31+ supported formats: free core pack plus five purchasable extension packs (automotive, scientific, lab instruments, big data, pharma). Core formats are always included; specialist packs are licensed separately or bundled with Team. A built-in content sniffer automatically identifies vendor formats and binary types from file content - even when the file extension is wrong or missing.
Text, spreadsheet, and PDF formats. No license required - included with every install.
| Extension | Format | Read | Write | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .csv | Comma-Separated Values | ✓ Full | ✓ | Auto-detect delimiter; smart preamble parsing; lazy preview; Parquet cache on load |
| .tsv | Tab-Separated Values | ✓ Full | ✓ | Same engine as CSV; tab delimiter auto-detected |
| .txt | Plain text / fixed-width | ✓ Full | ✓ | Configurable delimiter; preamble skip; regex extraction |
| .dat | Generic data file | ✓ Full | ✓ | Treated as delimited text; same options as CSV |
| .xlsx | Excel Open XML (2007+) | ✓ Full | ◐ | Multi-sheet; sheet picker dialog; range suffix syntax; single/all/prompt policy |
| .xls | Excel Binary (97–2003) | ✓ Full | – | Via xlrd; read-only legacy format |
| .xlsm | Excel Macro-Enabled | ✓ Full | – | Macros are ignored; data-only read via openpyxl |
| .xltx | Excel Template | ✓ Full | – | Same as .xlsx read path |
| .xltm | Excel Macro Template | ✓ Full | – | Same as .xlsm read path |
| PDF (table extraction) | ✓ Full | – | Table extraction via pdfplumber; region picker dialog for multi-table PDFs |
ASAM MDF files from vehicle data loggers. CAN/LIN bus decoding via DBC, ARXML, KCD, or SYM databases.
| Extension | Format | Read | Write | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .mf4 | ASAM MDF4 | ✓ Full | – | All MDF4 versions; CAN/LIN decoding via assigned database; 64-bit timestamps; compressed blocks |
| .mdf | ASAM MDF (generic) | ✓ Full | – | Auto-detects MDF version on open |
| .mf3 | ASAM MDF3 (legacy) | ✓ Full | – | Legacy format from older loggers; full signal extraction |
| .mf2 | ASAM MDF2 (legacy) | ✓ Full | – | Very old format; limited metadata; signal extraction supported |
| .atfx | ASAM ODS Transfer Format | ✓ Full | – | XML-based ODS exchange format |
| .blf | Vector Binary Log | ✓ Full | – | Native read via python-can. Assign a DBC/ARXML database in the CAN Database Manager to decode raw frames into named physical signals. Without a DBC, raw frame columns (timestamp, arbitration_id, data_hex) are shown. |
Assign database files to MDF/MF4 datasets in the CAN Database Manager (Tools → Data → CAN Database Manager) or via import templates for automatic assignment.
NI LabVIEW and TestStand measurement files, plus electrochemistry workstation exports (Gamry, Zahner).
| Extension | Format | Read | Write | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .tdms | NI Technical Data Management Streaming | ✓ Full | – | All TDMS versions; group/channel hierarchy preserved; waveform data, timestamps, properties extracted via npTDMS |
| .tdm + .tdx | NI TDM (XML header) + TDX binary | ✓ Full | – | DIAdem / LabVIEW TDM XML sidecar with companion .tdx binary; float64 channel streams. Place the .tdx next to the .tdm (same base name). |
| .lvm | LabVIEW Measurement | ✓ Full | – | Tab-delimited ASCII; header metadata extracted; multi-segment files supported |
| .dta | Gamry Framework DTA (EXPLAIN format) | ✓ Full | – | EIS, CV, CA, CP and all Gamry techniques. Dedicated EXPLAIN/TABLE parser; multi-table files supported (largest table returned). Metadata from preamble (date, sample, PSTAT, notes). |
| .ism | Zahner Zennium / Thales Z EIS data | ✓ Full | – | Tab-delimited ASCII from Zahner Zennium and Thales Z software. Frequency, Zreal, Zimag, phase, |Z| columns. Header metadata auto-extracted. |
| .isc | Zahner IM6 legacy EIS data | ✓ Full | – | Older IM6-SOFT format; space or tab-delimited; same Zahner loader path as .ism. |
The built-in content sniffer identifies formats by magic bytes (binary) or header signatures (text), regardless of file extension. Files with wrong or missing extensions are handled automatically. The Advanced Import Wizard also pre-configures delimiter and preamble settings for these vendor formats:
For CSV/text exports from these instruments the sniffer detects the vendor and pre-sets the correct delimiter (semicolon, tab, etc.) and preamble mode automatically. Preamble presets are also available in the Advanced Import Utility for manual configuration.
