BSEARCH File

What are BSEARCH files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a BSEARCH file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your BSEARCH files.

What is a BSEARCH file?

A .BSEARCH file is a BehaviorSearch Protocol file.

BehaviorSearch protocol files store complete search-experiments used by BehaviorSearch, an add-on to NetLogo. The file records everything needed to specify how an experiment (i.e. a search over model parameters) should be run: which model to use, which parameters vary and over what ranges, the algorithm and encoding for exploring parameter space, what behavior‐measure to compute, how many replicates and how to limit the experiment, and how individual runs are combined into a fitness or objective function. These files let the experiment be edited, saved, reloaded, and rerun by BehaviorSearch, either via its GUI or in headless (command‐line) mode.

BehaviorSearch protocol files are written in XML. They conform to a Document Type Definition (DTD) named behaviorsearch.dtd bundled with BehaviorSearch, defining elements like SEARCHSPACE, PARAMSPEC, MODELINFO, SEARCHMETHODPARAMETER, MODELSTOPCONDITION, FITNESSINFO, BESTCHECKINGNUMREPLICATIONS, among many others. Users may create, edit, or generate these protocol files manually (as valid XML), not only via the GUI. BehaviorSearch GUI can load these files and restore the entire experiment state; headless BehaviorSearch can accept a .bsearch protocol file to run the search.

Files begin with the standard XML declaration (<?xml version="1.0" encoding="...?>), and contain tags matching the protocol's DTD, including KEYWORDS such as SEARCHMETHOD-TYPE, MODELSETUPCOMMANDS, MODELSTEPCOMMANDS, EVALUATIONLIMIT, FITNESSCOMBINEREPLICATIONS, MUTATION-RATE, etc. The DTD includes or references BEHAVIORSEARCH.DTD.

How to open BSEARCH files

Important: Different programs may use files with the BSEARCH file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your BSEARCH file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

While we have not verified the app ourselves yet, our users have suggested a single BSEARCH opener which you will find listed below.

Last updated: August 25, 2026

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of BSEARCH files. Remember, different programs may use BSEARCH files for different purposes, so you may need to try out a few of them to be able to open your specific file.

Help us help others

File.org helps thousands of users every day, and we would love to hear from you if you have additional information about BSEARCH file formats, example files, or compatible programs. Please use the links below or email us at submit@file.org to discuss further.