Extract text from Allplan material catalogs (CMDB)
To convert CMDB catalogs to another format, you need Nemetschek Allplan or other Database software.
To convert other file formats to the "Material Catalog Database" file type, you need software like Nemetschek Allplan or a similar tool.
A .CMDB file primarily functions as a Material catalog database for Nemetschek Allplan, a popular BIM and CAD software suite. A small percentage of these files are also used as Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) mesh files within Ansys software.
The Allplan variation of the .CMDB file is essentially a renamed SQLite database. It stores structured material properties, textures, and rendering configurations. The Ansys variation contains complex 3D mesh geometry data used for fluid simulation.
Users often need to convert .CMDB files because the native software requires expensive, specialized licenses. Sharing raw material data or mesh geometry with stakeholders who do not have Allplan or Ansys installed is impossible without conversion. The primary disadvantage of this format is its proprietary container. While the Allplan version uses standard SQLite architecture, the internal table schema is highly specific. The Ansys version is a completely closed ecosystem.
If you have an Allplan .CMDB file, the best conversion targets are SQL, CSV, or TXT to extract the raw tabular data. For Ansys mesh files, standard export targets include .CGNS or STL, though this usually requires the original software. Standard online converters almost always fail to process .CMDB files because they do not recognize the extension or lack the logic to parse specific mesh structures and proprietary database schemas.
Because these are closed, application-specific formats, extracting visual or 3D data directly is difficult. Often, only the original software can properly read or export the full dataset. However, just drag and drop your file to identify the format on convert.guru. We can inspect the file, detect the underlying SQLite database, and show text or internal tables. If our analysis detects supported embedded formats, viewing or partial conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your CMDB file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted CM0012 files.
If you want to convert CMDB file to OBJ, FBX, DAE, 3DS, MAX, BLEND, MA, MB, C4D, STL, PLY or WRL, you can use Nemetschek Allplan or similar software from the "Material Catalog Database Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DWG, DAE, X3D, IGES, WRL, JT, SKP, 3DS, 3DM, OBJ, STEP or FBX files to CMDB, try Nemetschek Allplan or another comparable tool in the "Material Catalog Database Storage" 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 CMDB converter.