Generalities

Thanks to the multi threads structure of Hexditor.jar, you can start a search while saving or vis versa. During a save or/and a search, you can continue to navigate through the file for reading, but not of course for writing.

The write mode is only overwrite mode. For most of binary files, it may be dangerous to slide a portion of code. For the same reason, data not modified but not exactly at the same position are shown with a gray background. An insert must be explicit and must be done with the insert key. Be careful with big inserts, you can virtually create a giant file, but then it may be imposssible to save it (try insert 2Ei for exemple).

Modifications done on the file are shown with red colored texts. An asterix (*) after the file name shows that there is at least one modification. You can undo the modifications. You can redo at least one undo. Note that the undo stack and the coloration help are cleared by a save, because there is no difference between the file and the screen.

Cut/copy/paste use the system clipboard. A selection in the text area is stored as text but do not allow the selection of some isoControl characters. A selection in the nibble area is stored as hexa string. The limitation for a selection size is limited by the memory option of the java VM (-Xms64m), but the clipboard limitation may be lower. As the clipboard is shared, you can import/export data in text format from/to other applications. Note that the carriage return characters are not well transferred by the windoz clipboard.

Field asking for a position in the file may be a positive decimal number like:

• Any integer (0, 10, +256, ...).
• Hexa strings (OxFF). Capital or small letters, prefix not allowed.
• Float rounded as necessary (1.024e3).
• Integer or Float with SI prefix (1.5k) (da, h, k, M, G, T, P, E).
• Integer or Float with SI binary multiple (1.024Ki) (Ki, Mi, Gi, Ti, Pi, Ei).
• Integer or Float followed by % (10%).

Notes:
1. prefixes & binary multiples are case sensitive, see the difference beween 'k' and 'Ki'
2. To avoid confusion with the exa prefix (E), 'e' is better than 'E' to separate the exponent from the significant.
3. Why prefix instead of suffix? Because this is the prefix of the unit, not the suffix of the number.

The bottom right corner shows the offset position from the beginning of the file, followed by the offset to the end of the file.
A click on offset field toggles between decimal and hexadecimal view.

The search tool

• Entry field allows text, Hexa string or many other typed data.
  Note that the search of a float or a double is implemented but use it is a bad idea. The binary transcription of a real is rarely the exact decimal value. Hexditor will search for the two nearest float or double. The binary translation is very rarely the exact transcription of the decimal representation. There is always a residual error of ± one ulp.
• Text search can be case insensitive. Case insensitive discards the case but also the accents. For example if you search a word containing an "A" letter, these letters "AaÀÁÂÃÄÅàáâãäå" are taken into account and many more, like "@" or the Ångström symbol.
• "Word size" is used for word alignment. If you search an instruction for a 64 bits processor, this option allows you to find only well aligned data.
  For multimedia data, compressed data or any word document, left it at "8 bits".
• With "From" field, you select the starting point in the file. Left blank, the search will start at the current cursor position. When search has finished, this field shows the found position or the end of the file.
• BE & LE are for Big-Endian (natural order) or Little-Endian (Intel order).
• In a 16MiB pseudo random binary file, a search of a 3 bytes word will find 1 occurrence. In a 16MiB pseudo random ASCII file, a search of a 3 lowercase letters may find something like 57 occurrences. But an ASCII file is never a pseudo random file. For example, try to find "xyz" or "the" in an English text file...
  So an efficient search needs a minimum word size:

The shortcuts

Screenshoot

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