Possible license/patent restriction for the usage of TDMS file format in external software

[AndreiDegtiarev]

Hello,

we would like to read/write TDMS files with the help of open source library TDMSReader,  https://github.com/mikeobrien/TDMSReader. This project is licensed under MIT License, so we can use it without any restrictions, but what about TDMS file format itself? I didn’t find any information about whether any usage restrictions exist for this file format

Thank you

Andrei

[Brad_Turpin · Accepted solution]

Hi Andrei,

NI publishes APIs to enable reading and writing of TDMS files with the express intention of making it available to both NI users and non-NI software applications.  NI wants TDMS to be adopted by as many engineers as possible, including engineers who are not using NI software.  NI wants TDMS to be a file format that builds connections between various software applications.  TDMS is an open file format; its binary file format description is published online for all the see.  I am not aware of any licensing requirement for the use of the TDMS file format or the freely published APIs that read and write it.

Brad Turpin

Principal Technical Support Engineer

NI

[AndreiDegtiarev]

Thank you Brad. I am happy to hear your answer!