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Convert BDOB to BDO

Verified by Adam B.· reviewed by FE Editorial ·updated Aug 20, 2026
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Is it possible to convert BDOB to BDO?
Yes - BDOB converts to BDO.

A .bdob and a .bdo carry the same NATO metadata binding; the only real difference is encoding - .bdob is CBOR (binary) and .bdo is XML (text). Conversion means decoding the CBOR structure and re-serialising it as ADatP-4778 XML, which needs purpose-built tooling because there is no consumer app for this.

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Tested on macOS, Windows & Linux
Last verified Sep 2026

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Why convert BDOB to BDO?

Both formats come from NATO's ADatP-4778 Metadata Binding Mechanism and hold the same bound metadata and optional signatures. Teams convert a binary .bdob to .BDO when a system or transport profile expects the human-readable XML form instead of the compact CBOR one.

How to convert BDOB to BDO

Custom ADatP-4778 tooling OPEN-SOURCE

Use software built to the ADatP-4778 profiles: decode the .bdob with a CBOR library, then re-emit the same binding as ADatP-4778-compliant XML saved as .bdo.

CBOR library + XML serializer OPEN-SOURCE

Decode the .bdob using a CBOR parser (e.g. a cbor package in Python or JavaScript), then map each element into the ADatP-4778 XML schema and write it as .bdo.

About these formats

.BDOB Binary Binding Data Object

A .bdob file is a NATO Binary Binding Data Object: a small binary record that binds metadata, usually a confidentiality label, to a data object. It is defined by the NATO Metadata Binding…

Open .BDOB details →
.BDO BDO File

A .BDO file is a data file used by specific software.

Open .BDO details →

Quality & what to watch

  • This is a niche NATO defence format with no off-the-shelf converter; you need code that understands the ADatP-4778 binding structure, not a generic file tool.
  • Any digital signature on the .bdob will not survive re-serialisation - CBOR and XML canonicalise differently, so the object may need re-signing to stay valid.
  • Because the standard is access-controlled, the exact schema and binding profiles come from the ADatP-4778 documents you must have on hand to map fields correctly.

Frequently asked questions

Are .bdob and .bdo the same thing?
They hold the same ADatP-4778 metadata binding, but .bdob is the CBOR (binary) encoding and .bdo is the XML (text) encoding.
Can I just rename .bdob to .bdo?
No. Renaming won't help - one is binary CBOR and the other is XML, so the bytes must actually be decoded and re-serialised.
Is there a ready-made converter?
Not publicly. Conversion relies on custom tooling written against the ADatP-4778 specification and profiles.
Will the signature stay valid?
Probably not. Changing the encoding changes the bytes, so a digitally signed object usually has to be re-signed after conversion.