Extract text from DDF files
To convert your DDF file 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 describes a Data Definition File, a format serving multiple distinct purposes, most notably within the Pervasive PSQL (formerly Btrieve) database ecosystem. In this context, the file acts as a critical schema map; it does not contain the actual records but defines the column structures, data types, and indexes for the associated raw data files (often MKD or DAT). Without the .DDF, the raw database files are often unreadable binary blobs.
Users frequently encounter .DDF files when attempting to migrate legacy accounting or ERP systems (like Sage or older inventory software). The main limitation is proprietary lock-in: standard spreadsheet software cannot open Pervasive .DDF files directly. To access the data, you typically need the Actian Zen (PSQL) engine and ODBC drivers installed. Another common variant is the Microsoft Diamond Directive File, a simple text-based instruction set used by the makecab.exe utility to package software installers. A less common but tricky variant is the DPMAdirektPro package used for German patent filings, which is simply a renamed ZIP archive.
For database recovery, the best approach is converting the linked data (using the .DDF as a key) to CSV or XLSX for analysis, or SQL for migration to modern systems like MySQL or PostgreSQL. For Microsoft directive files, converting to TXT or PDF makes them readable as documentation. If you suspect it is a patent archive, simply changing the extension to ZIP allows immediate extraction.
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.