Dos dat files veiwer

[funhousegroup]

I am trying to help my neighbor with and ancient W3.1 machine and am stuck. The are still using and old dos program call general ledger. Actually it may not be dos. It was transfered from an old epson qx 10 running Valdocs onto their win 3.1 machine. \
Some of the files in the program are hoosed up and I need to look inside and see if I cant get them to run properly so she can print her reports from them.
Does anyone know where I can get a program that will allow me to look inside and edit dat files. These files are almost as old as I am and I have no idea how to view them.\
Alright then. I will cross my fingers and hold my breath.
Thanks, FH

[sleddog]

.dat is not a 'standardized' Windows or DOS file extension. Meaning, the extension is used by various applications to store 'data', and the format of the .dat file is different from one application to the next. Your .dat files may be in a proprietary binary format or they may be plaintext.

I'd try to open one in Notepad to see if it is readable. Remember that Notepad on Windows (other than NT4,2000,XP) cannot open a file larger than 64kb, so pick a small one. Or use Wordpad. If the file is completely readable, without any 'garbage' characters appearing anywhere in the file, then you can probably edit it in Notepad and re-save (backup the original first!) If Notepad/Wordpad cannot open the file, or displays unreadable garbage, then you cannot edit/save the file. In that case try some Web research on the program that created the files. It's amazing what's out there :)

[tommy]

If Sleddog's suggestion doesn't work for you then maybe you could use a txt/hex viewer. I have used WnBrowse successfully for some time. It is available for free download at:

http://www.ngthomas.co.uk/wnbrowse.htm

I don't recall if it will allow you to change the file (since I have never tried to use it that way) but at least you will be able to view the file.

[funhousegroup]

Thanks guys. I dont know why I did not think to use notepad. I guess the simple things are often thought of last huh. I was able to view the files though.
FuNhoUsEgRouP