The Open File Dialog

Snapshot Decoder makes it easy to open and analyze your engine snapshot files.

How to Open a Snapshot

  1. Click File → Open Snapshot or press Ctrl+O
  2. Navigate to your snapshot file location
  3. Select the file and click Open

Drag and Drop

Drop snapshot file here prompt

You can skip the file dialog entirely by dragging a snapshot file straight onto the Snapshot Data panel. This works whether the panel is showing its empty state or a snapshot is already loaded.

  1. Drag a .xls or .xlsx file from Windows Explorer
  2. Drop it anywhere on the Snapshot Data panel – the panel outlines in blue while a valid file is hovering over it
  3. The file loads immediately, the same as using Open Snapshot
Note: If a snapshot is already loaded, dropping a new file prompts the same confirmation as opening one from the toolbar, since the current charts and chart cart cannot be recovered afterward. If you drop multiple files at once, only the first valid one is opened.

Filtering File Types

Use the file type filter dropdown to quickly find your snapshot files:

Open dialog file filter
Tip: The filter defaults to showing Excel files (.xls, .xlsx) which are the standard format exported from Bobcat Engine Analyzer.

Supported File Formats

Complete snapshots only: Snapshot Decoder can only correctly identify complete snapshot files – a full export from Bobcat Engine Analyzer. Files saved with only a selection of PIDs are likelymissing key PIDs Snapshot Decoder needs to detect the snapshot type, and will fail identification. If this happens, the status bar shows Raw data loaded (identification failed) and the file is loaded as unprocessed raw data instead of a recognized snapshot – see the Status Bar page for details.

After Opening

Once a file is opened, Snapshot Decoder will: