Extract text from family data files (FAM)
To convert FAM data files to another format, you need Electronic Arts or other Database software.
To convert other file formats to the "SQL Database File" file type, you need software like Electronic Arts or a similar tool.
A .FAM file is a highly fragmented file extension that serves entirely different purposes depending on the software that created it. It is most commonly used as an SQL-based social program database file (such as the one used by Colombia's Familias en Acción). However, it is also widely known as a family data file for The Sims, a topSpeed database memo file for SoftVelocity Clarion, a Pedigree family data file, or a font family definition file in FontLab Fontographer.
Users often need to convert .FAM files because the format is typically proprietary, closed, and undocumented. Database variants might exceed standard file size limits or require specialized environments to query. Game variants are strictly locked to the proprietary game engine, meaning they cannot be opened in standard viewers. Font definitions in this format are often legacy files that modern typography software struggles to parse.
For database-related .FAM files, the best conversion targets are CSV, JSON, or SQL to extract and preserve the relational data structure. For game or proprietary memo files, standard conversion is essentially impossible because the binary structure holds no meaning outside its parent application.
This file format is exceptionally difficult to open or convert because of its ambiguous nature; only the original software can usually interpret the schema or binary data correctly. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded format, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your FAM file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted FAP, TSD, SRL and SPX files.
If you want to convert FAM file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use Electronic Arts or similar software from the "Database and Game Data" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert DBF, XML, SQLITE, XLSX, SQL, TSV, ACCDB, YAML, MDB, CSV, ODS or JSON files to FAM, try Electronic Arts or another comparable tool in the "Database and Game Data" 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 FAM converter.