1HEXER(1) General Commands Manual HEXER(1)
2
6 hexer - binary file editor
7
9 hexer [options] [file [...]]
10
12 hexer is a multi-buffer editor for viewing and manipulating binary
13 files. It can't (shouldn't) be used for editing block devices, because
14 it tries to load the whole file into a buffer (it should work for
15 diskettes). The most important features of hexer are: multi buffers,
16 multi level undo, command line editing with completion, binary regular
17 expressions (see below). The user interface is kept similar to vi, so
18 if you know how to use vi, you'll get started easily.
19
21 -R, --readonly
22 -v, --view
24 Edit files in read only mode.
25 -r, --recover filename
27 Recover the file filename after a crash. (not implemented)
28 -c, --command command
30 Start the editing session by executing the editor command command.
31 If command contains spaces, it must be surrounded by double quotes.
32 It is possible to specify multiple commands on the command line:
33 hexer -c command1 -c command2 ...
34 -t, --tite
36 Turn off the usage of the termcap/terminfo ti/te sequence.
37 -h, --help
39 Display a short help message and exit.
40 -V, --version
42 Display program version information and exit.
43 -F, --features
45 List the features supported by the program and exit.
46 +command
48 This is equivalent to the -c option.
49 Note: The long options are not available on all systems.
51
53 The editor reads its startup commands from the file ~/.hexerrc (another
54 startup file may be specified by setting the environment variable HEX‐
55 ERRC). Empty lines and lines starting with a `"'‐character (double
56 quote) are ignored. It is not possible to have a command and a comment
57 in the same line.
58
60 As in vi, there are several editing modes:
61 Command Mode
63 Some commands in Command Mode can take a numeric argument. To
64 enter a numeric argument just type the (decimal) number. The num‐
65 ber will be echoed at the bottom line of the screen as you type.
66 To enter an octal number, type a `0' as the first digit. To enter
67 a hexadecimal number, type `0x' (this is not a problem, because the
68 x-command with a zero counter wouldn't make sense anyway). Some of
69 the commands can take a visually selected area as an argument (see
70 subsection Visual Mode).
71 b Move backwards to the beginning of a word.
73 e Move to the end of a word.
75 G If a numeric argument n is given, move the cursor to posi‐
77 tion n. If no argument is specified, set the position to
78 the end of the buffer. The first byte in the buffer is at
79 position `0', so the command to move to the beginning of the
80 buffer is `0G'.
81 Control-G
83 Display the buffer name, size, status and the current posi‐
84 tion at the bottom line.
85 h j k l
87 Move the cursor. The arrow keys work as well. The numeric
88 argument (if specified) determines the number rows or col‐
89 umns the cursor will move. Different from vi: the cursor
90 can be positioned behind the last byte in the buffer.
91 i Enter Insert Mode (see below) at the current position of the
93 point. If a numeric argument n is given, the typed text
94 will be inserted n times. Note: Moving the cursor (using
95 the arrow keys) will discard the numeric argument.
96 n Move to the next match using the current RE. This is equiv‐
98 alent to typing `/', <Return>.
99 N Move to the previous match using the current RE. This is
101 equivalent to typing `?', <Return>.
102 Control-O
104 Paste over. Copy the kill buffer to the current position
105 overwriting the contents of the current buffer. If a
106 numeric argument n is given, the kill buffer is pasted n
107 times.
108 p Paste. Insert the kill buffer at the current position. If
110 a numeric argument n is given, the kill buffer is pasted n
111 times.
112 r Replace a single byte using the Replace Mode. If an area is
114 selected, all bytes in the selected area are replaced. If a
115 numeric argument is given, the specified number of bytes is
116 replaced.
117 R Enter Replace Mode (see below). If a numeric argument n is
119 given, the replace command is repeated n times. Note: Mov‐
120 ing the cursor (using the arrow keys) will discard the
121 numeric argument.