MATLAB workspaces, HDF5 hierarchical data, and NetCDF climate/model output.
| Extension | Format | Read | Write | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .mat | MATLAB workspace | ✓ Full | – | MATLAB v5 (scipy), v7.3 HDF5 (h5py); numeric arrays extracted as columns; struct fields flattened |
| .h5 / .hdf5 | HDF5 Hierarchical Data | ✓ Full | – | Via h5py; dataset tree browsable; used by dSPACE, custom simulation tools |
| .nc / .nc4 | NetCDF3 / NetCDF4 | ✓ Full | – | Climate model output, oceanography, ANDI chromatography; dimensions preserved; via netCDF4 + xarray fallback |
| .netcdf | NetCDF (generic extension) | ✓ Full | – | Same reader as .nc |
Columnar analytics formats and embedded databases. Optimised for large datasets.
| Extension | Format | Read | Write | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .parquet | Apache Parquet | ✓ Full | ✓ | Columnar; compressed; Polars native; used internally for the Parquet cache. Also used as export format. |
| .feather | Apache Arrow Feather | ✓ Full | ✓ | Arrow IPC format; fastest read/write for same-machine exchange |
| .sqlite / .sqlite3 | SQLite Database | ✓ Full | – | Table selection dialog on open; SQL query mode available in Code panel |
Chromatography, mass spectrometry, and spectroscopy data formats used in pharmaceutical and analytical labs.
| Extension | Format | Read | Write | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .cdf | AIA/ANDI CDF Chromatography | ✓ Full | – | HPLC, GC, IC. Columns: retention_time, signal. NetCDF-based via netCDF4. Supports ANDI-MS subset. |
| .mzml | mzML Mass Spectrometry | ✓ Full | – | TIC (Total Ion Current), BPI (Base Peak Intensity), per-scan m/z summaries. Via pymzml. Open XML standard (HUPO-PSI). |
| .jdx / .dx | JCAMP-DX Spectra | ✓ Full | – | NMR, IR, UV-Vis, Raman, mass spectra, chromatograms. Numeric X/Y columns extracted. Supports compressed and multi-block JCAMP files. |
| .raw | Thermo Fisher RAW | ◐ Via converter | – | Requires ThermoRawFileParser (free, open-source, Mono-based). Vizalyze calls it automatically if found in PATH. |
| .wiff | Sciex WIFF / WIFF2 | ◐ Via converter | – | Requires ProteoWizard msconvert (free). Converts to mzML on-the-fly; the mzML is then read by Vizalyze's mzML reader. |
Formats that Vizalyze can write or export.
| Format | Use case | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PPTX | Batch PowerPoint reports | Via python-pptx; charts inserted as images; template-driven layouts |
| DOCX | Batch Word reports | Via python-docx; tables, text, and chart images embedded |
| Direct PDF export | From report view; also from chart right-click Export → PDF | |
| Parquet | Processed data export | Export any loaded/transformed dataset as Parquet for downstream use |
| CSV | Universal data export | Export any dataset; configurable delimiter and encoding |
| PNG / SVG | Chart image export | Right-click any chart → Export → PNG / SVG / PDF |
| Recipe JSON | Pipeline definitions | Saved to Recipes/; shareable; re-runnable on new data |
| Import Template JSON | Reusable import configs | Saved to Import_Templates/; can be imported on other machines |
| Session file | Full workflow state | Saved to Sessions/; msgpack or pickle serialisation |
For Excel files, you can specify a sheet name and cell range directly in the file path using the virtual path suffix:
file.xlsx:::SheetName:::B5:Z5000This allows the same Excel file to appear multiple times in the dataset tree - one entry per sheet or range of interest. Useful for files with a "Summary" sheet and per-run data sheets.
Two pharma formats require free third-party converters that must be installed separately:
.raw file open.
msconvert tool converts .wiff → .mzML on-the-fly.
Drop any supported file format into Vizalyze and start exploring in seconds. Free forever for local use.
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