What is a BDOC file?
A .BDOC file is a digitally signed document container. It uses the ETSI ASiC-E standard to securely package files alongside their electronic signatures. It is primarily known as an Estonian document format. The format is also officially referred to as a Binary DigiDoc Signature File, which is managed and supported by RIA (the Estonian Information System Authority). Internally, a .BDOC file is structured as a standard ZIP archive that holds the original unencrypted files and the cryptographic signature certificates.
How to open BDOC files?
The standard software to open, read, and verify .BDOC files is the DigiDoc4 Client, which is provided by the Estonian government for desktop and mobile devices. If you only need to access the stored documents and do not need to verify the signatures, you can change the file extension from .BDOC to .ZIP. You can then extract the contents using standard archive utilities like 7-Zip or WinRAR.
Software and tools
Developers working with electronic identification can parse and validate .BDOC files programmatically. The most common tools are the libdigidocpp library for C++ and the digidoc4j library for Java. These open-source libraries handle the complex validation of certificates and timestamps inside the container.
Inspecting files online
viewer.online/bdoc analyzes .BDOC files to identify their exact format and creator software, shows which programs can open the file, and usually previews it.
Summary
Because .BDOC files use the known ZIP format, viewer.online/bdoc can safely open and display them online, eliminating compatibility problems.