122 Control-R
124 Redo the last undo.
125 u Undo the last change to the current buffer.
127 Whenever possible hexer creates a file name.hexer in the current
129 directory (the swapfile) for each buffer visited (where name is the
130 name of the buffer). All changes made to the buffer name are
131 stored in that file, so it is possible to undo (and redo) all
132 changes made to the buffer. If the swapfile can't be created, the
133 undo list is stored in the memory.
134 v Enter Visual Mode (see below). Visual selection of areas.
136 w Move forward to the beginning of a word.
138 x Delete the byte under the cursor. If a numeric argument n
140 is given, n bytes are deleted. In Visual Mode, the selected
141 area is deleted. Note: The bytes deleted using the x-com‐
142 mand are not copied to the kill buffer.
143 Control-X
145 The same as the x-command, but the bytes deleted are copied
146 to the kill buffer.
147 y Yank. Yank the byte under the cursor into the kill buffer.
149 If a numeric argument n is given, n bytes are yanked into
150 the kill buffer. In Visual Mode, the selected area is
151 copied to the kill buffer.
152 zb Place the cursor in the bottom line of the screen.
154 zt Place the cursor in the top line of the screen.
156 zz Place the cursor in the middle line of the screen.
158 Note that the commands zb, zt and zz don't change the posi‐
159 tion in the file - only the screen is scrolled (if neces‐
160 sary).
161 : Enter Exh Mode (see below). The Exh Mode is similar to the
163 ex-mode in vi, but not compatible. If an area is selected,
164 the bounds of the selection are copied to the command line.
165 / Search forward through the buffer using a RE(regular expres‐
167 sion). If no RE is specified, the RE given in the previous
168 /- or ?-command is reused.
169 Note: The REs in hexer are a little bit different from regu‐
170 lar expressions in vi (see section REGULAR EXPRESSIONS).
171 ? Search reverse using a regular expression.
173 . Repeat the last change to the buffer at the current posi‐
175 tion. This means that if the previous command deleted n
176 bytes and replaced them by m other bytes (n or m may be
177 zero), the .-command will do exactly the same at the current
178 position in the file.
179 < Shift the hex column left n bytes, where n is the (optional)
181 numeric argument. Note that the <-command only changes the
182 way the buffer is displayed in the hex column, the buffer
183 itself is kept unchanged.
184 > Shift the hex column right n bytes.
186 Control-^
188 Switch to the alternate buffer (see below).
189 % Enter a calculator command (see section CALCULATOR).
191 Visual Mode
193 Select an area on the buffer. You can enter the Visual Mode by
194 using the v-command or by specifying an area in Exh Mode. The
195 selection starts at the cursor position when entering the Visual
196 Mode and ends at the current cursor position. You can leave the
197 Visual Mode without performing a command on the selected area by
198 pressing v or Escape. To perform a command on the selected area
199 simply enter the command as if you where in Command Mode. Commands
200 that can't use the selection will ignore it. As in Command Mode,
201 it is possible to specify a numeric argument. Commands that can
202 take the selection as an argument will ignore the numeric argument.
203 Insert Mode
205 In Insert Mode the bytes you type are inserted at the current posi‐
206 tion of the cursor. At any time, you can toggle the active column
207 (hex column or text column) by pressing the TAB key. If the hex
208 column is active the bytes are entered as two digit hex numbers, if
209 the text column is active, the bytes are entered as ASCII text.
210 The Delete or BackSpace key deletes the previously inserted byte.
211 If the hex column is active, the previously inserted nibble (hex
212 digit) is deleted. It is not possible to delete more bytes than
213 have been inserted in the current insert command. While in Insert
214 Mode, you can move the cursor using the arrow keys. Note that mov‐
215 ing the cursor discards the numeric argument given to the insert
216 command. To leave the Insert Mode, type Escape. If a numeric
217 argument n was given to the insert command and is hasn't been dis‐
218 carded by a cursor movement, the typed bytes are inserted n times.
