DTB

DTB (DaTa Binary?) is the binary serialised counterpart to the plaintext DTA file format. It is capable of storing all DataNodes that the DTA counterpart can store, with the exception of comments.

It is typically stored with .dtb (Guitar Hero 1 through Rock Band 4) and .*_dta_* (Rock Band 4 and Rock Band VR) file extensions.

Structure

There are several variations on the DTB file format, and this dictates the structure of DataArrays in the file (and possibly more), as well as the header.

TODO: further document the actual structure. For now, read the reference implementations for more information

Header

The header is at the start of the file, and serves as information for the DataArray that the file is representing. (TODO: are these correct?)

.dtb

Name	Type	Size	Function
Identifier	Byte	1 byte	Always 0x01.
Root Nodes	Short (LE)	2 bytes	The number of root nodes.
Line number	Short (LE)	2 bytes	The source line of the array.
Unknown	Short (LE)	2 bytes	Labeled as "mDeprecated" in the RB2 Wii prototype DWARF info.

.*_dta_*

Name	Type	Size	Function
Identifier	Byte	1 byte	Always 0x01.
Unknown	Integer (LE)	4 bytes	???
Root Nodes	Short (LE)	2 bytes	The number of root nodes.
Unknown	Short (LE)	2 bytes	???

Body

The body consists of a DataArray representation, of a count of the root DataNodes specified in the header.

Name	Type	Size	Function
Type	Integer (LE)	4 bytes	The type of the DataNode
Value	Varies	Varies	The value of the DataNode

Supported DataNode Types

All values are little endian unless specified otherwise. For more information on what these do, see DataNode.

TODO: complete missing values

ID	Name	Size	Value
0x00	Integer	4 bytes	A 32-bit signed integer.
0x01	Float	4 bytes	A 32-bit single-precision floating point.
0x02	Variable	4 bytes + string length	A 32-bit signed integer followed by a UTF8 string.
0x03	Func	4 bytes + string length	The name of a function, in standard length+string format.
0x04	Object	4 bytes + string length	The name of an Object, in standard length+string format.
0x05	Symbol	4 bytes + string length	A 32-bit signed integer followed by a UTF8 string.
0x06	Empty ("unhandled")	4 bytes	Four null bytes.
0x07	IfDef	4 bytes + string length	A 32-bit signed integer followed by a UTF8 string.
0x08	Else	4 bytes	Four null bytes.
0x09	EndIf	4 bytes	Four null bytes.
0x10	DataArray	Varies	See #Nested DataArrays
0x11	Command	Varies	See #Nested DataArrays
0x12	String	4 bytes + string length	A 32-bit signed integer followed by a UTF8 string.
0x13	Property	Varies	See #Nested DataArrays
0x20	Define	4 bytes + string length	A 32-bit signed integer followed by a UTF8 string.
0x21	Include	4 bytes + string length	A 32-bit signed integer followed by a UTF8 string.
0x22	Merge	4 bytes + string length	A 32-bit signed integer followed by a UTF8 string.
0x23	IfNDef	4 bytes + string length	A 32-bit signed integer followed by a UTF8 string.
0x24	Autorun	4 bytes + string length	A 32-bit signed integer followed by a UTF8 string.
0x25	Undef	4 bytes + string length	A 32-bit signed integer followed by a UTF8 string.

Nested DataArrays

DataArrays in DTB files are prefixed with a header, followed by the regular DTB representation of all values in the nested array.

.dtb

The same as #Header, but without the version byte.

.*_dta_*

Name	Type	Size	Function
Unknown	Integer (LE)	4 bytes	????
Child Nodes	Short (LE)	2 bytes	The number of DataNodes within this DataArray.
Unknown	Short (LE)	2 bytes	????

Encryption

DTA files are encrypted when included on-disc. The encryption format was changed in Guitar Hero 2's Xbox 360 release and has been the same since.

Encrypted files begin with a 4-byte little endian integer which acts as a key for the encryption cipher, followed by an encrypted form of a regular DTB file.

This function is responsible for the decryption step, and gets its magic numbers from this function, whose seed value is set to the encryption key.

Implementations

• dtab by Onyxite (source code: GitHub)
• DtxCS by maxton, maintained by InvoxiPlayGames (source code: GitHub)