Extract text from Database definition files (DDF)
To convert DDF Definition files to another format, you need Actian Zen or other Database software.
To convert other file formats to the "Data Definition File" file type, you need software like Actian Zen or a similar tool.
The .DDF extension is highly fragmented and used by several completely different applications. Primarily, it serves as a Data Definition File for legacy database systems like Btrieve and Pervasive PSQL (now managed by Actian Zen). In this context, it stores the schema - describing the structure of tables, columns, and indexes - rather than the actual data records. Another common use is a Diamond Directive File used by the Microsoft makecab.exe command-line utility to dictate exactly how files should be compressed into a CAB archive. Less commonly, it acts as a disguised ZIP archive for German patent filing packages in DPMAdirektPro, or an SQLite metadata document for IBM SPSS.
The main disadvantage of .DDF files is this extreme fragmentation. You cannot easily know which type of file you have just by looking at the extension. Furthermore, Btrieve .DDF files are proprietary, largely obsolete, and entirely useless without their accompanying data files (often DAT). Microsoft directive files are simply plain text scripts, but Windows does not associate them with a text editor by default, causing confusion. Standard online converters fail because they cannot guess the underlying binary structure or they expect a completely different type of .DDF.
Depending on the exact type, you may want to convert database schema .DDF files to SQL or CSV for modern database migration. If it is a patent filing package, extracting the contents or converting to a standard ZIP is the goal.
Because this file format is so ambiguous, it is notoriously difficult to open or convert blindly. Often, only the original software can properly read or export the data. Our analysis engine can detect if your .DDF is a disguised ZIP archive, an SQLite database, or a plain text script, allowing you to inspect the internal content and extract what you need.
Convert.Guru analyzes your DDF file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted DDS, TXT, DFF, PDF, PNG, JPG, DWG, XML, NFO and XSD files.
If you want to convert DDF file to XSD, INI, CFG, CONF, CONFIG, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, ENV or PROPERTIES, you can use Actian Zen or similar software from the "Database Schema Definition" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert ZSHRC, CONF, RCFILE, GITCONFIG, RC, PLIST, BASHRC, CONFIG, PROFILE, INI, PREFS or CFG files to DDF, try Actian Zen or another comparable tool in the "Database Schema Definition" 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 DDF converter.