Opening a PWK File

The PWK file type is primarily associated with PRIMER-E, PolyWorks.

PWK	File extension: PWK
	File type:	data file

What is a PWK file

PWK files mostly belong to PRIMER-E, PolyWorks. Overview: Files with the PWK extension refer to distinct formats used by several specialized applications.
Primary uses:

PRIMER data files: These store analytical data within the PRIMER-E system. Data is saved in a proprietary format. More details are on the PRIMER-E website.

PolyWorks workspaces: These files use an XML format to keep metrology and inspection data. They work with the PolyWorks Metrology Suite. See further information at InnovMetric.

Other use cases:

Password Keeper files: These are designed to store credentials safely and sometimes appear as compressed archives.

Neverwinter Nights mesh files: These hold game model data used by NWmax for Neverwinter Nights.

FilExt.com tip: Each PWK file is built according to the needs of the originating software. The internal structure may be XML, ZIP, or a binary format, so it must be opened with the proper tool.

How to open PWK files

You need a suitable software like PRIMER-E, PolyWorks to open a PWK file. Without proper software you will receive a Windows message "How do you want to open this file?" or "Windows cannot open this file" or a similar Mac/iPhone/Android alert. If you cannot open your PWK file correctly, try to right-click or long-press the file. Then click "Open with" and choose an application. You can also display a PWK file directly in the browser:. Just drag the file onto this browser window and drop it.

Online PWK Text Viewer

Choose your .pwk file to analyze

or drag and drop it here

Online File Viewer

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PWK file format:

To find out what program is needed to open PWK files, you need to determine the file format. The file format can be determined based on the file extension and the signature (the first few characters of a file). However, different programs can use the same file extension, and file extensions can be assigned incorrectly. If there are problems opening a file, you must first determine the file format used. Our evaluation of the PWK files is as follows:

As a file extension, PWK isn't very common and includes different formats for different programs. The file formats most commonly found in PWK files are:

• 40% of all PWK files store the data in the XML file format. The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a simple text-based format for representing structured information: documents, webpages, data, configuration, books, transactions, invoices, and much more. XML defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. If you open these files in a text editor, you can view and read the content yourself. Most of these files are 1 KB to 2 KB in size. This file type is new and state-of-the-art. Several words can almost always be found in the files, e.g. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no" ?>, polyworksVersion, buildNumber, saveId, PolyworksWorkspace gid, <Objects>, O id and PolyworksWorkspace version. These files can be linked to workspace, block and scan.
• 30% of all PWK files start with the magic bytes 06 00 00 00 50 52 49 4D 45 52 03, which are always the first bytes of this file format. These files contain neither text nor words, but only data. PWK files can be up to 8 MB in size, but are often around 22 KB - 780 KB. The following keywords are characteristic: PRIMER, Data and WRKd. These files are often associated with data, primer and analysis.

All other PWK files (30%) have no uniform format, frequently e.g. ZIP and Exported. These files sometimes refer to check or cover. You can get all the details of your PWK file by dragging it onto this page or by clicking the button "Choose your .pwk file to analyze" above.