Extract text from bytecode and template files (HBC)
To convert HBC files to another format, you need Hermes Engine or other Developer software.
To convert other file formats to the "Compiled JavaScript Bytecode" file type, you need software like Hermes Engine or a similar tool.
The .hbc file extension primarily represents a Hermes JavaScript Bytecode file. Developed by Meta, Hermes is an open-source JavaScript engine optimized for running React Native applications on mobile devices. Developers compile standard JavaScript source code into .hbc bytecode to improve app startup times and reduce memory usage on Android and iOS devices.
A secondary, highly common use for the .hbc format is as a Geotechnical data template pack used by Bentley Systems HoleBASE. In this context, the file is actually a renamed ZIP archive containing a LogTemplateDocument.xml file. Less commonly, .hbc files store Robot Operating System (ROS) data logs or function as HyperBac Compressed Archives.
Users often encounter problems with .hbc files because bytecode is a compiled, binary format. It is not human-readable. You cannot open a Hermes bytecode file in a standard text editor. If you lose the original JavaScript source, reverse-engineering an .hbc file back to readable JS requires specialized disassembler tools, which often strip out variable names and original code formatting. Converting or inspecting these files is difficult because standard online converters do not support proprietary bytecode instructions.
For the Bentley HoleBASE .hbc files, the main disadvantage is the confusing extension. Since it is just a compressed folder, you can easily rename the extension to convert it to a ZIP file and extract the internal XML template.
Because the Hermes .hbc format is a proprietary binary code, standard document converters fail to process it. Just drag and drop your file to identify the format, view it, and convert it when possible using convert.guru. Our platform will inspect the file structure. If it detects a hidden ZIP signature for HoleBASE files, we can extract the embedded archive contents, allowing you to bypass the need for specialized software.
Convert.Guru analyzes your HBC file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted HEIC, HBCX, MOV, JPG, HBC2, HBE and SNP files.
If you want to convert HBC file to ZIP, RAR, 7Z, TAR, GZ, BZ2, XZ, LZMA, CAB, ACE, ARJ or LHA, you can use Hermes Engine or similar software from the "Compiled JavaScript Execution" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert XXE, 7Z, Z, PAK, LHA, DEB, UUE, TAR, LZH, ZIP, PKG or RAR files to HBC, try Hermes Engine or another comparable tool in the "Compiled JavaScript Execution" 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 HBC converter.