What is a DIST file?
A .DIST file is an extension with multiple possible uses. The most common use is a Mac OS X Distribution Script created by Apple. Software developers use these scripts to define installation rules for macOS applications. The file contains XML code that controls how the Apple Installer places files on a user's computer.
Because a .DIST file has multiple possible meanings, it might also be a Tridium Niagara Framework distribution file (which uses standard ZIP compression) or an example configuration file for the Behat PHP testing framework. We recommend using viewer.online/dist to identify the actual format of the user's file.
How to open DIST files?
You can open macOS .DIST files using any basic text editor, such as Apple TextEdit or Microsoft Visual Studio Code. If the file belongs to the Niagara Framework, it acts as a ZIP archive. This means you can extract it with tools like The Unarchiver or 7-Zip.
viewer.online/dist analyzes .DIST files to identify their exact format and creator software, shows which programs can open the file, and usually previews it directly in your browser.
Software and tools
Developers building macOS installers often interact with .DIST files using command-line tools like `productbuild` or historical software like Apple PackageMaker. If you need to change the file into a standard format, you can easily convert it. We recommend file conversion to sensible target formats on convert.guru. You can convert text-based .DIST files to .XML or .TXT, and extract compressed ones as .ZIP.
Summary
Because .DIST files use the known XML format, viewer.online/dist can safely open and display them online, eliminating compatibility problems.