.DAT

Data File

📌 A .DAT file layout references the generic data resources generated by a custom, appropriate software solution. Primarily, the .DAT samples may include data in text or binary constitution. Basically, the .DAT entries are ordinarily accessed by the utility or toolkit, which initially built up and generated them solely. In common, a wide arsenal of program suites are able to reveal, open and explore the .DAT file logic and mechanics. Hereby, before uncovering the .DAT file composition make sure to be aware of the area the target file sample serves for and what application distributive precisely suits for their processing and maintenance. Also, in a majority of cases, the proper .DAT record can be seamlessly discovered only in scope of the operating system the compliant toolkit is adapted for and supported by. At last, the text-composed .DAT instances can be handled by any plain text editor, either default or preinstalled from the third-party web-portal or online storage.

Minecraft Data File

📌 In particular circumstances, the .DAT container branch may be based on the data files applied by Minecraft, a sandbox 3D construction and exploration gaming project. Accurately, these custom .DAT samples are stored in a compressed Gzip representation and may be miscellaneously composed of various categories of game data, involving a record of a player’s position, a record of a player’s inventory, and integrated world information. Minecraft generally utilizes .DAT file specification to track actual player in-game progress and save the current state of the internal world during the play session. In former revisions of the Minecraft project, .DAT items were frequently exploited to store, maintain and handle level “chunks”, recognized as tiny map pieces and sections loaded by the game on-demand while an actual player is navigating through the internal world. This proper .DAT file standard has been initially introduced and implemented in the Minecraft Infdev edition, released on the beta-stage of product development.

Piriform Portable Mode Flag

📌 Portable.DAT entry serves as a custom flag indicator and is utilized by individual software solutions from Piriform company, such as Recuva, Defraggler, Speccy, and CCleaner. The portable.DAT marker informs the respective software packages that they are suggested to be operated in portable principle, rather than being installed to your actual PC workstation. Ordinarily, portable.DAT item is located within the parent folder of the distinctive application, in a bunch with the .EXE sample of the corresponding toolkit. Piriform apps are perfectly suitable for the activities, suggested to streamline the performance and file system of the actual PC node or station. Besides, the portable.DAT flagged tag assists to automatically keep the computer in up-to-date conditions, delete and identify unnecessary file resources and objects, and execute other appropriate optimization routines and tasks. The portable builds of aforementioned Piriform products include an embedded portable.DAT check-flag.

Piriform Registration Key

📌 A .DAT file entity may be also comprehended as a key file structure employed by Piriform computer optimization and cleaning suites, such as Recuva and CCleaner. As the practice reveals, the noted .DAT record includes the uniquely generated registration key of your product. When you run and execute the respective Piriform utility which you have formerly purchased or acquired, the program addresses to your genuine .DAT file constitution to confirm and approve your purchase transaction, so that you can legally utilize all of the app abilities and features. After you legally purchase the relevant Piriform distributive bundle, the program will generate a new .DAT instance that holds and manages your genuine registration key. If, in particular circumstances, the suite is not capable of finding and accessing this .DAT registration key at start-up phase, the Piriform package will be run and operated in trial mode instead of fully featured tech principle. Taking into account such a workflow, it is strongly recommended to never edit, move or adjust in any other way the contents of the .DAT file item.

Inno Setup Uninstaller Data File

📌 In a different case, the .DAT format category may fit for storing an uninstaller data content generated by Inno Setup, a suite applied to create custom Windows uninstallers and installers. Referencing the basic methodics, the .DAT file instances are built up and constructed by Inno Setup and are usually entitled as unins000.DAT. Practically, they are allocated within the installation folder of the appropriate suite and are utilized for removing that program from the computer’s hard disk and Start menu if a user decides to uninstall the proper product. When you manage to set up a new Windows distributive that is oriented on the installer, designed by Inno Setup product, the installer ordinarily builds up and produces an unins000.DAT and unins000.EXE file items. After you move on to the uninstallation routine, Windows executes the unins000.EXE entry, which references the data from unins000.DAT container to correctly seek for the app data on the disk storage and clearly truncate them from the hard disk or SSD.

Windows Registry Hive File

📌 The .DAT extension area suits for covering the Microsoft Windows registry user settings, stored internally. Among these settings, configurable file associations, account settings, and passwords should be noted at once. Windows applies relevant parameter entries from these .DAT resources when you subsequently log in to the system. NTUSER.DAT can be strictly defined as a primary registry hive file, integrated into the operating system. Therefore, NTUSER.DAT stores particular user-level registry data. NTUSER.DAT file entity is typically allocated within the C:/Users/[user]/ folder. As long as NTUSER.DAT serves for storing vital and crucial user settings and tweaks, it is prohibited to manually delete, adjust or alter in any other ware its contents and layout. Among other sustainable .DAT items SCHEMA.DAT entry should be also specified. On the contrary to NTUSER.DAT, SCHEMA.DAT is comprehended as a registry restore and backup disk object.

