Extract text from Reference files (REF)
To convert REF References to another format, you need Racelogic or other Data software.
To convert other file formats to the "System Reference File" file type, you need software like Racelogic or a similar tool.
A .ref file is a multi-purpose extension primarily used as a Vehicle CAN data file by Racelogic systems or as an HL7 Patient Referral Message in healthcare software like Best Practice Software. It can also function as a citation reference file in standard JSON format for MyBib, or as a waveform reference in LTspice.
The main problem with .ref files is their fragmentation. Because dozens of completely unrelated software programs use the .ref extension to store "reference" data, operating systems rarely know how to open them. A Racelogic CAN bus file is useless in a healthcare system, and an HL7 referral message is unreadable to a standard text editor. Many of these formats are proprietary, binary-encoded, or require expensive, niche software to decode. This leaves users frustrated when they receive a .ref file and lack the original environment to view it.
To make this data accessible, you must convert it based on its origin. For Racelogic vehicle telemetry or LTspice waveform data, convert to CSV for analysis in Microsoft Excel. For HL7 medical referral files, convert to PDF for secure archiving or XML for database integration. For MyBib citations, converting to standard JSON or TXT is best.
Convert.Guru analyzes your REF file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted REFERENCE, PUR, RTF, REP, RAF, ZIP, RIS, DBC, EDM, ENW, PDF, TXT and DOCX files.
If you want to convert REF file to JPG, PDF, BIBTEX, SHP, KML, KMZ, GPX, GEOJSON, TOPOJSON, TIF, TIFF or ECW, you can use Racelogic or similar software from the "Reference Data Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert LAZ, KMZ, DTM, CSV, DEM, PRJ, LAS, GPX, DSM, SHP, DBF or KML files to REF, try Racelogic or another comparable tool in the "Reference Data 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 REF converter.