219 Replace Mode
221 In Replace Mode you replace the bytes under the cursor as you type.
222 Hitting BackSpace restores the original contents of the buffer.
223 The effect of a numeric argument is similar to the Insert Mode: the
224 typed bytes are replaced n times. As in Insert Mode, moving the
225 cursor using the arrow keys discards the numeric argument.
226 Exh Mode
228 The Exh Mode in hexer is kept similar to the ex-mode in vi. Typi‐
229 cally, an exh command looks like:
230 :area command arguments
232 Perform the command command on the area area.
233 :command arguments
236 Perform the command command at the current posi‐
237 tion.
238 :area Select the area area.
240 :position
242 Move the cursor to position position.
243 An area may be defined as:
245 position1,position2
247 The area starts at position1 and ends at posi‐
248 tion2 (inclusive).
249 position
251 The area selects one byte at position
252 % The area selects the entire buffer.
254 A position may be defined as:
256 offset A decimal, octal (prefixed with `0') or hex (pre‐
258 fixed with `0x') number.
259 . The beginning of the buffer.
261 $ The end of the buffer.
263 /regexp/
265 A regular expression (see section REGULAR EXPRES‐
266 SIONS). The buffer is searched forward starting
267 at the current position. If a match was found,
268 the current position is set to the position of
269 the match.
270 ?regexp?
272 The buffer is searched reverse.
273 Commands may be abbreviated with a unique prefix of the
275 command, some commands may be abbreviated with a single
276 character, even if that character isn't a unique prefix
277 of the command name. Currently the following commands
278 are supported:
279 s, substitute
281 Synopsis: area s /regexp/replace/flags
282 Search for the regular expression regexp and
283 replace it with replace (see section REGULAR
284 EXPRESSIONS). replace may contain `\' references
285 to subexpressions of regexp. flags:
286 g: global, this flag is ignored (it doesn't
288 make sense in a binary editor).
289 c: confirm, ask the user to confirm each sub‐
291 stitution.
292 (Note that the `/' character used as separator
294 could be any character, it's just common practice
295 to use `/'.) Trailing separators may be omitted.
296 If area is omitted, the whole buffer is searched.
297 w, write
299 Synopsis: area w filename
300 Write area to the file filename. If area is
301 omitted. the whole buffer is written to the file,
302 if filename is omitted, the filename associated
303 with the buffer is used.
304 r, read
306 Synopsis: position r filename
307 Insert the contents of the file filename at posi‐
308 tion. If position is omitted, the current posi‐
309 tion is used.
310 e, edit
312 Synopsis: e name or: e #
313 Change to buffer name. If there is no such buf‐
314 fer, hexer tries to open a file named name and
315 load it into a new buffer. If name is a hash
316 sign (#), the alternate buffer is selected. On
317 success the current buffer becomes the alternate
318 buffer.
319 b, buffer
321 Synopsis: b name
322 or: b
323 Change to buffer name. On success the current
324 buffer becomes the alternate buffer. If name is
325 omitted, a list of all buffers is displayed.
326 n, next
328 Select the next buffer in the buffer list.
329 N, previous
331 Select the previous buffer in th buffer list.
332 S, skip
334 Select the next unvisited buffer in the buffer
335 list.
336 rewind Select the first buffer in the buffer list.
338 wall Write all unsaved buffers.
340 c, close
342 Synopsis: c name
343 or: c! name
344 or: c
345 or: c!
346 Close the buffer name. If name is omitted, the
347 current buffer is closed. If the buffer has been
348 modified, but not saved, it can't be closed using
349 a :c-command; use :c! to override.
350 h, help
352 View an online help text.
353 q, quit
355 Synopsis: q name
356 or: q! name
357 or: q
358 or: q!
359 Close all buffers and exit the editor. If an
360 opened buffer has bee modified, but not saved,
361 the :q-command can't be performed; use :q! to
362 override.
