What is the DBM file format?
A .dbm file is a ColdFusion Database Markup (DBML) template - a server-side web page from the earliest era of the ColdFusion platform. It contains HTML markup interspersed with DBML (Database Markup Language) tags such as <DBQUERY>, <DBOUTPUT>, <DBINSERT>, and <DBTABLE>, which the ColdFusion server processed to query databases and generate dynamic HTML before sending the result to the browser.
The format was introduced with ColdFusion 1.0 (1995, Allaire Corporation) and remained in use through ColdFusion 5 (2001). When Macromedia acquired Allaire and released ColdFusion MX (version 6.0, 2002), DBML was replaced by CFML (ColdFusion Markup Language), and the template extension changed from .dbm to .cfm. No modern ColdFusion release - including Adobe ColdFusion 2023 and the Lucee open-source engine - natively processes .dbm files without a compatibility layer.
.dbm files are plain ASCII text and can be opened in any text editor such as VS Code or Notepad. They are historical artifacts of pre-2002 ColdFusion installations and are only encountered when maintaining or migrating very old web applications. Developers migrating legacy .dbm templates typically convert DBML tags to their CFML equivalents or rewrite the templates in a current server-side language.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWDBM files are plain text server-side scripts. They cannot execute on an end-user's machine - a ColdFusion server is required. No direct risk to end users; on a server, as with any executable code, review before deploying.
Format details
in a nutshell- DBM Database File (Unix/GNU) - Unix dbm/ndbm/gdbm key-value database binary files also use .dbm; completely unrelated to ColdFusion.
- DAZ 3D Brick Material - DAZ Studio saves XML-format shader/material definitions as .dbm files.
- IBM InfoSphere Data Architect Model - Physical data model files exported from IBM InfoSphere Data Architect.
Programs that open DBM files
Windows3 apps
Adobe ColdFusion (legacy v5)
Paid Deploy on a ColdFusion 5 server; access via browser. Modern ColdFusion 2023 does not execute DBML natively. 
macOS1 app
Linux1 app
Technical details
deep spec| File encoding | Plain text (ASCII / Latin-1 - era predates routine UTF-8 adoption) |
| Typical file size | 1 KB - 50 KB |
| Template language | DBML (Database Markup Language) - HTML-like proprietary server-side tag set |
| Key DBML tags | `<DBQUERY>` (SQL query), `<DBOUTPUT>` (result loop), `<DBINSERT>` (insert row), `<DBTABLE>` (table output) |
| Processing model | Server-side: ColdFusion interprets DBML tags, executes database operations, and returns plain HTML to the browser |
| ColdFusion versions supported | ColdFusion 1.x (1995) through ColdFusion 5 (2001) |
| Replaced by | `.cfm` / `.cfml` (CFML - ColdFusion Markup Language), introduced with ColdFusion MX 6.0 in 2002 |
| Developer lineage | Allaire Corporation (1995) → Macromedia → Adobe Systems (current ColdFusion owner) |
| Modern compatibility | Not natively supported by Adobe ColdFusion 2023 or Lucee without a compatibility layer |
| Platform | Windows Server, Linux (server-side processing; clients receive standard HTML) |
| Editable with | Any plain-text editor - VS Code, Notepad, TextMate |
| Released | 1995 (ColdFusion 1.x, original Allaire release) |
| Latest version | Used through ColdFusion 5 (2001); deprecated in ColdFusion MX (2002) |
DBM conversions
Community Q&A
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