Porteus Save Container

📌 Extensively, the .DAT object instance may also correspond to the system configuration file composition exploited by Porteus, a contemporary portable Linux-based operating environment. This particular .DAT record division includes a comprehensive list of changes which have been accomplished by the user to their custom instance of Porteus OS. For instance, an accustomed .DAT entity may consist of a list of modified platform parameters and tweaks, as well as a user’s browser history, downloaded file content, and bookmarks. Porteus affords a chance for an outcome user to load and save custom changes they’ve executed to the OS from a .DAT file layout, most commonly entitled as save.DAT. If you are required to install Porteus shell on a device which relies on Windows file system, you are recommended to initiate, build up, open and apply a particular .DAT entity to properly load and save the modifications done. On these subbranches of PC stations, a .DAT file would serve for retaining necessary system information, such as Linux permissions and symlinks.

Exchange E-mail Attachment

📌 Winmail.DAT file layout includes formatting data for Rich Text (RTF) e-mail messages sent from Microsoft Exchange Server platform. The winmail.DAT samples are appended to the ending sections of emails when the email client of a custom recipient is not compatible with RTF messages feature. Specifically, winmail.DAT data instances are not especially useful and helpful to the users who do not employ Exchange Server or Outlook infrastructures to receive their email correspondence in clear, flexible and well-structured layout. Outlook suite is broadly utilized for exchanging .DAT business data across the corporations and within the common unified enterprise, arrange business meetings, schedule your agenda, allocate human, timely and financial resources across various projects due to tight Outlook integration with Microsoft Project bundle. At the same time, Microsoft Exchange Server offers a means to build up a powerful environment for sharing .DAT posts and publications in scope of a custom business-organization or constitution.

Nonimmigrant Visa Application

📌 Besides, the common .DAT entity may include confidential data entered during U.S. Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application (DS-160) procedure, accessible from the United States Department of State’s Consular Electronic Application Center. The users who addressed and published their documents can save their reference in the shape of a general .DAT object by picking “Save Application to File” option during the application routine. Afterwards, they can easily utilize their .DAT object to retrieve the results of their application in an online scheme. The methodics, described earlier, grant a service which permits users to save the current version of the applicant’s questionnaire form to their computer in the form of a .DAT file record. Such an approach is especially useful when the application has not been completed and the applicant desires to save the actual .DAT state of his questionnaire form to finish it later.

VCD Video File

📌 Quite often it may occur, that the target .DAT file extension references a video stream from a Video CD (VCD) optical disk carrier. This accurate .DAT build-up focuses on storing and covering the actual video data content played back from the VCD-disk, and is normally stored in MPEG-2 or MPEG-1 format definition. VCD containers gained a moderate popularity and spread in the 1990s and served for distributing home videos and movie content before the dawn of the DVD era. While you are attempting to open a definitive disc on your computer or laptop, obviously you would require to manually find the precise location and play the .DAT resources of the respective VCD-disk, which are generally put into the MPEGAV folder burned onto the source optical VCD-disk. Some users may decide to initiate, design and produce their own, custom .DAT entries using a range of software applications, like Nero or VCDEasy. These precise file compositions may not be finally stored on VCD optical disks.

SimCity 4 Game Data

📌 Additionally, a .DAT file schema may also be identified as a game data package utilized by SimCity 4, a quite popular city-building simulation entertainment game. This individual .DAT constitution generally includes a range of game data file records, such as .SC4DESC, .SC4LOT, and .SC4MODEL entities. .DAT container is commonly exploited for packaging a multitude of related game data samples into a unified file representation, which SimCity 4 can accurately reference and load in easier and more transparent shape. Practically, SimCity 4 product applies a vast arsenal of proprietary game data schemas, some of which are bundled altogether into the .DAT object layout. The custom mods created by keen SimCity 4 players are also generally stored in the .DAT build-up. In order to employ these .DAT mods, players are suggested to allocate them in SimCity 4’s plugins directory (and after that react to the precise instructional guide included into the .DAT mod installer bundle).

GameMaker Studio Game Audio Data Package

📌 Miscellaneously, the .DAT file logic may be related to the game data package designed by GameMaker Studio, a powerful cross-platform gaming engine. Generally, it includes a sequence of .WAV sound effects employed in a video game developed with the involvement of GameMaker Studio bundle. Hereby, the Undertale gaming project utilizes audio assets encoded in the form of .DAT build-up. When a developer decides to make use of the GameMaker Studio suite to design a new entertainment product, they can explicitly choose whether he prefers to save and store the internal gaming audio assets in an individual, distinct audio-only .DAT schema. This particular .DAT bunch is normally saved in a unified file with the primary asset package of the originally developed game. Basically, GameMaker Studio SDK grants outcome developers an opportunity to build proficient video games with the aid of drag-and-drop implementation options and a third-party programming language strictly entitled as Game Maker Language.

