An ARH file can map to different project types, making context crucial; in industrial automation it often belongs to Siemens ProTool as a compressed HMI project used for storage and backups, especially when found with Siemens- or PLC-related terms, while in archaeological workflows it may instead be an ArheoStratigraf project containing stratigraphy documentation and Harris Matrix diagrams, commonly appearing in excavation folders labeled layers, contexts, trenches, or matrix.

To identify your ARH file correctly, the quickest check is opening it with 7-Zip or WinRAR because some ARH files function as archives; if it opens and lists files or folders, you can extract and examine items like images, configs, project data, or databases—often indicating a Siemens/ProTool package—while if it doesn’t open, the file may still be valid but proprietary to ProTool or ArheoStratigraf, and you can further test by copying the file and renaming it to `.zip` or `.rar` to see if it extracts, with the proper approach depending on your goal: extracted assets may be all you need, but full project access requires the original software.

Because many ARH files are essentially compressed bundles, tools like 7-Zip or WinRAR are worth trying early, since they can instantly confirm whether the ARH is a browseable archive; if it opens, the internal files—project directories, configs, images, logs—usually reveal what software it belongs to, and you can extract items without needing the original app, while an inability to open typically means the format is proprietary, and renaming a copy to `.zip` or `. If you have any sort of questions pertaining to where and ways to use ARH file extension, you can contact us at the internet site. rar` can expose hidden archives, making this a simple way to identify the ARH and recover content.

An ARH file has no fixed global specification because ".ARH" is a non-standard extension reused by different software makers, so two ARH files may be completely unrelated even though they share the same suffix; the real clue is the context—industrial automation environments (Siemens, HMI/PLC) often use ARH as a packed project file, while archaeology workflows use it for ArheoStratigraf data—and identifying it relies more on the source workflow, nearby files, and whether it opens like an archive in tools such as 7-Zip.

In real use, ".ARH" functions more as a label than a format, allowing different software to assign it to unrelated data; thus an automation-sourced ARH might be a Siemens/ProTool HMI package containing screens, configurations, alarms, and tag databases, while an archaeology-sourced ARH could be an ArheoStratigraf project with stratigraphy links and diagram information, and similar filenames may mask these differences, so identifying it requires checking context and testing with tools like 7-Zip to distinguish between an archive and a proprietary project.

You can often figure out an ARH file’s identity by looking at the *surrounding context*—its folder, adjacent files, and the work environment—because the extension itself doesn’t specify the format; ARH files found in machine/HMI backups with keywords like Siemens, ProTool, WinCC, STEP7/S7, PLC, panel, or alarms are usually Siemens ProTool packages, while ARH files in archaeology directories marked trench, context, stratigraphy, layers, matrix, or site and accompanied by drawings, photos, or spreadsheets generally indicate ArheoStratigraf projects, and if uncertain, testing with 7-Zip will show whether it’s an extractable archive or a proprietary file.