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.DAT File Formatting

  • 10-02-2011 5:50pm
    #1
    Captain_Generic
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,408 ✭✭✭


    Not entirely sure if this is the right place to put this, but here goes.

    I've got a program which outputs an 80x60 character array to a .DAT file, it represents a map. It can be viewed and edited from within the program, but I can't seem to find any program which will open the DAT file externally with decipherable formatting. I've tried NotePad, TextPad, MSWord and Exel, all of which display lines and lines of null characters.

    Any ideas?


Comments

  • #2
    Adam
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,866 ✭✭✭Adam


    try a proper text editor like editplus or notepad++


  • #3
    Captain_Generic
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,408 ✭✭✭Captain_Generic


    Adam wrote: »
    try a proper text editor like editplus or notepad++

    No luck with either of them. Still just getting null characters. I know for a fact the file doesn't get nulled out when the program closes because any changes I make within the program appear the next time its run, and the program doesn't initialize any map information itself.


  • #4
    Adam
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,866 ✭✭✭Adam


    this seems like an odd solution but worth a try: http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/how-to-open-dat-files/

    just make a backup first!


  • #5
    TouchingVirus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,584 ✭✭✭TouchingVirus


    Try a Hex Editor


  • #6
    Captain_Generic
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,408 ✭✭✭Captain_Generic


    Adam wrote: »
    this seems like an odd solution but worth a try: http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/how-to-open-dat-files/

    just make a backup first!

    I gave that a shot earlier, and pretty much exhausted every extension, still no dice though.
    Think i'll just try and ask the guy who wrote it:D


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  • #7
    Captain_Generic
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,408 ✭✭✭Captain_Generic


    TouchingVirus wrote: »
    Try a Hex Editor

    Thanks, that got me somewhere. Values are showing up now but don't really seem to have any obvious correlation to the map layout. I'll fiddle around with the formatting and see what i can get.


  • #8
    none
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 569 ✭✭✭none


    First, dat extension isn't really associated with any specific program. It's just a generic "marker" to any data files. What data you put in there is entirely up to you.

    Second, if the data in the file is binary, you have no luck of reading it without knowing the algorithm that wrote that data. It's roughly like Java serialization if you know what I'm talking about. Or MS .doc or .xls files, if that's clearer. You can read those file only when you know the format/algorithm that was used to write them. They are, generally, not easily readable in text or hex editors.

    So it seems your dat files are in a proprietary format that can be understood only by the original program. If that program doesn't offer to save/export files in a more standard format, then you won't be able to easily read it.


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