Extract text from digital log files (DLIS)
To convert DLIS log files to another format, you need Geolog or other Data software.
To convert other file formats to the "Petrophysical Well Log File" file type, you need software like Geolog or a similar tool.
The .DLIS file is a Digital Log Interchange Standard file primarily used in the oil and gas industry to store detailed well log data. Standardized under the American Petroleum Institute (API) Recommended Practice 66, this format is designed to handle complex, multi-dimensional data, measurement curves, and equipment calibration metrics recorded during drilling operations. Specialized petrophysical software like Geolog or Schlumberger Techlog is required to properly open, analyze, and map the telemetry data inside these files.
The main disadvantage of the .DLIS format is its highly dense, binary structure. It is extremely complex, acts as a closed proprietary standard in practice, and is completely unreadable by standard text editors, spreadsheets, or web browsers. Furthermore, licenses for the specific software required to read them can cost thousands of dollars per year. Users frequently need to convert .DLIS files to simpler, ASCII-based formats like LAS (Log ASCII Standard), CSV, or XLSX to share data with colleagues or perform basic analyses in Microsoft Excel. However, converting to these flat formats often strips away the complex metadata and flattens multi-dimensional arrays, meaning some original data resolution is lost.
Because .DLIS relies on a highly specialized binary encoding schema, standard online converters fail to process it. Usually, only dedicated petrophysical tools or custom Python scripts (like dlisio) can accurately parse and export the full logical record structures. If our analysis detects supported embedded data blocks, viewing or partial conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your DLIS file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted LIS, ZIP, XMCD, PDF, EZL and LAS files.
If you want to convert DLIS file to LAS, DB, SQLITE, SQLITE3, MDB, ACCDB, DBF, ODB, FDB, GDB, MYD or FRM, you can use Geolog or similar software from the "Well Log Data Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert NDF, SQLITE3, BAK, RDB, SQL, DB4, MDF, MDB, LDF, DB, DB3 or SQLITE files to DLIS, try Geolog or another comparable tool in the "Well Log Data 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 DLIS converter.