Cadastrophic Posted November 3, 2005 Posted November 3, 2005 I've been sent a dat file and don't know how to open it. By the wording of the email, I should be able to open it in Autocad. Is this correct? Are there any tricks to doing it? I don't want to mess with the file incase I damage it. Quote
David Bethel Posted November 3, 2005 Posted November 3, 2005 A file extension of .dat could be any format. It is a very generic name used by lots and lots of people. Can you view it with a text editor? Is it human readable? -David Quote
Cadastrophic Posted November 3, 2005 Author Posted November 3, 2005 A file extension of .dat could be any format. It is a very generic name used by lots and lots of people. Can you view it with a text editor? Is it human readable? -David No David, it's complete gobledegook. Quote
mikemilburn Posted November 4, 2005 Posted November 4, 2005 Any possability the file could have been changed to .dat from another type of format, .dxf, .dwg or......Mike Quote
CarlB Posted November 4, 2005 Posted November 4, 2005 Here's some possibilities, from http://filext.com/ BLUEWAVE File Data Digital Audio Tape Exchange Server Error Message (WINMAIL.DAT) (Microsoft) Commodore 64 Audio Gunlok Archive Internet Explorer Cache File (Microsoft) MapInfo Native Data Format (Mapinfo Corporation) Mitsubishi DJ-1000 and Photorun Native Format MS Word for DOS File Nascar Racing Archive Nero CD Speed Results File (Nero AG) Novell Message File RDXR020305.DAT is Morpheus Adware SHARP MZ-series Emulator RAM-Disk File SPOT Graphic Terrasoft Dataset Definition File Unfinished FastTrack Download VCD and/or SVCD File Video CD MPEG or MPEG1 Movie VMS Data File WordPerfect Merge Data (Corel) Z80 Spectrum Emulator Snap/File Format Windows Registry Hive (Microsoft Corporation) PestPatrol Data/Scan Strings (PestPatrol, Inc.) Oric Atmos Snapshot Allegro Generic Data My Personal Programmer Distributed Project (M:Pact Technologies) LithTech Game Compiled Level File (Touchdown Entertainment, Inc.) Walkman NW-S23 MP3 File Storage Container (Sony) Quote
Cadastrophic Posted November 4, 2005 Author Posted November 4, 2005 Any possability the file could have been changed to .dat from another type of format, .dxf, .dwg or......Mike I was told I was being sent a drawing, so yes, I presume it began life as a .dwg file. Quote
David de Botton Posted February 7, 2006 Posted February 7, 2006 is commonly used by an operating system Eg Mac users often have trouble sending files to people who need to view on a PC Either that or the file got corrupted by the sender Cheers David Quote
dbroada Posted February 7, 2006 Posted February 7, 2006 what are the first few characters of the file if viewed as text? If it is an AutoCAD file it will start with (something like) AC1015 If it does then it has probably just been renamed so renaming back to *.dwg should open it. If it doesn't start with ACsomething it's not a .dwg file Quote
Dubplate Posted February 7, 2006 Posted February 7, 2006 make a back up and rename it .dwg or .dxf............ Quote
liveeasily Posted February 17, 2011 Posted February 17, 2011 make a back up and rename it .dwg or .dxf............ very very very super duper helpful. THANK YOU!!! Quote
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