BEF to TXT Converter

BEF to TXT Conversion Explained

Converting .BEF files to .TXT (Plain Text) changes how data is stored and read, but the exact process depends on the file's origin. A .BEF file is typically either a Danea EasyFatt backup archive or an EDIFACT MEDRPT (Medical Report) file.

For EDIFACT files, converting to .TXT translates a raw, unformatted machine-data stream into a human-readable layout. Users gain readability but lose the strict syntax required by healthcare systems. For EasyFatt backups, a .BEF file is a compressed archive. Converting it directly to .TXT is a bad idea because it results in garbled binary data. The archive must be decompressed first to access the internal database, which can then be exported as text.

Typical Tasks and Users

• Healthcare Administrators: Need to read Austrian EDIFACT MEDRPT files without specialized medical software. They convert the .BEF EDI stream into a .TXT file to quickly read patient findings.
• Accountants and Business Owners: Attempt to extract customer registries or invoice histories from legacy EasyFatt backups. They need plain text to migrate data to new ERP systems.
• System Integrators: Build automated pipelines that ingest EDIFACT messages and output plain text logs for debugging.

Software & Tool Support

• Danea EasyFatt: The native Windows software required to open, restore, and export EasyFatt .BEF backups to text or CSV formats.
• 7-Zip: Decompresses EasyFatt .BEF files (which use 7z compression) to reveal the internal database files.
• Bots EDI: An open-source translator that parses EDIFACT .BEF files and maps them to flat text.
• Notepad++: Opens EDIFACT .BEF files directly. However, the raw EDI segments are difficult to read without formatting plugins.

Pros and Cons of the Conversion

• Pros:

  • Universal Compatibility: .TXT files open on any device or operating system without proprietary software.
  • Human Readability: Parsed EDIFACT data becomes easy for medical staff or auditors to read.
  • Searchability: Plain text is easily indexed by standard search tools.

• Cons:

  • Loss of Structure: .TXT strips away the strict EDI segment hierarchy (UNA, UNB, UNH) required for automated processing.
  • Data Corruption Risk: Forcing a compressed EasyFatt .BEF backup into a text editor destroys the binary archive.
  • No Formatting: Plain text lacks tables, bolding, or layout control. Complex medical reports or financial ledgers become harder to interpret.

Conversion Difficulties & Why Convert.Guru

The main technical difficulty in converting .BEF to .TXT is handling the dual nature of the extension. If the file is an EasyFatt backup, a basic conversion tool will attempt to read compressed binary data as text, resulting in mojibake (garbled characters). The conversion pipeline must identify the file signature, decompress the container, and extract the internal text nodes.

If the file is an EDIFACT MEDRPT, the pipeline must parse the EDI delimiters (usually ', +, and :), map the medical codes to readable labels, and format the output with proper line breaks. Convert.Guru handles this complexity automatically. It detects whether the .BEF is a compressed archive or an EDI stream, applies the correct parsing logic, and extracts the text cleanly without requiring legacy software.

BEF vs. TXT: What is the better choice?

Which format should you choose?

Keep your files in .BEF if you need to restore a Danea EasyFatt database or transmit medical findings to a hospital system that requires strict EDIFACT compliance. Convert to .TXT only when you need to manually read the contents, debug an EDI message, or extract raw text data for a system that cannot parse proprietary archives. If you need to preserve the visual layout of an invoice or medical report, converting to PDF is a better choice than plain text.

Conclusion

Converting .BEF to .TXT bridges the gap between proprietary machine data and human-readable text. While it provides universal compatibility for EDIFACT medical reports, it strips away machine-readable structure and is the wrong approach for raw EasyFatt backup archives unless they are decompressed first. Using a specialized tool like Convert.Guru ensures that the underlying data is accurately parsed and safely extracted into plain text without data corruption.