In BARfly, viewing files is not much different than viewing files with other desktop applications.  You can open files, close files, and use the mouse and keyboard to browse the contents of files just like you might expect in a word processing, spreadsheet, or database application.

You select the File menu to open, save, and close files.  You can also close a particular tab by clicking on the close box at the upper right of the data display window.

There is one complication about viewing files in BARfly:  you need a schema to view a file of a particular type.  The schema is provided in the form of a BAR implementation file, or BAR I.F. for short.  This file contains all the information necessary to deserialize a file on the disk and display it in BARfly.  It also contains information that controls the serialization process when the file is saved back to the disk.

Can't find a schema?  Welcome to the world of binary file processing.  Much of the time, when a programmer designs and implements a binary file format, he or she often overlooks the need to document the file format in such a way that others can make use of it easily (or at all).  Granted, not all companies desire this:  some binary file formats are not intended to be used outside of the context of the application with which they were originally intended to work.

This leaves you, the user, with a few options.

• Download a schema from the web.  You can visit the official BARfly website and search for the implementation file.  Most files come at a cost (a few basic ones are free), with availability, support difficulty, and demand determining what you pay.
• Build your own I.F.  With BARfly Gold, you get an IDE for building and testing your own implementation files.  Obviously, you need to be technically savvy to do this, but all the help and support you need is right here in this documentation.  If you build it, they will come!

The first option is the most attractive if you want results fast and reliable as soon as possible.  These implementation files are well-documented and come with the technical support associated with that format.  This means that if you download it now, and there is a need for a new revision, you can download the latest version again at no additional cost.

The second option is best when the format is too obscure to be found on the site, or if your company absolutely must own the I.F. intellectual property.  Of course, this do-it-yourself option means you're on your own:  no support, no free updates.

BARfly lets you pick an I.F. to use as a schema from one of two locations:  a stand-alone file on the disk (a BAR file, with extension .BAR), or a file format registry file (an FFR file, with extension .FFR).

  See also: [Creating a new file] [Opening an existing file] [Using the node browser]