Extract text from specification files (IDS)
To convert IDS specifications to another format, you need buildingSMART or other Data software.
To convert other file formats to the "Specification & Scientific Data" file type, you need software like buildingSMART or a similar tool.
The .ids file extension is heavily fragmented and serves fundamentally different purposes across unrelated industries. Most notably, it acts as an Information Delivery Specification (IDS) file developed by buildingSMART International. In Building Information Modeling (BIM), this XML-based file defines requirements for model data exchange. Conversely, in the scientific community, .ids files contain proprietary spectrophotometer measurements for DeNovix devices, or electrochemical experiment stacks generated by IviumSoft. It is also commonly used as a plain-text hardware identifier database by the PCI/USB ID project, and as a network log file by the Snort Intrusion Detection System.
The primary disadvantage of an .ids file is its extreme lack of standardization. While BIM and hardware .ids files use open text or XML structures, scientific .ids files are strictly proprietary. You cannot natively open an Ivium or DeNovix measurement file without installing their specific, often hardware-tied, software. These binary files are effectively useless to external collaborators, lack native support in standard spreadsheet tools, and restrict data portability.
If you possess a BIM .ids file, the best target formats are standard XML or TXT. For scientific data, you must ideally export to CSV or XLSX using the original device software to make the measurements readable and graphable. Converting proprietary binary data directly via third-party tools is highly unreliable and usually strips critical formatting and metadata.
Because many .ids files are closed, proprietary binary blobs, standard online converters routinely fail to process them. Often, only the original hardware software can properly read or export the embedded scientific data. If our analysis detects a supported underlying XML or plain-text format, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your IDS file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted ID, LDS, DF, CMB and PBC files.
If you want to convert IDS file to EXE, ISO, BIN, CUE, PAK, WAD, PK3, PK4, BSP, MAP, SAV or DAT, you can use buildingSMART or similar software from the "Scientific Data & Specifications" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MOD, BIN, CFG, SCX, DAT, MPQ, LOG, CUE, INI, EXE, SCM or ISO files to IDS, try buildingSMART or another comparable tool in the "Scientific Data & Specifications" 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 IDS converter.