What is the PML file format?
A .pml file is a PADGen Program Information File - an XML document-based project source used by PADGen, the official utility published by the Association of Software Professionals (ASP) to create Portable Application Description (PAD) submissions.
PAD was introduced by ASP in 1998 as a standard machine-readable format letting software authors describe their products - name, version, pricing, download URLs, and short and long descriptions - so that online download directories could ingest the data automatically.
PADGen splits the authoring work into two files: a .pml file holds program-specific fields for one product (descriptions up to 2,000 characters, category, version, download links), while a companion .cml file stores company information. When a developer clicks Export in PADGen, the tool merges both sources and writes the final PAD-compliant .xml that directories accepted.
A .pml file is plain UTF-8 text; any text editor or XML editor can open it. Because the PAD ecosystem peaked in the mid-2000s and declined sharply as app stores and curated directories replaced the old software-download model, .pml and PADGen are now largely legacy tools seldom encountered outside archived projects.
Important name collision: the .pml extension is also used by Sysinternals Process Monitor for its binary activity-log files. Those files share the extension but are entirely unrelated - they are not XML and cannot be opened by PADGen.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWA PADGen .pml is harmless XML text - no code, no macros. The only real caveat is identity confusion: if your .pml is actually a Sysinternals Process Monitor log, it's a binary capture that may contain sensitive system details (paths, registry keys, command lines) from the machine it was recorded on, so handle such logs with care before sharing. PADGen itself is legacy abandonware; download it only from a reputable archive, not random download portals that bundle adware.
Format details
in a nutshell- Sysinternals Process Monitor Log (.PML) - A BINARY capture of Windows file/registry/process/network events from Microsoft's Process Monitor - a very common present-day meaning, opened only in Process Monitor.
- Pegasus Mail mailbox / message file - Mail data file used by the Pegasus Mail (Pmail) email client.
- AVImark veterinary / other app data - Various applications (e.g. AVImark practice software) use .pml for their own internal data.
Programs that open PML files
Windows3 apps
PADGen
Free The original editor: open the .pml to edit program info and export the standard PAD .xml. (Legacy tool; official ASP hosting has lapsed.)
Notepad++ / VS Code (any text/XML editor)
Open-source Open the .pml as XML to read or edit the fields. Works because a PADGen .pml is plain text.
Windows Notepad (built-in)
Built-in Quick view of the XML. (Note: if it shows binary gibberish, your .pml is a Process Monitor log, not PADGen XML.) 
macOS1 app
Linux1 app
Technical details
deep spec| Format type | XML text - editable PADGen source file for one software product |
| Character encoding | UTF-8 (plain XML text; no binary content) |
| Compression | None - stored as uncompressed plain text |
| Typical file size | 2 KB - 30 KB |
| XML structure | Nested XML elements covering program name, version, descriptions, category, pricing, download URLs, and author contact data |
| Developer | Association of Software Professionals (ASP) |
| Export output | Merged with a .cml company file by PADGen to produce a PAD 3.11-compatible .xml for submission to download directories |
| Companion file dependency | Requires a .cml company file; PADGen combines both to generate the final distributable PAD .xml |
| Description character limits | 45-character short description, 250-character medium, and up to 2,000-character full program description fields |
| MIME type | application/xml (also accepted as text/xml or text/plain) |
| File signature | None - begins with the standard XML declaration <?xml ...?>; no binary signature |
| Platform | PADGen is a Windows application; the .pml XML content is platform-independent |
| Extension name collision | The .pml extension is also used by Sysinternals Process Monitor for binary capture logs - an entirely unrelated binary format |
| Ecosystem status | Legacy - the PAD download-directory model declined through the 2010s; PADGen and .pml files are rarely encountered in active use |
| Released | PAD introduced by ASP in 1998; PADGen (which uses .pml) released early 2000s |
| Latest version | PAD 4.0 spec era; PADGen exports PAD 3.11 .xml from .pml + .cml sources |
| Open standard | Yes · royalty-free |
| Specification | en.wikipedia.org |
PML conversions
Community Q&A
asked by usersNo questions yet - be the first to ask about PML files.
