The International Patching System (commonly called IPS ) is an old file format that became a standard to Patch_%28computing%29 various Computer files near 16 megabytes in Computer_storage with an unlimited amount of 1–65,535 byte File_system and Run-length_encoding. Its fame was gained for patching translations to video game Read-only memory. (see ROM hacking)

= History =

The creation of IPS is unknown; but the file format it had was considered to be malformed. It had no version number designated in the structure, allowing no future emendation without disorder amongst the , which soon became excluded by future software that generated IPS files; 2. the future RLE addition; 3. the limit to only being able to patch 16 MB files. These three problems actually made most of the software that applied patches not function correctly. Despite all this, the file was still used as the standard for small patches.

== RLE Addition ==

This addition isn t believed to be created by the original creators; but it allowed Run-length encoding and it was supported.

== Obsolescence ==

This format is still used today for small patches — however, as ROMs became larger in size, this file became very useless, leading to quite a few file formats being created — such as NINJA and PPF ( PlayStation Patch Format ), which both died down for reasons.

== External Links ==