Opening .dat file?

[Anonymous]

Hello

I have a .dat file that I want to open in autocad to use as a drawing template. Is this possible or do I need to convert it to some other file extension first ? 

Thank you, 

[Anonymous]

.dat file extension is a generic file type that could contain just about anything. Unless you know of the application that created the file with the .dat extension you may be out of luck.

[TheCADnoob]

what program are you using to create the .dat file? i would see if i could get that program to output into another format. Perhaps dwg or dxf.

If you are feeling adventurous you can change the extension from .dat to .DWG and see what happens. 

[pendean · Accepted solution]

Q: Did someone send you an email with a promised drawing file as an attachment, and it turned into a DAT file when you got it? That means your email was destroyed, the DAT is garbage, Ask the sender to you another file, perhaps they can ZIP it this time.

[john.vellek]

HI @Anonymous,

Where did this DAT file originate? did you receive it as an winmail.dat? If so there won't be anything to bring into AutoCAD.

Please give me more detail about this file, where it came from (application?) and if you can share it by attaching it to a post.

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Update : 

I changed the file extension to .doc and open it in Word. I searched the first couple lines of code and found a reference to adobe illustrator. I manually changed the extension to .pdf. Then I found a .pdf to dwg converter online and voila I was in business. 

Thank you everyone! 

[Anonymous]

I simply used Adobe Illustrator in "open with". Illustrator asked me how to open and I choose "as autocad drawing". Everything is working!

[Anonymous]

I have .dat and .idx files from a CAD program called Aperature. Would you have any information of suggestions?

[Anonymous]

When I send DXF file to machine shop with outlook they receive it as a DAT file. I have been sending this shop drawings for a couple of years with this laptop without any issues until the last 2 months. The twist is that if I send the same drawing he received as a DAT file through my personal yahoo account he receives the drawing as DFX without any issue.

I spoke to our IT support and they tell me that they cannot help since they do not have Autodesk. I'm using Autodesk 2016 LT.

Seems to be an issue with my outlook but I'm not sure what is the issue? 

[john.vellek]

Hi @Anonymous,

Did the recipient see a winmail.dat file? If s, this article from Microsoft might help.

You might consider using a cloud share such as Google Drive, Livedrive, Dropbox, Box, etc to share files as this makes the process much easier than email (IMHO).

Please select the Accept as Solution button if my post solves your issue or answers your question.