What is the SAL file format?
.sal files contain source code written in SAL (Scalable Application Language, also known as SQLWindows Application Language), the proprietary 4GL used by Gupta Technologies' SQLWindows rapid application development environment and its successors. Gupta Technologies introduced SQLWindows around 1991 as a Windows-based RAD tool for database-driven business applications.
SAL source files are plain text - ASCII or Windows-1252 encoded - structured in a distinctive hierarchical outline format: nested blocks define forms, sections, variables, functions, and event handlers rather than free-form procedural code. A typical .sal file begins with DEFINE or USE keyword blocks, with application logic arranged as an outline tree that maps directly to the SQLWindows IDE's outline-view editor.
The company underwent several rebranding cycles: Gupta Technologies became Centura Software around 1997, then Halo Technology Holdings around 2005, before the product was acquired by Unify Corporation - which still markets it as Centura Team Developer. Legacy .sal files remain in active use in enterprise systems built during the 1990s SQLWindows boom, particularly in finance, insurance, and manufacturing.
Any plain-text editor can open a .sal file for reading; Notepad++ supports community-built language definitions for syntax highlighting. Full editing and compilation requires the Centura Team Developer IDE.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWSAL files are plain-text source code; no execution risk from opening in a text editor. Running in the Centura TD runtime poses the same risk as any compiled business application.
Format details
in a nutshell- SORITEC Analytic Language Data File - Older econometric/statistical program SORITEC (MS-DOS/early Windows) also used .sal for data/script files - entirely unrelated to SAL/SQLWindows.
Programs that open SAL files
Windows2 apps
NotePad++ text editor
Open-source Open .sal as plain text to read and edit source code without the IDE runtime environment. 
Centura Team Developer (Unify)
Paid Open the .sal file within the Team Developer IDE; it appears in the application outline editor. Technical details
deep spec| Language | SAL (Scalable Application Language / SQLWindows Application Language) |
| Encoding | ASCII / Windows-1252 (ANSI); plain text |
| Container | Plain text - no binary wrapper |
| Structure | Hierarchical outline blocks (forms, sections, variables, event handlers) matching the SQLWindows IDE outline view |
| Typical file size | 1 KB - 5 MB |
| Magic bytes | None; may begin with `DEFINE` or `USE` SAL keyword blocks |
| MIME type | `text/plain` |
| Platform | Windows |
| Developer lineage | Gupta Technologies → Centura Software (~1997) → Halo Technology Holdings (~2005) → Unify Corporation |
| Associated tool | SQLWindows / Centura Team Developer 4GL RAD IDE |
| Compiler/runtime | Centura Team Developer (TD) 7.x / Unify NXJ |
| Released | circa 1991 (SQLWindows 1.0) |
| Latest version | Centura Team Developer (TD) 7.x / Unify NXJ era |
| Specification | www.unify.com |
SAL conversions
Community Q&A
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