7 file types use the .mdx file extension.

What is an MDX file?

An MDX file is a model file used by Warcraft III, a real-time strategy game where players build bases and control units in the fictional world of Azeroth. It stores a 3D game model and includes meshes and textures for units or buildings. MDX files are used for storing pre-fabricated 3D models or for customizing 3D models using editors.

More Information

Category: 3D Image Files

Extended Media Descriptor File

Disc image file created by DAEMON Tools, a utility used to create CD and DVD disc images and emulate the original discs as virtual drives; contains both the disc volume formatting metadata and the disc data.

MDX files are designed to replace the combination of .MDS and .MDF files by storing all disc image data in one file.

NOTE: Extended media descriptor files are also referred to as "Media Data eXtended" files.

Programs that open or reference MDX files

Updated: November 3, 2010

MDict Dictionary File

An MDX file may also be a dictionary file used by MDict, a multi-language dictionary application for Windows and mobile platforms. It contains a collection of words and definitions. MDX files allow users to create and use custom dictionaries.

NOTE: The iOS version of MDict provides an embedded web browser that can be used for downloading dictionaries.

Programs that open MDX files

Updated: October 12, 2016

MDX Source Code File

An MDX file may also be a Markdown ( .MD ) file that includes elements of JavaScript XML ( .JSX ) syntax . It contains source code that is part of a React webpage or application. MDX files can be opened in any text editor, but are meant to be opened in source code editors.

Markdown is a simple markup language that developers use to format text before converting it to HTML . Markdown is written and saved as plain text but includes inline symbols that define how the text will be formatted after being converted to HTML. Markdown is often used to produce simple websites, webpages, and other online content.

Developers who want to extend their Markdown files to include JavaScript XML syntax and React components can do so using the MDX library. Typically, developers use React and JSX to develop single-page web and mobile applications written entirely in JavaScript. MDX allows developers to include JSX components, including styled backgrounds, interactive charts, and alerts, in Markdown-formatted files, sprucing up their otherwise spartan web content.

Because MDX files are plain text files, you can open them in any text editor, such as Microsoft Notepad (Windows) or Apple TextEdit (Mac). However, if you plan to edit an MDX file, you should open it in a source code editor, such as Microsoft Visual Studio Code (cross-platform) or Github Atom (cross-platform). With the MDX library installed, source code editors provide helpful editing tools and highlight Markdown and JSX syntax correctly.

Programs that open or reference MDX files

Updated: February 19, 2021

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory Skeletal Animation

An MDX file contains animation data used by the video game Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. The data an MDX file contains is used to animate one or more .MDM 3D models. The animations MDX files contain may be referred to as skeletal animations.

Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is an online multiplayer first-person shooter. It was developed by Splash Damage and published by Activision in 2003.

The game includes several 3D models saved in the MDM format. It animates these models using animations saved in the MDX format. MDX animations are similar to the animations found in MDS files, which are linked to a 3D model's "bones." However, saving the animations in a separate file allowed Splash Damage to more efficiently apply the same animations to multiple 3D models.

MDX files are not meant to be opened outside Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. However, Wolfenstein modders have created the RtCW:ET Blender Model Tools add-on to allow them to open MDM files and their accompanying MDX files in Blender .

Programs that open or reference MDX files

Updated: December 14, 2022

dBASE Multiple Index File

An MDX file contains one or more indexes that store information about an associated .DBF Database file to allow the dBASE program to search and retrieve data from a database more quickly. When creating a database and saving it as a DBF file, the program (e.g., dBASE or InterBase) creates an MDX file to accompany it. Users typically do not open MDX files (dBASE references the files when accessing the associated DBF database).

dBASE (stands for "dataBased Intelligence") is a database management and IDE application developers use to create apps and maintain their databases. When working with large databases that store a lot of data, dBASE may require more resources and time to search their data. Index files reduce the time it takes to search each row of the tables that make up the database.

Up until dBase III, the app saved index files in the .NDX format. Then, dBASE replaced the NDX format with the MDX format. One of the improvements dBASE provided with the MDX format was the automatic updating of index files when a user modified an associated database.

NOTE: If you have a lot of MDX files, it will take dBASE longer to update databases. You can delete indexes by selecting Structure → Manage Indexes in a DBF database (this will not delete the data in the DBF database).

You should not attempt to open MDX files. Instead, dBASE (Windows) references the MDX file when searching data in the associated and opened DBF file.

Programs that open or reference MDX files

Updated: December 7, 2023

Rational XDE Model File

Model created with IBM's Rational XDE (eXtended Development Environment); available in multiple versions, including Java and Visual Studio; saved in XML format and can be navigated using the XDEModelWalker included with Rational XDE software.

MDX files are similar to .MDL files created by IBM's Rational Rose.

Programs that open MDX files

Updated: April 24, 2007