Name: data columns format
Extension: dat
Specification: no standard
Visualization programs: none
A file in the DAT format is a plain-text file containing columns of values. When writing a DAT file, Atomsk writes the atomic number followed by the coordinates x,y,z of each atom. If auxiliary properties exist, then they are written. Note that the box vectors, comments are not written in a DAT file.
When reading a DAT file, Atomsk actually assumes it follows the CSV format with values separated by blank spaces instead of commas. Read the page on CSV format for more information. Since the box vectors cannot be read from a DAT file, then Atomsk will construct a bounding box.
atomsk my_system.cfg dat
This will read the file my_system.cfg, and convert it to my_system.dat.