laymanshex/README

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LaymansHex
==========
LaymansHex takes a (partial) file description and allows tinkering with
the values in a binary file. It thus serves as a sort of layman's
hex editor.
File description format
-----------------------
In EBNF:
```
description =
{ comment }
endianness
definition
{ definition }
.
comment = '#' { LETTER | DIGIT } '\n'.
endianness = ("little endian" | "big endian") '\n'.
definition = [ IDENT ] ':' type '\n'.
type = bytefield
| "int8" | "int16" | "int32" | "int64"
| "uint8" | "uint16" | "uint32" | "uint64"
| "float32" | "float64"
.
bytefield = "byte[" ( INTEGER | IDENT [ "*" INTEGER ]) "]".
```
The identifier of a definition line can be left empty to ignore that particular value.
Portions of the binary file not covered by the file description are ignored. Byte field
size can be variable - the specific value then needs to be set at program invocation (via -fvar).
Usage
-----
To get values: `laymanshex FORMATFILE BINARY`
To set values: `laymanshex -set "key1=value1,key2=value2" FORMATFILE BINARY`
To set a variable 'offset' to 113 in the file description and get values: `laymanshex -fvar="offset=113" FORMATFILE BINARY`
Examples of format descriptions can be found in the [laymanshex-files repo](/laymanshex-files/).
Advanced
--------
The variable byte field size allows to script around laymanshex and use a sliding frame
to obtain sequences. E.g. you can define a partial file format that only covers one
element of the sequence at a certain offset:
```
little endian
: byte[offset*32]
value : int32
```
Script:
```
#/bin/bash
for i in `seq 99`; do
laymanshex -fvar="offset=$((i*4))" FORMATFILE BINARY
done
```
If your sequence ends with a marker, add that marker to the file description and check
its value after each invocation of laymanshex.