Supported formats
Which files open, which need an export first, and the quirks of each tool.
What opens today
| Tool | File | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| HP Tuners VCM Scanner | .hpl | Opens directly | Every container version we have met opens, including the older VCM Scanner format and the header-less logs the TDN app writes. Channel names and units come from the file, or from a built-in table of over 460 parameter ids when the file carries none. |
| HP Tuners (export) | .csv | Opens directly | Both of Scanner's CSV dialects open. |
| SCT Livewire / X4 | .csv | Export first | Export a datalog CSV from the SCT software. Measured AFR in an SCT log is really lambda and is treated as such. Ford torque-source codes are shown as text. |
| Haltech NSP | .csv | Export first | Export from NSP with File then Export. Values are scaled per channel type, temperatures come back from kelvin, and the AFR channel is lambda. |
| FuelTech FT450 / 550 / 600 | .csv | Export first | Export from FTManager. Time starts negative because of the pre-trigger, and the export is already reduced compared with the native file. |
| Holley EFI | .dl | Opens directly | Opens directly. Your configured analog inputs are named from the log itself; a few digital input and output names still come from the reference layout. |
| Holley EFI (export) | .csv | Opens directly | The Holley CSV export opens too, and keeps its negative pre-trigger time. |
| MoTeC i2 / M1 | .ld | Opens directly | Opens directly, on an even 200 Hz time base. Units are the ones in the file, which can differ from what i2 displays, because i2 keeps display units in the project rather than in the log. |
| MegaSquirt / TunerStudio | .msl | Opens directly | Text logs open directly. Units are whatever TunerStudio wrote. |
| Anything else | .csv | Opens directly | A comma-separated file with a first column called time or offset, and optionally a units row underneath the names. |
If your tool is not listed, export a CSV with a time column. That path works for almost anything.
Files that have to be exported first
Some tools encrypt or pack their own log container, so nothing but that tool can read it. BigData recognises these and tells you which export to make instead of failing vaguely:
Haltech .hlg, .hlgzip | Encrypted by NSP. Export the log as CSV from NSP, then open that. |
Holley .DLZ | A compressed download. Open it in the Holley software and export a .dl or a CSV. |
Binary MegaLogViewer .mlg | Open it in MegaLogViewer or TunerStudio and save it as a .msl text log. |
FuelTech .ftml | Not supported. Export a CSV from FTManager. |
A very old .hpl | Open it in a current VCM Scanner and re-save, or export a CSV from Scanner. |
Units and naming
Channels are matched to roles regardless of what the source tool calls them, which is how one dashboard or one histogram works across brands.
Units are converted to US measures on the way in: Celsius to Fahrenheit, kPa, bar, mbar and inHg to psi, km/h and m/s to mph, g/s and kg/h to lb/min, newton metres to pound feet. Units that are already what a tuner expects are left alone, so Holley fuel flow stays lb/hr and HP Tuners injector pulse width stays microseconds. A load channel logged as a ratio is shown as a percentage.
Where a log has manifold pressure and barometric pressure but no boost channel, a Boost (derived) channel is added from the difference.
This page is part of the manual built into BigData for Windows, where the same topics are available offline with F1.