Clickteam Fusion Asset Package

📌 In other custom preconditions, the .DAT extension division may be oriented onto the asset packages employed by a software toolkit designed due to the interaction with the Clickteam Fusion 2.5 edition. Clickteam Fusion SDK is frequently utilized to build and deploy custom video games. Therefore, the .DAT layout schema typically contains audio, music, images, dialogues and other data integrated into the resulting game package. The noted distributive offers developers a way to design stylish and stunning video gaming projects and other types of applications for Android, iOS, Windows and other contemporary system categories. While the project is remaining in the “under development” phase, all of the designed apps are stored and handled as .MFA file samples. When the project author decides to package their .MFA resources into the target platform of the suite, the programmer may manage to encode all the game’s assets, considering music, images and other embedded data, into a resulting .DAT file record.

Nintendo Wii DAT File

📌 As an extra case, .DAT file can serve within Nintendo Wii consoles. This custom .DAT entry is defined as a plain text object, built-up and generated by Redump.org. Following this specific clause, the .DAT file record is composed of XML-formatted text that is applied to verify whether a specific Wii game has been dumped from the genuine optical disk and hardware console correctly. The Wii .DAT item generated by Redump.org database is entitled as wii.DAT. The owners of official Nintendo Wii device who desire to back up their gaming products or play them on PC emulators are able to dump the original games as .ISO images. In order to complete verification whether CleanRip or Homebrew Channel dumpers have successfully ripped a .DAT game, gamers are suggested to make sure that the ISO file’s checksum correlates with the verified checksum identifier embedded into the wii.DAT entity from the Redump.ORG database. If both of the .DAT checksum match, it means that the dumper has generated an ideal copy of the ripped gaming project.

Geometry Dash Saved Data

📌 In other occasions, the .DAT file schema may be based upon the game data files utilized by Geometry Dash, a music-associated platforming entertainment game. It includes either a custom marker of a player’s integrated account information and stats, or the description and design of the specific level entries which the player has created. Geometry Dash toolkit employs these file instances to properly load a player’s game data, specific to an individual user. All present-day revisions of Geometry Dash suite exploit two .DAT file objects to store custom, individual gamers’ content. These definitive file resources are entitled as CCLocalLevels.DAT and CCGameManager.DAT. Both of these .DAT document entities are strictly associated with and reference various in-game resources, such as account information, levels cleared, shards, coins, stars and other internal statistics. In the Windows platform both of these .DAT document branches are allocated within the C:/Users/YourUserName/AppData/Local/GeometryDash folder.

Prison Architect Asset Archive

📌 After all, the .DAT specification may concern a game data archive applied by the video game Prison Architect. This proper .DAT standard involves various game assets, such as audio samples, scripts, dialog text, and textures. The primary .DAT container of the Prison Architect project, which is composed of the non-audio assets, is entitled as main.DAT. Correspondingly, the audio asset .DAT instance acquired the sounds.DAT entitlement. As a matter of fact, the game constitution relies on these two predefined .DAT file structures only. Both of these .DAT samples are shaped and encoded into ZIP-representation. Besides, the players can easily replace, modify, and extract internal .DAT game assets to flexibly customize and tweak the in-game parameters and options. For instance, it is possible to fluently replace an audio file encountered in sounds.DAT resource with a custom alternate audio effect sample (renamed accordingly) to correctly playback a custom audio during in-game walkthrough process.

How to open an .DAT file?

📌 As you may notice, there are over a dozen of .DAT file variants, while each of them is identified and processed by a variety of distinctive apps and solutions. Most often, the .DAT file representation may concern Video CD meta-specification, burned onto the optical disk carrier. Also the .DAT entries may be generated by various Piriform tools, such as Recuva, CCleaner, Speccy, and Defraggler. Among the most typical cases of .DAT entry application the Microsoft Outlook email client should be specified at once. Furthermore, the .DAT format can be accurately opened by a particular amount of games, such as SimCity 4, Minecraft, Geometry Dash, and Prison Architect. In a majority of the cases, all of the mentioned .DAT file structures reference in-game assets, such as media, text dialogues, open-world maps, etc. After all, it is possible that a common .DAT extension branch is reviewed and opened by any type of text editors, considering the case that the .DAT file entry relies on the description of the Nintendo Wii game dumped from the conjunction of the original optical disk and console.