Open DBC files in your browser
The database that says what each CAN message means: which bits hold the engine's speed, and in what unit. Open one right here, a row for each signal, or drop it with a log to see its signals. Nothing leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your database opens as a row for each signal, with its message, its bits and how they make a value.
- A row for each signal • Start bit, length and byte order
- Factor, offset, range and unit • Named values
- Drop it with a log • Its signals on one timeline
- Export • Save as CSV, Excel, JSON or Parquet
About DBC
Vector made the DBC file for CANdb++, its editor of CAN databases, and it became how carmakers, suppliers and open projects like opendbc say what the messages on a bus mean. CANoe, CANalyzer, CANape, PCAN-Explorer, SavvyCAN and cantools in Python all read it.
A DBC is text: the nodes on the bus (BU_), then each message (BO_) with its ID, length and sender, and under it its signals (SG_): the bit it starts at, how many bits, Intel or Motorola byte order, signed or not, the factor and offset that make it a value, its range, unit and receivers. VAL_ names a signal's values, CM_ adds comments, BA_ attributes like a message's cycle time, and a multiplexer signal picks which others a frame carries.
Filepeek reads it in your browser into a table, a row for each signal with its message, ID, where it lies in the frame, how its bits make a value, its range, unit, named values, multiplexing, sender, receivers, cycle time and comment, to sort, filter and search like any table. Drop it with a BLF, ASC, TRC or MF4 log and the log opens with each message's signals decoded onto one timeline. Save the table as CSV, Excel, JSON or Parquet.
CAN database
.dbc
Format
- MIME type
- text/plain
- Made by
- Vector Informatik
Inside the file
- Nodes
- The units on the bus
- Messages
- Each ID with its length and sender
- Signals
- Bits, byte order, factor, offset and unit
- Values
- Names for a signal's numbers
Opens in every browser
Filepeek opens DBC files in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari. On their own, browsers show them as text or download them.
- YouChromeOpens through Filepeek
- YouEdgeOpens through Filepeek
- YouFirefoxOpens through Filepeek
- YouSafariOpens through Filepeek
Apps that open DBC
- WindowsKvaser Database Editor, free • CANdb++ with CANoe
- MacSavvyCAN, free
- iPhone and iPadNo app opens it
- AndroidNo app opens it
Questions
How do I open a DBC file without CANdb++?
Drop it on this page or choose Peek a DBC. Every signal opens as a row in your browser, on a phone too.
How do I decode a CAN log with it?
Drop the DBC together with the log, a BLF, ASC, TRC or MF4, or a folder with both. The log opens on one timeline, each message's signals decoded in their units.
Does it show multiplexed signals?
Yes. The multiplexer says Multiplexer in the Multiplex column, and each signal it picks says the value it comes with, like When 2. A log decodes each one only from the frames that carry it.
Is a Visual FoxPro .dbc the same?
No. FoxPro's database containers are named .dbc too and hold a database's tables. Filepeek opens a CAN database by its first statements, and FoxPro's shows its About card.