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The Xbox Audio Creation Tool Project File format (.xap), read and written by the XACT authoring tool (xact.exe), and utilized by the command-line build environment (xactbld.exe), contains all of the instructions necessary to generate XACT content. It is a complete description of all XACT wave banks, sound banks, and global settings.
The project file format was intentionally designed to be human-readable text, which should allow for straightforward parsing (content analysis, custom data structures, and portability for translating the content creator's wishes to other audio platforms) as well as generation (creating XACT content from a title's custom, tightly integrated tools, or programmatically generated content).
Because ongoing XACT engine work can cause the binary file formats to change from release to release (and some crucial information is stripped out when the binary files are built), the XACT project file is the recommended file to work from when doing any parsing, translation, or generation to and from other game elements or other audio engine platforms.
Note The XACT project file format is subject to change from release to release of the Xbox and DirectX Development Kits. While most changes will tend to be additive (e.g. adding new features as exposed by the engine and authoring tool), some may cause larger XACT project file format changes.