How to extract text from your DSL file
- Click the "Select File" button above, and choose your DSL file.
- You’ll see a preview, if available.
- Click the "Convert file to..." button to extract text information.
Convert DSL to another file type
To convert your DSL file to another format, you need ABBYY Lingvo or other Data software.
- DSL to AML
- DSL to MDX
- DSL to SQL
- DSL to TMP
- DSL to TEMP
- DSL to CACHE
- DSL to LOG
- DSL to BAK
- DSL to OLD
- DSL to NEW
- DSL to PART
- DSL to DOWNLOAD
Convert a file to DSL
To convert other file formats to the "Dictionary Source File" file type, you need software like ABBYY Lingvo or a similar tool.
- DEVICE to DSL
- CACHE to DSL
- SOCK to DSL
- SYMLINK to DSL
- PID to DSL
- MOUNT to DSL
- FIFO to DSL
- LOG to DSL
- PIPE to DSL
- TMP to DSL
- JUNCTION to DSL
- TEMP to DSL
About DSL files
The .DSL extension is a classic example of a "filename collision," where multiple unrelated software ecosystems use the same tag. Most commonly, it refers to a Dictionary Specification Language file used by ABBYY Lingvo and open-source readers like GoldenDict. These are essentially text files containing dictionary entries with specific markup tags. Users often need to convert these source files because raw .DSL text is cluttered with formatting codes, making it difficult to read linearly or import into spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel. To use these dictionaries on mobile devices or e-readers, they must typically be compiled into binary formats (like LSD or BGL) or converted to standard TXT or HTML for universal access.
Another significant use case is for Diagnostic Data generated by AVM FRITZ!Box routers. These files contain technical logs used for troubleshooting internet connections. They are proprietary and generally cannot be opened by standard text editors without resulting in garbled data. Additionally, .DSL may represent ACPI Source Language files used in system programming to define hardware configurations (compiled into AML), or logic analyzer captures from DreamSourceLab. Due to this ambiguity, identifying the file header is crucial before attempting conversion.
Convert.Guru analyzes your DSL file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted LSD, DZ, MDX, ASL, RTF, ZIP, JPG, TXT, DL0, ZPL, AML and SQL files.
The DSL Converter Story
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 DSL converter.