Extract text from Xilinx ISE projects (XISE)
To convert XISE projects to another format, you need Xilinx ISE or other Developer software.
To convert other file formats to the "FPGA Project File" file type, you need software like Xilinx ISE or a similar tool.
A .xise file is an XML-based project file created by Xilinx ISE (Integrated Synthesis Environment), a discontinued software tool produced by Xilinx (now part of AMD). It stores project settings, source file references (such as VHDL or Verilog code), and configurations for Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) design.
Historically, these files were opened natively using the Xilinx ISE Design Suite.
The main disadvantage of the .xise format is its dependency on obsolete legacy software. Xilinx ISE was officially replaced by the Vivado Design Suite in 2012. Modern electronic design automation (EDA) tools do not natively support these older project files. Opening them normally requires installing outdated, massive software packages (often exceeding 6GB) that frequently crash or fail to install on modern operating systems like Windows 10 or 11.
Users typically need to convert or extract data from this file to migrate to newer workflows. Because the file is internally formatted as plain XML, the best conversion targets are readable text formats like XML or TXT. Extracting this text allows engineers to recover VHDL or Verilog file paths to rebuild the project manually in a modern suite.
This file format is difficult to automatically convert into a modern project file (such as a Vivado XPR) because the internal schema is heavily tied to the old Xilinx ISE compilation engine. Often, only the original software can properly parse the specific synthesis constraints. However, just drag and drop your file to identify the format, view it, and convert it when possible. convert.guru can still inspect the .xise file and show the internal XML text content so you can recover your source paths and salvage your legacy configurations without hunting down a virtual machine for obsolete software.
Convert.Guru analyzes your XISE file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted BSF, WCFG and WFP files.
If you want to convert XISE file to DWG, DXF, DGN, RVT, RFA, SKP, 3DM, STEP, IGES, SAT, X_T or X_B, you can use Xilinx ISE or similar software from the "FPGA Design Project Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert SLDASM, DGN, PRT, IAM, X_B, CATPRODUCT, SLDPRT, RVT, ASM, DWG, CATPART or DXF files to XISE, try Xilinx ISE or another comparable tool in the "FPGA Design Project 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 XISE converter.