{
 "id": "esri-arcinfo-dat-file-external",
 "name": "ESRI ArcInfo DAT File (External)",
 "category": "text",
 "identifiers": {
  "extensions": [
   "dat"
  ],
  "puid": [
   "fmt/1594"
  ],
  "wikidata": [
   "Q111512403"
  ],
  "magic": [
   {
    "offset": 0,
    "hex": "2e2e2f",
    "notes": "ESRI ArcInfo .dat File (external)"
   }
  ],
  "signatures": [
   {
    "name": "ESRI ArcInfo .dat File (external)",
    "sequences": [
     {
      "position": "bof",
      "offset": 0,
      "pattern": "2e2e2f"
     },
     {
      "position": "eof",
      "offset": 0,
      "max_offset": 60,
      "pattern": "2e616466"
     }
    ]
   }
  ],
  "priority_over": [
   "fmt/1595"
  ]
 },
 "status": "unknown",
 "summary": "Files which comprise part of an ArcInfo Coverage, which is a data model whose purpose is to store georelational data such as spatial location and descriptive data. Each ArcInfo Coverage resides in an ArcInfo workspace, a directory which contains two or more folders. These packages are generated using ArcGIS software, produced by Esri (https://www.esri.com/en-us/arcgis/about-arcgis/overview.) An ArcInfo coverage dataset typically has two types of .dat file: internal, which store the actual data table, and external, which contains a relative path to the data table. External .dat files follow a unique naming pattern: arcXXXX.dat, where XXXX is incrementally increasing number starting from 0000, e.g. arc0000.dat, arc0001.dat. The .dat files always come in pair with a NIT file and are both stored in an INFO directory at the root.",
 "tools": [
  {
   "name": "ArcInfo",
   "url": "http://resources.arcgis.com/content/arcinfo-workstation-previous-versions",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false
  }
 ],
 "projects": [
  {
   "name": "PRONOM fmt/1594",
   "url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/PRONOM/fmt/1594",
   "kind": "format-doc"
  },
  {
   "name": "Wikidata Q111512403",
   "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q111512403",
   "kind": "wiki"
  }
 ],
 "provenance": {
  "sources": [
   "pronom",
   "wikidata"
  ]
 },
 "updated": "2026-10-20",
 "aliases": [],
 "structure": [],
 "parsers": [],
 "conversions": [],
 "samples": [],
 "claims": [],
 "verification": []
}