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powershellfilereverse-engineering

Can I and How to extract data from .dat file like using the software?

I want to know if i can extract data from .dat file imitating the way I do it inside the software. Commonly, I load the .dat file in the software through "Load Data" option, then is on my interest obtaining 2 files, generated through "Params to ASCII" and "Data to ASCII" options inside the software. Like you see, I obtain 2 ascii files, which are easily read with a text editor.

The concern is that I do it all manually, and there are lot of .dat files, so I spend lot of ass-hours doing just clicks.

So, I want to know if there is some way to automatize those operations, anyway serve. I am thinking, through my limited knowledge, in scripts that imitate what I do manually (don't know how to do it), or something more complex, which involves reverse-engineering (also don't know how to do it or if it's possible). Or maybe using powershell...

Maybe you guys could help me, surely you have more brillaint minds!

Kind regards!

Solution

  • There are at least four options that I can think of. Sadly, .dat is not a well-defined file format like .pdf, but a general extension used for all kinds of data files. Do you know the name of the software you open the files? That would help to find a solution. Anyway, some general ideas; to recommend any or be more practical requires to know the software.

    1. Use application vendor's API or libraries to read the file. Vendors often provide .Net library for reading the file from disk or via API call. This would be the clean and supported way. For example, to read dBase database files, there's a library at Github.
    2. Read the file as raw binary (as explained in the article linked by Abraham Zinala). I'd rather not try this first, as it requires some reverse engineering and might provide unexpected errors.
    3. Use UI automation. That is, create a script that uses SendKeys to simulate pressing keyboard keys. There are tools such as AutoIT that make this easier. This is kind of last resort, as it is error prone and cumbersome. If the software supports macros or has internal automation capability, try that before 3rd party tools.
    4. The system sending you .dat files offers the data in some other easy to process format. Whilst this is the easiest solution for you, the other party might not agree.