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 "Single-File Database" file type, you need software like Absolute Database or a similar tool.
The .OTL extension represents a collision between two very different worlds: legacy database storage and plain-text organization.
1. Absolute Database File (Primary):
Most commonly encountered in enterprise environments, this is a proprietary single-file database format created by ComponentAce. Unlike standard SQL databases that require a server, an .OTL file (often used alongside or instead of ABS files) contains the entire relational database - tables, BLOBs, and encryption - in one package. The friction? It is a Delphi-specific format. You cannot open it with standard tools like Microsoft Excel or generic SQL viewers. To extract data, you typically need the original Absolute Database Manager to export tables to SQL scripts or CSV.
2. Vim Outliner File (Text-Based):
For developers and Linux users, an .OTL file is a tab-indented text outline created by the Vim Outliner plugin for the Vim text editor. These files are prized for their simplicity, allowing users to fold and unfold complex project hierarchies. While they are technically plain text, opening them in a standard editor like Notepad ruins the structural visualization. The best conversion path is to Markdown (MD) or HTML for web viewing, or simply PDF for archiving.
3. Legacy Uses:
In the visual effects industry, .OTL was the legacy format for Houdini Operator Type Libraries (now HDA). If you find an .OTL in a 3D pipeline, it is an older digital asset container that should be upgraded using SideFX Houdini.
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 "Relational Database Storage" 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 "Relational Database Storage" 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.