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How to open .CND files on Windows

To open .CND files on Windows, open the .cnd file in a text editor (for example Notepad) or an IDE to view/edit it as plain text.

Step-by-step instructions

  1. Open the .cnd file in a text editor (for example Notepad) or an IDE to view/edit it as plain text.
  2. If the file is meant to be applied to a repository, register/import it using your JCR tooling (for example, Apache Jackrabbit node type registration or a FileVault-based import workflow).

Alternative methods

  • Open .CND in a browser-based viewer if desktop apps fail.
  • Try opening .CND on Windows with a secondary app to rule out app-specific issues.
  • Convert .CND only with trusted tools when direct opening is not possible.

Common issues

The .CND file opens in the wrong app (or won’t open by double-click)

A .cnd file is plain text, but the file association on your system may be missing or pointing to an unrelated program.

  1. Open it explicitly with a text editor/IDE using “Open with…” and verify you can read it as text.
  2. Optionally change the default app association for .cnd to your preferred text editor.

Repository import/registration fails due to syntax errors

CND must follow the grammar defined by the JCR specification; minor typos, missing brackets, or invalid names can prevent parsing.

  1. Validate the file against the JCR 2.0 CND notation rules (Compact Node Type Definition grammar).
  2. Compare your definitions with working examples from your repository/tooling documentation (for example Jackrabbit’s node type notation documentation) and correct the syntax.

Namespace or prefix conflicts during registration

CND files can declare namespaces/prefixes; conflicts happen when the same prefix/URI is already registered differently in the target repository.

  1. Check the CND namespace declarations and ensure they match the target repository’s existing namespace registry.
  2. Adjust prefixes/URIs to align with your deployment conventions, then re-register.

CND changes do not take effect after deployment/import

In content package workflows, node type and namespace registration may only occur at specific import stages or be restricted by repository configuration.

  1. Confirm your tooling/workflow actually registers node types from the .cnd file during import (for example, the expected FileVault node types/namespaces handling).
  2. Re-run the import with the correct options/order and verify the repository reports the updated node type definitions.

Security note

.cnd is plain text and does not inherently contain macros or executable code, but importing it changes a repository’s content model; only register CND from trusted sources.

Back to .CND extension page