DCF File Extension

What is the .DCF file type?

The filename extension .dcf is primarily associated with the DRM Content Format (DCF), denoting the related DCF-Protected Digital Content (.dcf) file type. Developed by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), DCF represents a Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology to control and manage distribution of copyrighted digital content (multimedia, books, ringtones, etc.). DCF is especially applicable to mobile devices such as Android-based smartphones and is used by several major device manufacturers in collaboration with content delivery networks.

The .dcf file is an encrypted container in which digital content is stored separately from its DRM key (a Rights Object, .dr or .drc) which is delivered via safe channels and required for access to the content. Every attempt to open such a DRM-protected file (.dcf) results in an activation request sent by the device to the content's publisher. This way, unauthorized copies of DCF files cannot be played or viewed. DCF files can be opened on a DCF-compatible device or platform, subject to device/user authorization.

Alternatively, the .dcf extension denotes the Directory Opus Command File (.dcf) file type used with Directory Opus, a paid power file manager for Microsoft Windows from GPSoftware. Posed as a versatile replacement of Windows Explorer, Directory Opus is highly configurable and allows to use so-called command files (.dcf). A command file (.dcf) is an XML document in which an Opus GUI element, a feature, or a function is described so that it can be activated outside Directory Opus. Command files (.dcf) can be created in several ways, for instance, by dragging Directory Opus GUI buttons onto desktop. Such files (.dcf) can be reviewed and edited in any text editor and are handled by the DOpusRT utility (dopusrt.exe), provided the .dcf file type is properly associated with it.

Allegro PCB Designer, advanced proprietary printed circuit board (PCB) design software from Cadence Design Systems, Inc., uses the .dcf extension for its Constraint Manager Database (.dcf) file type and format. Constraint Manager (CM) is Allegro PCB Designer's tool to handle properties and constraints of a PCB design, all saved in a single database (.dcf). CM appears in the 'new architecture' introduced with Allegro PCB Designer 16.5, and older projects may have to be upreved (converted) to match the new data scheme. CM database (.dcf) files can be opened or imported in Allegro PCB Designer.

The .dcf extension is additionally associated with the Document Computation Format (DCF) and the corresponding file type. DCF is the native file format of PriMus, a free-to-use, pay-to-print estimate and BoQ (Bill of Quantities) preparation tool by Acca Software for construction and architectural design. Here, a .dcf file is a BoQ, price list, or other PriMus project. Acca Software's proprietary binary format understood by its PriMus and Edificius software only, DCF is not to be confused with Wolfram Research's Computable Document Format (CDF), as these are two completely different and unrelated.

Another .dcf extension's association belongs to the Schneider Electric Device Configuration File (.dcf) file type/format. Usually used in pair with the firmware upgrade (.upg) files, such .dcf files provide templates for programming Scheider Electric's PowerLogic meter devices using the ION Setup software. A meter template (.dcf) file is a text-based XML document.

Standing for 'Disk Copy Fast,' the .dcf extension was also used to denote floppy disk images (.dcf) created by Disk Copy Fast (DCF), an obsolete paid archiving tool written by Chang P. Lee for MS-DOS. In this context, the .dcf file represents a floppy disk image made with DCF and saved in the tool's own format. Such images can still be opened by certain present-day archivers.

Software to open or convert DCF files

Melon

 

Melon Player

 

GPSoftware Directory Opus by GPSoftware

 

Melon by LOEN Entertainment

 

CSPro by U.S. Census Bureau

 

Free File Viewer Pro

Download