# plot .dat file in Paraview time animation

**URL:** https://discourse.paraview.org/t/plot-dat-file-in-paraview-time-animation/8790
**Category:** ParaView Support
**Created:** [January 18, 2022, 10:06am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/plot-dat-file-in-paraview-time-animation/8790 "2022-01-18T10:06:16Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![usman\_liaqat](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/usman_liaqat/32/8391_2.png) [@usman\_liaqat](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/usman_liaqat)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2022, 10:06am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/plot-dat-file-in-paraview-time-animation/8790/1 "2022-01-18T10:06:16Z")

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Dear All,  
I am beginner in Paraview. I am trying to open (.dat) file in p

 ![image_2022-01-18_110429](https://discourse.paraview.org/uploads/default/original/2X/f/f534b32fb482a22a2758edafbe799befb0553baf.png)  
araview. I am facing following error

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### Author: ![mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/mwestphal/32/17_2.png) [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2022, 10:21am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/plot-dat-file-in-paraview-time-animation/8790/2 "2022-01-18T10:21:35Z")

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please share your data

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### Author: ![usman\_liaqat](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/usman_liaqat/32/8391_2.png) [@usman\_liaqat](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/usman_liaqat)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2022, 10:58am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/plot-dat-file-in-paraview-time-animation/8790/3 "2022-01-18T10:58:29Z")

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Dear Mathieu,  
Kindly find the link of my data

[https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1odghPkoi4qPRl2Bw-SB3FociC2m3UtFf?usp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1odghPkoi4qPRl2Bw-SB3FociC2m3UtFf?usp=sharing)

It is basically hourly data of 15 days in (.dat) format.

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### Author: ![mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/mwestphal/32/17_2.png) [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2022, 1:23pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/plot-dat-file-in-paraview-time-animation/8790/4 "2022-01-18T13:23:21Z")

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.dat is a very generic binary format.

Do you know which format is actually used inside ?

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### Author: ![usman\_liaqat](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/usman_liaqat/32/8391_2.png) [@usman\_liaqat](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/usman_liaqat)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2022, 1:31pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/plot-dat-file-in-paraview-time-animation/8790/5 "2022-01-18T13:31:16Z")

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Dear Mathieu,  
The format of the file is in real binary format.

Regards

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### Author: ![usman\_liaqat](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/usman_liaqat/32/8391_2.png) [@usman\_liaqat](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/usman_liaqat)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2022, 1:33pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/plot-dat-file-in-paraview-time-animation/8790/6 "2022-01-18T13:33:28Z")

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Dear Mathieu,

The format of the files is a series of 2d matrices in real binary format

Regards

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### Author: ![mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/mwestphal/32/17_2.png) [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2022, 1:42pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/plot-dat-file-in-paraview-time-animation/8790/7 "2022-01-18T13:42:59Z")

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AFAIK ParaView does not support this.

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### Author: ![usman\_liaqat](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/usman_liaqat/32/8391_2.png) [@usman\_liaqat](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/usman_liaqat)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2022, 2:56pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/plot-dat-file-in-paraview-time-animation/8790/8 "2022-01-18T14:56:51Z")

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Can you please suggest me any solution to visualize it?

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### Author: ![mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/user_avatar/discourse.paraview.org/mwestphal/32/17_2.png) [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2022, 3:59pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/plot-dat-file-in-paraview-time-animation/8790/9 "2022-01-18T15:59:46Z")

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Use a format supported by ParaView ?