Supported Formats

Detection Methods

Sonar Catalog identifies file formats using two methods:

1. Magic bytes — Read the first few bytes of the file and match against known signatures
2. File extension — Fall back to extension-based detection

Magic byte detection takes priority. If a file has a .xtf extension but doesn’t contain the XTF magic bytes, the extension-based detection is used as fallback.

Built-in Formats

Format	Extensions	Magic Bytes	Offset	Description
XTF	.xtf	0x01 0x00	0	eXtended Triton Format (sidescan, bathymetry)
JSF	.jsf	0x16 0x16	0	EdgeTech sonar format
Kongsberg ALL	.all	0x49	0	Kongsberg multibeam raw format
Kongsberg KMALL	.kmall	0x4B 0x4D	0	Kongsberg modern multibeam format
Reson S7K	.s7k	—	—	Reson/Teledyne multibeam format
BAG	.bag	—	—	Bathymetric Attributed Grid (HDF5-based)
SEG-Y	.sgy, .segy	—	—	Seismic / sub-bottom profiler
Humminbird	.db	—	—	Humminbird consumer sonar
Lowrance	.sl2, .sl3	—	—	Lowrance consumer sonar
Garmin	.son	—	—	Garmin sonar
Raw	.raw	—	—	Generic raw sonar data
GeoTIFF	.tif, .tiff	—	—	Sidescan mosaics
Point Cloud	.csv, .xyz	—	—	Bathymetry exports

Listing Registered Signatures

sonar-catalog list-magic-bytes

Shows all built-in and custom magic byte signatures with their hex values and associated extensions.

Format Detection Flow

Detection is dispatched through the plugin hook system. The detect_format hook uses firstresult mode — the first plugin to return a format name wins.

Adding Custom Formats

See Custom Formats for adding your own format signatures.