VCF files exist as 2 different types. Please find information about each of them below.
Type 1: vCard File
A vCard file is used for storing contact information. It may contain details like names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. vCard file format allows easy exchange of contacts across devices...
A vCard file is used for storing contact information. It may contain details like names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. vCard file format allows easy exchange of contacts across devices and platforms. VCF stands for Virtual Contact File. vCard has evolved over time from version 2.1 to 4.0. It has added detailed information. This format also helps export contacts from one device and import to another.
A vCard file can be attached to emails or messages. It may contain photos or audio clips besides text. This file format is supported by many desktop and mobile platforms.
You can create a vCard file by exporting contacts from email programs. For example, in Outlook select File – Save As to export contacts as a VCF file. There are also online converters to change a VCF file to other formats.
The Variant Call Format (VCF) is a text file format used for storing gene sequence variations. VCF was developed in 2010 for the 1000 Genomes Project. Since then, it has been used by other DNA sequenc...
The Variant Call Format (VCF) is a text file format used for storing gene sequence variations. VCF was developed in 2010 for the 1000 Genomes Project. Since then, it has been used by other DNA sequencing projects. Many tools exist for manipulating VCF files. These include VCFtools released with VCF in 2011. Also BCFtools, which was part of SAMtools until 2014.
VCF contains meta-information lines, a header line, and data lines. Each data line has information about a genomic position. The format can also contain genotype data on samples for each position. VCF files likely use compression.
The VCF specification used to be maintained by the 1000 Genomes Project. Its management and development moved to the Genomic Data Toolkit team. The full format specification is in the Samtools/Hts-specs repository with other useful specs.
VCF is the primary format used by GATK for variant calls. It allows storing variants without complete genetic data. One reference genome is saved separately. Variants are described against this in the VCF file. This enables quickly reviewing and analyzing variants. The header describes the file’s format, creation date, source and other metadata. The reference metadata points to the reference genome’s location.
There are online VCF converters to other formats. Some apps like Contacts+ can export VCF files directly. Besides contact info like name, email, address and phone, VCF can store an optional image. The format was developed in 1996 to simplify sharing contacts. It focused first on email then expanded to other systems.
Microsoft Outlook
Apple Contacts
Google Contacts