Opening a Hexfile

[Varadha]

Hi,
I am having a hexadecimal file. (They are calling it as a ring file. I really dont know why it is called like this). i want to open the file and edit it.
how can i do this.

Thanks in Advance,
Varadha

[radhak]

Hey try to open that file in Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 editor.. It will open that binary file, ofcourse u can edit too...

~Radha

[cilu]

There are binary files and text files. Does you're file look like:
0F AB 01 02 ... and so on?
In this case it is a text file. If you want to edit it you can open it even with notepad.

However, if your file is binary you cannot edit it manually. Its content depends on the application's data.

What exactly do you want to do by editing the file?

[ovidiucucu]

There are binary files and text files. Does you're file look like:
0F AB 01 02 ... and so on?
In this case it is a text file. If you want to edit it you can open it even with notepad.

However, if your file is binary you cannot edit it manually. Its content depends on the application's data.

What exactly do you want to do by editing the file?

In fact, exists only files... The only one difference is that opening some of them using a text editor, e.g. Notepad, you may see a lot of little cute bugs inside.

[GCDEF]

In fact, exists only files... The only one difference is that opening some of them using a text editor, e.g. Notepad, you may see a lot of little cute bugs inside.

So it's a binary file of some kind. There is no straight forward answer. You'll need to know its format and use whatever tool can edit the file while maintaining its integrity.

[ovidiucucu]

So it's a binary file of some kind.

Can you explain, why "it's a binary file of some kind"?

[cilu]

In fact, exists only files... The only one difference is that opening some of them using a text editor, e.g. Notepad, you may see a lot of little cute bugs inside.

Of course that are actually only files, since ASCII is just another representation of BINARY. I was trying to say that if his file is ASCII he should not edit it manually. However, I admit I should have explained it better.

[GCDEF]

Can you explain, why "it's a binary file of some kind"?

By binary, I mean characters that can't be displayed on an output device, hence the "cute bugs" in notepad.

[gstercken]

I think what everyone is trying to tell you here is the following: The term "hexadecimal file" doesn't mean anything. "Hexadecimal" is a base for displaying numbers, not a file format. There are two probable interpretations for the term as you used it:

1. The file is simply a binary file, and you want to edit it using a hex editor - that is, every single byte's value is displayed and entered as a hexadecimal string. If that's the case, you must write code which formats the values as hex strings, and, on the editing side, parses hex strings and writes them back as their binary value. As an alternative, you can use one of the available hex editor controls from the articles section.
2. The file is a text file, which contains hexadecimal strings - that is, all characters in the file are in the range of 0..9, A..F. In that case, you can edit it just like any normal text (maybe making sure that only hex digits can be entered).

(They are calling it as a ring file. I really dont know why it is called like this)

Just a guess, but it's probably a file which acts as a ring buffer: Bytes are appended until a predetermined size is reached, then the file will be overwritten again from the beginning. That technique is frequently used when a large number of values needs to be logged. but (to restrict the file size), only the last n values need to be kept.

[ovidiucucu]

By binary, I mean characters that can't be displayed on an output device, hence the "cute bugs" in notepad.

Quite clear. So, for example 'a', 'b', 'c'... are not binary.