Opening a VOT File

The VOT file type is primarily associated with TOPCAT.

VOT	File extension: VOT
	File type:	data file

What is a VOT file

VOT files mostly belong to TOPCAT. VOT files are mainly used to hold XML astronomical tables that contain structured data from astronomical observations.
These files follow a standardized format used in the astronomy community and are supported by dedicated software such as TOPCAT and the STIL toolkit. The XML structure allows for a clear organization of data, making it easier to exchange and analyze information related to celestial objects and other astronomical parameters.
A small number of VOT files use a GZIP format and serve as video object tracking files. These are used for video annotation tasks in a different workflow, and tools like Praat may be applied for analysis in that context.
Key details as outlined by FilExt.com include:

The primary purpose is to store astronomical table data in an XML format.

The format supports large datasets and is part of virtual observatory standards.

It is designed to work with astronomy software for data visualization and processing.

A minority of files use GZIP for video tracking annotations.

For more on astronomy formats, visit the STILTS webpage or the TOPCAT webpage.

How to open VOT files

You need a suitable software like TOPCAT to open a VOT 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 VOT file correctly, try to right-click or long-press the file. Then click "Open with" and choose an application. You can also display a VOT file directly in the browser:. Just drag the file onto this browser window and drop it.

Online VOT Text Viewer

Choose your .vot file to view

or drag and drop it here

Online File Viewer

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How to extract texts from VOT files or capture a screenshot to PDF, JPG, DOCX, TXT, ...

1. Just click the "Choose your .vot file to view" button on this page.
2. Your VOT file will then be displayed in the browser.
3. Now click on "Save as..." at the top of the page.
4. Then choose the file format (e.g. JPG, PDF, DOCX, TXT, ...) you want.
5. Download the converted file.

VOT file format:

If you can determine the file format, the associated program can also be determined. 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. Furthermore, a file extension can be renamed incorrectly and double-clicking on it will then display an error when it is opened. So you need a detailed analysis of a file to find out the format and the associated program. Below you will find our evaluation of the VOT files:

The VOT file extension is not found very often and mainly uses a defined VOT format. But the following two file formats are common:

• 85% of all VOT files are VOTable files, which are using the popular 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. The contents of these files are easily readable with a text editor. The file size is in the range of 3 KB to 8 MB. It is a modern file type. The keywords <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>, <VOTABLE version="1.3" xmlns="http://www.ivoa.net/xml/VOTable/v1.3" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.ivoa.net and <VOTABLE version="1.4" are typical for these files. Some examples of file names are vizier_votable.vot. Files like these are about result, votable, vizier, exoplanet, catalog, target, galaxy, table and gaia.
• 5% of all VOT files store the data in the GZIP file format. Gzip is a compressed archive file format. Gzip (GNU zip) is only capable of compressing a single file. If you open these files in a text editor, you will see only illegible characters. The average file size is 20 MB with most files being between 38 KB and 36 MB in size. The file name async_20180601.vot is typical for these files.

The remaining 10% of all VOT files are files with no common format. You can get all the details of your VOT file by dragging it onto this page or by clicking the button "Choose your .vot file to view" above.