Extract text from Database or outline files (OTL)
To convert OTL Data or outlines to another format, you need Absolute Database or other Database software.
To convert other file formats to the "Outline and Database Format" file type, you need software like Absolute Database or a similar tool.
The .OTL file extension is primarily shared by two highly distinct formats: an Absolute Database file developed by ComponentAce and an XML-based outline used by legacy software like Bonsai and NoteTab. It is also occasionally seen as an Oracle table layout file in 4D environments. These files are used to store structured relational tables or hierarchical text nodes.
Working with .OTL files today presents significant technical challenges. The formats are highly proprietary, undocumented, or tied to obsolete software. For instance, Bonsai outlines are no longer actively supported, forcing users to rely on outdated Palm OS software or early Windows virtual machines. Similarly, Absolute Database files are closed binary formats that require a specific Delphi-based engine to query. Standard web browsers and modern database management tools cannot natively parse these files, making data extraction incredibly frustrating.
Users typically need to convert .OTL files to universal targets like CSV, XML, OPML, or TXT to migrate their data to modern systems. Converting an outline to OPML preserves the parent-child node hierarchy, while database conversions to CSV safely export the raw table data.
Because the .OTL format is closed and lacks universal support, standard online converters often fail to process it. Frequently, only the original software can properly read or export the data. However, just drag and drop your .OTL file onto convert.guru to identify the exact format version. We can inspect the file, display raw text, and extract internal content. If our analysis detects a supported underlying XML structure (such as the Bonsai outline), viewing or conversion to modern text formats may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your OTL file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted XMP, NAMES and BRIDGESORT files.
If you want to convert OTL file to CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, YML, TOML, INI, CFG, CONF, DAT, DB or SQL, you can use Absolute Database or similar software from the "Database Storage or Text Outline" 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 OTL, try Absolute Database or another comparable tool in the "Database Storage or Text Outline" 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 OTL converter.