NAME

     convert2da — BioWare 2DA/GDA to 2DA/CSV converter

SYNOPSIS

     convert2da [options] file ...

DESCRIPTION

     convert2da converts BioWare's 2DA and GDA files into (cleanly formatted) ASCII 2DA or CSV
     files.  2DA files are two-dimensional arrays, or tables, holding various information and
     used throughout many of the BioWare games.  They can come in two flavors: binary and plain-
     text ASCII.  GDA files are conceptually the same, but they store their data inside a GFF, a
     binary hierarchical format.  Unlike 2DA files, a GDA does not store its column header name
     directory.  Instead, only a CRC hash of the name encoded in little-endian UTF-16 is stored.

     This tool can read all of those formats and produces an easily readable, cleanly formatted
     ASCII 2DA.  Alternatively, it can create a CSV file for further processing.  It also
     contains a lookup table to convert GDA column header hashes back to readable names.  Not all
     column header names are known, though.

OPTIONS

     -h
     --help
           Show a help text and exit.
     --version
           Show version information and exit.
     -o file
     --output file
           Write the output to this file.  If this option is not used, the output is written to
           stdout.
     -a
     --2da
           Convert the 2DA or GDA file into an ASCII 2DA file.  This is the default mode of
           operation.
     -b
     --2dab
           Convert the 2DA or GDA file into a binary 2DA file.
     -c
     --csv
           Convert the 2DA or GDA file into an CSV file.
     file
         The name of the 2DA or GDA file to read.

         If more than one input file is given, they must all be GDA files and use the same column
         layout. They will be pasted together and converted as one GDA. This mimics how the M2DA
         (multiple 2DA/GDA) work in the Dragon Age games.

EXAMPLES

     Convert the 2DA file1.2da into an ASCII 2DA file2.2da:

           $ convert2da -a file1.2da -o file2.2da

     Convert the 2DA file1.2da into an ASCII 2DA on stdout:

           $ convert2da -a file1.2da

     Convert the 2DA file1.2da into a binary 2DA file2.2da:

           $ convert2da -b file1.2da -o file2.2da

     Convert the 2DA file1.2da into a CSV file:

           $ convert2da -c file1.2da -o file2.csv

SEE ALSO

     gff2xml(1)

     More information about the xoreos project can be found on its website: https://xoreos.org/.

AUTHORS

     This program is part of the xoreos-tools package, which in turn is part of the xoreos
     project, and was written by the xoreos team.  Please see the AUTHORS file for details.