CAD Development : 6422


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Future extension of dat files? —Michael Lachmann

Hy, some time ago I've been told by somebody that extensions of dat files should be changed to something else. Can somebody remember what it was - and whats the actual status - I didn't hear about it since then... Michael (23 years ago, 29-Sep-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)

Re: Future extension of dat files? —Fredrik Glöckner

(...) It is my experience that "development" type discussions are no longer run on LUGNET, rather they have been taken to some disclosed private mailing lists. Personally, I don't see any benefits from changing the extensions. We already have .LDR (...) (23 years ago, 29-Sep-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)

Re: Future extension of dat files? —Larry Pieniazek

(...) I know of one list we're both on, are there other ones that are "disclosed"? If so can you disclose them? I would want to listen in. Or did you mean undisclosed... (...) DAT is commonly used by many other things as well. But we can never find (...) (23 years ago, 29-Sep-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)

Re: Future extension of dat files? —Steve Bliss

(...) Oh, no. That's not what the 'private mailing list' is for at all. I'm sorry you've gotten that impression. :( Earlier this year, a private mailing list was set up, for one express purpose: to put together a proposed organization & charter for (...) (23 years ago, 1-Oct-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)

Re: Future extension of dat files? —Michael Horvath

I thought *.MIK or *.MKE would be okay. What do you think? Heh. -Mike (...) (23 years ago, 30-Sep-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)

Re: Future extension of dat files? —Tim Courtney

(...) Michael - The new extension should be .ldr. I'd recommend saving files at .ldr as default, but leave the option to save as .dat. Also, when opening a file, look for both .dat and .ldr as a default. BTW (for everyone, since this is on a public (...) (23 years ago, 30-Sep-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)

Re: Future extension of dat files? —Michael Lachmann

(...) Thanks, that was it, what I wanted to know. For the next version I'm planning to register this extension instead of .dat. Although I'll still support dat MLCad will write .ldr by default - still allowing the user to specify something else. I (...) (23 years ago, 1-Oct-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)

Re: Future extension of dat files? —Tim Courtney

(...) No problem. (...) Sounds good! Thanks, Michael. (...) Yeah, .dat from the get-go was too ambiguous, and there's been a need for LDraw files to have their own unique extension for quite some time. The other issue is what to do with parts - from (...) (23 years ago, 1-Oct-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)

Re: Future extension of dat files? —Michael Lachmann

(...) I know, I'm not Steve, but I think leaving library extensions as they are shouldn't be a problem since you do not regulary open library files, but models. As long as the editors and viewers accept both extensions it should be fine. Just we (...) (23 years ago, 1-Oct-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)

Re: Future extension of dat files? —Steve Bliss

(...) Is there any MIME-head out there who knows if multiple file extensions can be directed at the same MIME-type? I'd like to keep both DAT and LDR registered/linked to application/x-ldraw on my system. Steve (23 years ago, 1-Oct-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)

Re: Future extension of dat files? —Don Heyse

(...) Look here (Warning, MS changes this with every release so it may not work!) (URL) worked for me on 2000 (sorta borrowed from the ldglite readme) 1) Open an Explorer window (or any folder window). 2) Select the "View->Folder Options" menu (...) (23 years ago, 1-Oct-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)

Re: Future extension of dat files? —Don Heyse

(...) Heh, while searching for another tool I just discovered you can do this on the command line in 2000. Who would've guessed? Typing: ftype /? reveals the secret. To add .ldr on my system would require typing: assoc .ldr=ldlite.document The only (...) (23 years ago, 1-Oct-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)

Re: Future extension of dat files? —Steve Bliss

(...) (23 years ago, 1-Oct-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)

Re: Future extension of dat files? —Steve Bliss

(Sorry, I hit "Post" too quickly just now) I was playing around with Regedit. I found the .dat key (under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT), and copied the settings from .dat to a new key, .ldr. I also changed the default file extension for application/x-ldraw to (...) (23 years ago, 1-Oct-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)

Re: Future extension of dat files? —Dave Schuler

(...) Here's a potentially dumb question: will we be changing the file format at all during the switch from .dat to .ldr, or will it still be the same text-readable setup we all know and love? Dave! (23 years ago, 1-Oct-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)

Re: Future extension of dat files? —Tim Courtney

"Dave Schuler" <orrex@excite.com> wrote in message news:GKJKwG.Awv@lugnet.com... (...) at (...) No, the actual text based file format will remain the same. -Tim (23 years ago, 1-Oct-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)

Re: Future extension of dat files? —Steve Bliss

(...) Yeah, like Tim said: the file format is staying the same. There are only two changes going on: 1. LDraw.org semi-officially endorses the .LDR extension as the standard for LDraw files. This stance doesn't have a *direct* effect on anything. 2. (...) (23 years ago, 2-Oct-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)

Re: Future extension of dat files? —Don Heyse

(...) I don't suppose you could humor me and type: assoc .ldr at a command prompt and tell me what you get. Since we seem to be standardizing on the .ldr extension and the application/x-ldraw, it might be nice to standardize the rest of the junk (...) (23 years ago, 1-Oct-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)

Re: Future extension of dat files? —Steve Bliss

(...) I get this: C:\>assoc .ldr .ldr=l3.dat C:\>assoc .dat .dat=L3.dat But I was mucking with assoc yesterday, so don't assume this is the normal result of the registry mucking I did before then. (...) Probably LDraw.Document would be good, having (...) (23 years ago, 2-Oct-01, to lugnet.cad.dev)