfram.cdf
Developed by	Wolfram Research
Initial release	July 21, 2011 (2011-07-21)
Website	Computable Document Format

Computable Document Format (CDF) is an electronic document format^[1] designed to allow easy authoring^[2] of dynamically generated interactive content. It was created by Wolfram Research.

Features

Computable document format supports GUI elements such as sliders, menus and buttons. Content is updated using embedded computation in response to GUI interaction. Contents can include formatted text, tables, images, sounds and animations. CDF supports Mathematica typesetting and technical notation.^[3] Paginated layout, structured drill down layout and slide-show mode are supported. Styles can be controlled using a cascading style sheet.

Reading

CDF files can be read using a free CDF Player which can be downloaded from Wolfram Research. In contrast to static formats such as PDF and pre-generated interactive content provided by formats such as Adobe Flash the CDF Player contains an entire runtime library of Mathematica allowing document content to be generated in response to user interaction using any algorithms or visualizations which can be described in Mathematica.^[4][5] This makes it particularly suited to scientific, engineering and other technical content^[6] and digital textbooks.^[7]

CDF reader support is available for Microsoft Windows, Macintosh and Linux but not for ebooks or tablets. The reader supports a plugin mode for Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and Safari, which allows CDF content to be embedded inline in HTML pages.

Authoring

CDF Files can be created using Mathematica. Online authoring tools are planned.^[8]

Uses

Computable Document Format has been used in electronic books by Pearson Education,^[9][10] to provide the content for The Wolfram Demonstrations Project, and to add client-side interactivity to Wolfram Alpha.^[11][12]

See also

• CDF Player
• Wolfram Research

References

1. ^ Wolfram Alpha Createor plans to delete the PDF The Telegraph (UK)
2. ^ Wolfram makes data interactive PC World
3. ^ Wolfram Launches new document format. Meet CDF ZDNet
4. ^ Wolfram creates CDF format to rival flash and PDF V3, July 2011
5. ^ Should we add another format to the PDF Killer List? Invest in Tech
6. ^ Wolfram punts expanded medium for technical docs ThinQ
7. ^ Wolfram's new CDF format brings computation power to individual documents Popular Science, July 2011
8. ^ Wolfram makes data interactive CIO, 21 July 2011
9. ^ Wolfram launches PDF Killer School Library Journal
10. ^ Briggs Cochrane Calculus
11. ^ WolframAlpha adds powerful unteractive search results The Next Web, 12 August 20111
12. ^ Wolfram Launches its own interactive document format PC Pro, July 2011

External links

• Wolfram Research CDF
• CDF Player download