Extract text from map and data files (SXF)
To convert SXF data files to another format, you need MapInfo Pro or other GIS software.
To convert other file formats to the "Spatial Data Exchange Format" file type, you need software like MapInfo Pro or a similar tool.
The .sxf file format primarily functions as a digital cartographic map data file, widely known as the Secure eXchange Format. Originally developed by the Topographic Service of the Russian Armed Forces, it is heavily used in Russian GIS ecosystems like GIS Panorama and supported by global tools like MapInfo Pro. In a completely different context, an .sxf file may be an XML-based encrypted password database created by Steganos Password Manager, or a proprietary scientific data file generated by a LECO Corporation TGA701 thermogravimetric analyzer or Spectro X-ray fluorescence equipment.
These are highly specialized, closed formats that present severe conversion challenges. The GIS variant is optimized for specific regional software, making it notoriously difficult to open in standard global GIS platforms like QGIS or ArcGIS without specialized third-party plugins. The Steganos variant is heavily encrypted and practically useless without the master password and the parent software. Because the internal data structures are heavily customized or locked down, standard online converters almost always fail to process them. Exporting spatial .sxf files to standard geospatial formats like SHP, KML, or GeoJSON usually requires the original authoring software.
Despite these limits, convert.guru offers a pragmatic solution. Just drag and drop your file to identify the format, view its internal structure, and convert it when possible. If our analysis detects an underlying XML structure (common in the Steganos variant) or raw unencrypted coordinates, we can extract the text, allowing you to inspect the contents even when direct conversion is not an option.
Convert.Guru analyzes your SXF file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted RSC, XSB, TAB, WOR and SAM files.
If you want to convert SXF file to SHP, KML, KMZ, GPX, GEOJSON, TOPOJSON, TIF, TIFF, ECW, SID, IMG or DEM, you can use MapInfo Pro or similar software from the "Digital Cartographic Map Data" 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 SXF, try MapInfo Pro or another comparable tool in the "Digital Cartographic Map Data" 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 SXF converter.