Extract text from Boundary Scan files (BSDL)
To convert BSDL scan files to another format, you need Synopsys EDA or other Developer software.
To convert other file formats to the "Hardware Description Language" file type, you need software like Synopsys EDA or a similar tool.
The .BSDL (Boundary Scan Description Language) format is a specialized, text-based subset of VHDL used to describe the testability features of integrated circuits (ICs). It strictly complies with the IEEE 1149.1 JTAG standard. Hardware engineers and automated testing equipment rely on these files to verify electrical connections between chips on printed circuit boards (PCBs) without requiring physical test probes.
You can open .BSDL files using standard text editors, or complex Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software like those provided by Synopsys, Xilinx, or Mentor Graphics. Learn more at Wikipedia: Boundary Scan Description Language.
The main disadvantage of the .BSDL format is its rigid, highly technical syntax. Non-engineers cannot easily interpret the data. Opening these files in full EDA suites often requires expensive software licenses, dongles, or massive software installations just to view a simple chip pinout configuration. Furthermore, standard document converters fail to process the underlying VHDL logic correctly.
Users often need to convert .BSDL files to standard TXT or CSV to share pin mapping data and test parameters with non-technical teams or firmware developers. While translating .BSDL to other logic formats like Verilog is possible in specialized suites, data loss or syntax errors frequently occur outside of native compiler environments.
Because this is a specialized engineering format, converting it into a purely visual document or a different logic language can be difficult. However, just drag and drop your file to identify the format, view it, and convert it when possible on convert.guru. Since .BSDL files are plain text at their core, our tools can easily inspect the file, extract the readable pinout data, and help you bypass expensive EDA software restrictions.
Convert.Guru analyzes your BSDL file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted BSD, BSM, PDIF, PDF, V and MCS files.
If you want to convert BSDL file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use Synopsys EDA or similar software from the "IC Boundary Scan Description" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DBF, XML, SQLITE, XLSX, SQL, TSV, ACCDB, YAML, MDB, CSV, ODS or JSON files to BSDL, try Synopsys EDA or another comparable tool in the "IC Boundary Scan Description" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our BSDL converter.