363 map
365 imap
367 vmap Synopsis: map from to
369 or: imap from to
370 or: vmap from to
371 The key sequence from is mapped to to. To enter
372 special keys (e.g. function keys), mask them
373 using Control-V. :map affects the Command Mode
374 only, :imap affects the Insert Mode only and
375 :vmap affects the Visual Mode only. It is not
376 possible to re-map key sequences on the command
377 line editor.
378 unmap
380 iunmap
382 vunmap Synopsis: unmap from
384 or: iunmap from
385 or: vunmap from
386 Delete a key mapping created with :map, :imap or
387 :vmap.
388 set Synopsis: set variable [...]
390 or: set variable=value [...]
391 or: set novariable [...]
392 or: set
393 There are not too many variables that could be
394 modified, this might change though. The follow‐
395 ing variables can be used: iso (bool): display
396 the whole ISO-8859/1 character set; ascii (bool):
397 display ASCII characters only; TERM (string):
398 the name of the terminal; maxmatch (number), spe‐
399 cialnl (bool): see section REGULAR EXPRESSIONS.
400 :set called without an argument lists all vari‐
401 ables and values.
402 d, delete
404 Synopsis: area d
405 Delete all bytes in area. The deleted bytes are
406 copied to the kill buffer.
407 y, yank
409 Synopsis: area y
410 Copy the bytes in area to the kill buffer.
411 version
413 Display the version number of hexer.
414 zz Place the cursor in the middle line of the
416 screen. Note that the screen is scrolled (if
417 necessary); the cursor position is kept
418 unchanged.
419 zt Place the cursor in the top line of the screen.
421 zb Place the cursor in the bottom line of the
423 screen.
424 wq The same as :x.
426 x, exit
428 Save all buffers and exit the editor.
429 If a command is called and can't use the given posi‐
431 tions, areas or arguments, the additional positions,
432 areas, arguments are ignored.
433 Conditional commands: It is possible to specify a list
434 of terminal names for which the given command should be
435 executed. The syntax is:
436 :terminals:command
437 where terminals is a colon-separated list of terminal
438 names. The command is executed if and only if the value
439 of TERM is in the list. I.e. you could have a command
440 like
441 :xterm:set iso
442 in your .hexerrc-file (use the ISO character set only if
443 working on an xterm).
444 Cursor Motion
446 In Command Mode, Insert Mode, Replace Mode and Visual
447 Mode, you can use the following cursor motion commands:
448 Arrow Keys
450 Move the cursor.
451 Control-F
453 Move forward one page.
454 Control-B
456 Move back one page.
457 Control-D
459 Move forward half a page.
460 Control-U
462 Move back half a page.
463
465 On the command line you can use the following commands:
466 UpArrow DownArrow
468 Move up and down through the history of the current
469 context.
470 LeftArrow RightArrow
472 Move the cursor.
473 Control-A
475 Move the cursor to the beginning of the line.
476 Control-E
478 Move the cursor to the end of the line.
479 Control-K
481 Delete all characters from the current cursor posi‐
482 tion up to the end of the line.
483 Control-U
485 Delete all characters from the beginning of the line
486 up to the current cursor position.
487 Delete
489 BackSpace
491 Delete the character left of the cursor.
492 Control-D
494 Delete the character under the cursor.
495 Enter Return
497 Accept the line.
498 Escape Discard the line. Note: This is different from vi.
500 TAB Try to complete currently typed word. If the comple‐
502 tion is not unique, the word is completed as far as
503 unique. If the TAB key is hit twice on the same
504 position, a list of all possible completions is dis‐
505 played.
