How can I open a .alx or .cod or .prc or .sis file on a computer?

Question

I found a .zip file of something, and I downloaded it. Inside it were only a .alx and a .cod file (presumably of the same thing). I don't have a Blackberry. Is there a way to open one of the two of them on a computer (Windows 7)? I also found .prc and .sis versions of the same thing.

This file contains text, so I am looking for a way to get the text inside it. I don't know what (if any) interface is before the text. I am looking for something like Ibis Reader.

Solution 1

These file types are associated with apps for various mobile devices (e.g. Blackberry Java apps). Since these are generally undocumented proprietary compiled formats, they will probably be of little use to you unless you want to reverse-engineer the app. If you do, patience, trial and error, and a hex editor will be needed.

In general, for unknown package formats it's useful to try opening in 7-zip. It's possible that the archive contains files in some e-book format you can read.

alx

From here, we see that an alx file is an XML document containing a description of the app, e.g.

<loader version="1.0">
     <application id="com.rim.samples.device.httpdemo">
          <name>Sample Network Application</name>
          <description>
               Retrieves a sample page over HTTP connection.
          </description>
          <version>1.0</version>
          <vendor>Research In Motion</vendor>
<!-- more metadata truncated -->
     </application>
</loader>

You can therefore open it in any text editor, e.g. MS Notepad or Notepad++.

cod

A cod file is apparently a proprietary encoding of a compiled Java class file. This guy has reverse-engineered the format's header. With some effort you could probably extract the Java bytecode, and then disassemble it using javap. But unless you're interested in reverse-engineering the app, this file probably won't be of any use to you.

prc

I believe this is a Palm Pilot code format. See whether you can find Palm-related computer software that can read it. If it's just an app, it will probably be of little use to you for the same reason as for cod.

However, it's also been extended into an e-book format, so you could try opening it in an e-book reader like Calibre if you suspect that's what it contains.

sis

As Journeyman Geek pointed out, SIS is an installer package for Nokia/Symbian devices. It might be a renamed ZIP file (try opening it in 7-zip). Since Symbian is partly open-source, you might be able to find better docs for this format.

Solution 2

Use a text editor like Notepad++. If that doesn't show anything that makes sense, try using a hexeditor plugin with it and see if that works. You can cut your text out of the files.

To install the HEX Editor plugin, just extract the HexEditor.dll file from the downloaded ZIP file, and copy it to Notepad++\plugins folder, i.e. C:\Program Files\Notepad++\plugins or C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++\plugins.

Comments

[tumchaaditya]

for sis, use this: symbiandev.cdtools.net

[b a]

@tumchaaditya "SIS package is not supported."

[Thalys]

A little more info on 'something' would be nice.

[b a]

The Hexeditor plugin is a .dll file, and I don't know how to open it.

[b a]

I did what it said, but it didn't seem to work (see pictures I edited into the question)

[Everett]

In the top picture, the column on the right has the information in it you are looking for.

[b a]

What do I do with it? I was expecting text

[Everett]

This provides you access to everything in the file. You'll notice the column on the right has information that is in a human readable format. There will be other characters (computer readable) among the text that were placed there by whatever originally created the file. If all you are after is the text, copy out what you want. The computer isn't going to guess what you want and don't want sine it doesn't have any idea what is a control character, and what isn't. Since you aren't using what originally created the file, you are going to have to pull out your information by hand.

[Everett]

I have shown you not only how to open the file, but how to recover the text in the file. That was what you asked for.

[b a]

I changed the picture in the question to show you how it looks. As you can see, it is not readable (except lines 3-5)

[Everett]

And those are the only human readable characters in the entire file?

[b a]

The other file (.alx) never seemed to work as the .cod one (it always appeared to be a title rather than the text; the whole thing was so short that you couldn't scroll down). Maybe it makes a difference that the file is in a foreign language

[Everett]

That is one thing I wouldn't know. I've never had to work with foreign languages. I apologize, but this may be as far as I can take you using this tool.

[tumchaaditya]

What are those files and what exactly is in those files? do they all have same content? for prc file, try using mobipocket reader or one of the programs mentioned here: fileinfo.com/extension/prc

[Thalys]

.sis is a nokia/symbian installer package

[b a]

However, it's also been extended into an e-book format, so you could try opening it in an e-book reader like Calibre if you suspect that's what it contains. I tried with Calibre; it didn't work. Since Symbian is partly open-source, you might be able to find better docs for this format. Could you give an example of a type of doc?

[Mechanical snail]

By "docs" I meant documentation for the format.