What is the DAF file format?
.daf files are proprietary encrypted database files created by Digital Anchor Manager, a database management application developed by Telecompute Integrated Systems Inc. The file stores structured application data in an encrypted binary container that is not human-readable without the original software.
Digital Anchor was a niche Windows database product active primarily in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The .daf format uses Telecompute's own proprietary encryption; the internal binary structure has not been publicly documented and no independent reverse-engineering or specification documents are known to exist.
Because the format is proprietary and encrypted, .daf files cannot be opened, inspected, or converted by general-purpose tools. The only known application capable of reading and writing them is Digital Anchor Manager. Telecompute Integrated Systems appears to be defunct as of the mid-2020s - the company website is no longer active - making the software extremely difficult or impossible to obtain.
Users who encounter a .daf file on an older Windows system and no longer have access to Digital Anchor Manager are unlikely to find a workable alternative, as no community tools, open-source readers, or format converters are known to support this format. File size varies from a few kilobytes to tens of megabytes depending on the database content.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWEncrypted database container; not an executable. No known malware vector. However, encrypted nature means contents cannot be easily inspected.
Format details
in a nutshell- DAF audio (Direct Audio Format / IMA ADPCM) - Some audio tools use .daf for IMA ADPCM encoded audio data; unrelated to Digital Anchor.
- DATAIR Employee Benefits System data - DATAIR software uses .daf for benefit-plan data files; unrelated to Telecompute.
Programs that open DAF files
Windows1 app
Digital Anchor Manager
Paid Open the .daf file directly in Digital Anchor Manager (if software is available). Developer appears defunct. Technical details
deep spec| Encoding | Binary (encrypted) |
| Encryption | Proprietary Telecompute Integrated Systems encryption; internal structure not publicly documented |
| Byte order | Internal byte order not publicly documented |
| Container | Proprietary Digital Anchor database binary container |
| Compression | Internal compression method not documented; format internals are closed and proprietary |
| Platform | Windows only |
| Typical file size | Variable - kilobytes to tens of megabytes depending on database content |
| Magic bytes | None documented; header format is not public |
| Human-readable | No - encrypted binary; file content is inaccessible without Digital Anchor Manager |
| Required software | Digital Anchor Manager (Telecompute Integrated Systems); no known third-party readers or converters |
| Software availability | Telecompute Integrated Systems appears defunct as of mid-2020s; software may be unobtainable |
| Public specification | None - closed proprietary format with no independent documentation |
| Released | unknown (late 1990s-early 2000s) |
DAF conversions
Community Q&A
asked by usersNo questions yet - be the first to ask about DAF files.
