Here is my modified version of HexEdit, which I have placed at version 1.2 (v1.0x is from Jim Bumgardner, v1.1x is from Dave Polaschek)
••• From Jim's original Docs:
HexEdit is a hexdump viewer and editor that works similarly to the hex editor provided with Apple's ResEdit. It allows you to edit either the data fork or the resource fork of a file.
I wrote HexEdit because I needed to be able to insert/delete bytes from the data fork of files I was testing, and tools like FEdit don't have insert/deletion.
HexEdit is freeware. The author retains the copyright, including the right to alter or sell the program. You may use and copy HexEdit only on a non-commercial basis. You may not sell this program without the author's permission.
••• New features added:
• Ability to compare two files, & preferences for this feature
• Ability to switch between forks of the same file with a menu command,
even if the other fork has not been directly opened yet (ie, it auto-opens).
• Source code is now completely free of warnings (well, in CodeWarrior anyway)
• Source is now Universal Headers 2.x compatible
• Program is not "fat", with source modifications for Power PC compiles
About this Document
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In order to be brief, features which are similar to the ResEdit hex editor are not described. (If you aren't familiar with ResEdit, you probably shouldn't be using HexEdit).
System Requirements
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HexEdit can edit very large files (they don't need to fit into memory). At it's current memory setting of 600k, it should be able to handle files of up to 230 megs. If you need to edit a larger file (!), increase it's memory partition.
Note that when HexEdit saves a file, it will (temporarily) need twice the disc space of the original file, plus a little extra for storing the changes you have made.
Opening a File
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HexEdit supports drag and drop, automatically opening files in "Auto" mode. You may find it useful to keep an alias to HexEdit on your desktop for this purpose.
When you use the Open command, HexEdit presents a standard file dialog with three radio buttons, labeled "Data" "Resource" and "Auto".
"Data" opens the data fork.
"Resource" opens the resource fork.
"Auto" opens the data fork, if there is any data in it, otherwise it opens the resource fork.
Saving a File
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When you save a file with HexEdit, it automatically backs up the last version of the file, renaming it to OriginalName~ (the original name with a tilde after it). You can turn this backup feature off in the Options menu.
The Find Menu
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Find
This brings up a dialog box allowing you to search for a sequence of hex bytes, or ascii
text.
Search Forward
This searches for the last search string, forward until the end of the file.
Search Backward
This searches for the last search string, backward until the beginning of the file.
Goto Address
This allows you to specify an address, either in hex or in decimal, and scroll to that
address.
The Options Menu
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Hi Order Ascii
This displays ascii values in the ascii part of the dump which are higher than 80h - you will see the accents, diacriticals and symbols that are in the monaco font that HexEdit uses. This also makes it a little harder to pick out English text if you are searching for it in a large binary.
Decimal Addresses
This causes the addresses to be displayed in decimal, rather than hex.
Overwrite
This toggles between insert mode (the default) and overwrite mode. Overwrite mode allows you to replace a sequence of bytes without affecting the offset of the subsequent bytes.
Make Backups
If checked, when saving a file ("filename"), rename the original file to "filename~" before saving the new data using the original filename. If not checked, the original file is overwritten and can not be restored.
Open and Compare Files…
Brings up two standard file dialogs, allowing you to select two files which are then compared using the options specified in the Compare Options dialogs (see below). After selecting both files, you will have two windows, one above the other, with the first file in the top window. Below these windows will be a "dialog" which allows you to search forward or backward, edit the files, or exit.
Compare Options…
This dialog lets you choose how file compares are performed. You can choose the data size as well as if you want to display where files are similiar or where they differ.
Edit Other Fork
Simply switches to the window containing the other fork for the file. If the window doesn't exist, HexEdit automatically opens the file's other fork in a new window and makes that window active.
••• Some Notes:
To help you in your perusal, I have marked all of my changes by //LR (usually followed by a descriptive comment, but not if it's "obvious", ha ha)
The original idea for file comparison was made by Jeff Smith.
Please, feel free to distribute this version of HexEdit as you please, I'd just ask for appropriate credit. I happen to use this program quite a bit, so if you make any changes please let me know, and I will try to get them into a new version.
Thanks to Jim for releasing such a fine program, and even more so for the source, as it's helped to make this program much more useful for myself and others! You may wish to check out IFD's mac web site, as it has several utilities w/source.
<http://www.ifd.com/mac> // mac site
<http://www.fix.net/~lroathe> // my site (interlinks abound)
<http://www.genxsoftware.com> // we're working on cool stuff!
<lane@ricochet.net> // wireless dude, what a rush!
Lane Roathe
115 Le Point St.
Arroyo Grande, CA 93420
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Examples of what HexEdit has been/can be used for:
Debugging:
Examining debugging data (ie, raw ADB output, etc.)
Examine other programs' binary output for errors (AIFF, MIDI, etc.)
Spelunking:
Examine/Edit the contents of a MIDI file.
Examine binary files received from the Internet to see what format they are in.
(MacBinary, Stuffit, etc.)
Misc.:
Figure out how Kanji is encoded in a text file.
Compare MS-Word format to RTF format.
Examine the data fork of MS-Word Application
(Owner Name is stored there in easily decrypted format)
Recovery of damaged files, or at least portions of data therefrom.