506
508 In this section it is assumed that you are familiar with REs
509 (regular expressions). In most applications (egrep, vi,
510 ...) REs work on lines, that means it is not possible to
511 use a RE containing a line break (newline character). In
512 hexer, the buffer is not split up into distinct lines and a
513 newline character is considered to be a `normal' character,
514 now here's the problem: imagine searching for "a.*b" in a 5
515 MB file, this would take very long (might be up to several
516 minutes on a slow machine). That's why there's a maxmatch
517 limit (a repeat operator matches at most maxmatch occur‐
518 rences of its operand). The default value of maxmatch is
519 1024, but it may be customized using the :set-command. For
520 simple expressions (expressions for which the length of the
521 match can be determined from the expression) it is possible
522 to override the maxmatch limit by doubling the `*' or `+'
523 operator, e.g. "a.**b" or "foo\(bar\)\+\+".
524 Note that the context specifiers `^'/`$' (beginning/end of a
525 line) and `\<'/`\>' (beginning/end of a word) are available
526 and actually do what you expect. If you don't want the
527 atoms `.' and `[^...]' to match the newline character you
528 can set the specialnl option using the :set-command.
529 To enter a special character, you can use the standard C
530 `\'‐escape sequences. To enter a character using its octal
531 code, use a `\o'‐prefix followed by up to three octal dig‐
532 its. (C-style octal escapes are not supported, because
533 `\0', ... `\9' are interpreted as back-references to subex‐
534 pressions of the RE.) To enter a character using it's hex
535 code, type a `\x'-prefix followed by up to two hex digits;
536 decimal codes can be entered using a `\d'‐prefix followed by
537 up to three decimal digits. It is possible to enter strings
538 of codes by doubling the base specifier, e.g. "\xxfe ff 5a
539 7e" or "\oo276 277 132 176". Note that such a string is
540 treated as an atom, i.e. the RE "\xxff fe*" matches any
541 number (< maxmatch) of repetitions of ff fe.
542 It is possible to use all kinds of character `\'‐escapes
543 (escapes representing a single character) within
544 `[]'‐ranges. Within a range, the `o' selecting an octal
545 base for the escape may be omitted, since back-references
546 within a range don't make sense. When specifying a minimum
547 and/or maximum number of repetitions using the `\{,}'‐opera‐
548 tor, the numbers may be given in decimal (no prefix), octal
549 (`0'-prefix) or hex (`0x'-prefix). If no maximum number is
550 specified and the operand is not a simple expression, at
551 most maxmatch matches will be found.
552
554 Hexer provides a simple calculator (myc) capable of all
555 operations available in C. To enter a myc command just
556 enter a % (percent) sign and an expression in infix nota‐
557 tion. It is possible to use parentheses. myc understands
558 the following binary infix operators (from highest priority
559 to lowest): ** (power), * (multiply), / (divide), % (mod‐
560 ulo), + (add), - (subtract), << (shift left), >> (shift
561 right), < (less), <= (less or equal), > (greater), >=
562 (greater or equal), == (equal), != (not equal), & (arith‐
563 metical and), | (arithmetical or), ^ (arithmetical exclusive
564 or), && (logical and), || (logical or), = (assign); and the
565 following unary prefix operators: - (negate, unary minus), !
566 (logical not), ~ (bitwise complement). myc knows three data
567 types: boolean, integer (32 bit), float (64 bit, equivalent
568 to C double). On some esoteric platforms the precision of
569 integer and float may be different. As in C the result of a
570 division depends on the data types of the operands. An
571 integer divided by an integer yields an integer. If you
572 want the result to be a float, make sure one of the operands
573 is a float, e.g. type 4/7. instead of 4/7 or a/(b+0.)
574 instead of a/b. The power operation returns a float if the
575 result is too large to fit in an integer. The result of a
576 calculation is stored in the special variables $$ and $n
577 where n is the number of the command.
578
580 Probably. Please report bugs to demetrio@cs.uni-sb.de.
581
583 hexer is not in the public domain, but freely distributable.
584 It may be used for any non-commercial purpose. See file
585 COPYRIGHT for details.
586
588 Sascha Demetrio
589 demetrio@cs.uni-sb.de
590Hexer 1.0.5 August 28, 2018 HEXER(1)