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Bined", The Binary File Editor", (c) Copyright 1990 by Martin Hampford", Version 1.01 (1-11-90)", Table of Contents Purpose.............................1 Packing List........................1 System Requirements.................1 Command Line Arguments..............2,3 Init File & Environment Variables...3 Structure Definition File Format....4 User Interface......................5 Search/Replace Features.............6 First Time Users....................6 Edit Screen Directions..............7 Bug Reporting.......................7 Technical Specs.....................7 Disclaimer..........................8 Shareware Notice....................8 ┌────────────────────┐ │ Bined User's Guide │ 1 └────────────────────┘ Purpose ------- Bined (which stands for BINary EDitor) provides quick and easy modification of binary (or combined binary & text) data files, during system development. Other features include: o Allows editing of binary data fields in a file at the bit level (or alternately Decimal, Hex, or Octal). o Allows searching/replacing for Binary values in a data file. o Allows for quick creation of data files before your application code has been written or tested. o Allows programmers to check the validity of data created during program development/testing. o Allows for altering data files to test a programs' error trapping. Bined was written when a project I was working on kept under- going changes in the file structures at an almost ludicrous pace. I got sick of throwing away all of my old test data and re-compiling the rudimentary data file creator that had been written. !!WARNING!! Please be warned that Bined does not make any assumptions about the data it is editing so if you use Bined to change the key field data of an indexed file, it is up to the user to run any reindex- ing utilities. Also Bined can obviously not do error checking on the data that is altered or entered so be aware of potential problems with your application program if invalid data is entered. Packing List (.zip file) ------------------------ BINED.EXE Bined Executable BINED.DOC This Document BINED.INI Contains Default Colors BINEDINI.IFS initialization files' file structure System Requirements ------------------- Bined was written for IBM PC/XT/AT, PS/2 and compatibles. Bined has been tested under DOS 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4.01 and the DOS Compatibility boxes in OS/2 1.1 and 1.2. The lowest memory configuration tested has been 512K so that is the minimum requirement though I don't anicipate any problems on machines with less memory. In most cases this shouldn't be a problem because most developers have a configuration that exceeds this and Bined is not intended for use except by programmers. ┌────────────────────┐ │ Bined User's Guide │ 2 └────────────────────┘ Command Line Arguments ---------------------- Bined can be invoked with no arguments, which will put the user directly into Edit mode editing the last data file loaded. The 1st invocation of Bined will bring the user to the File Menu. Arguments may appear in any order as long as they are seperated by spaces. The valid arguments allowed are described below and can be preceded by either a backslash (/) or a dash (-) and can appear in any order on the command line: o /25 Starts Bined in 25 line mode if the current video state is 43 or 50 line mode. o /43 or /50 Starts bined using the 8x8 font available in the EGA or VGA adaptor. o /L suppresses display of Bineds' Logo Screen. o /C tells Bined to skip the Record Count calculation. This calculation ensures that the file size has no remainder when if is divided by the record size. This is done to count the number of records in the file. The /C parameter tells bined that the file is paged or extended in chunks that are not a modulus of the file size (C-tree and Btrieve are examples of data bases that can extend a data file by a variable page size). Be warned when attempting to read the last record of a file extended in pages because you will get an error message stating that there was a problem reading the last (partial) record (or slack data area), but you will be allowed to edit and save it which will extend the length of the file to a multiple of the record size. o /S tells bined to load a structure file. There should be no space between the /s and the filename (which can include a drive and path qualifier). If no filename extension is present the default of ".ifs" is used. ex. bined /s\util\binedini o /D tells bined to load a data file. If no structure file has been specified with the /S parameter the data file will NOT be loaded. Of course a Drive & Path can be included. If no filename extension is supplied then the default specified in the bined init file (BINED.INI) is used. More on BINED.INI later. ex. bined /s\util\binedini /d\init\bined.bak ┌────────────────────┐ │ Bined User's Guide │ 3 └────────────────────┘ Command Line Arguments (cont.) ------------------------------ o /N tells Bined NOT to automatically load the last data and structure files. This switch should be used when you wish to create a new structure and/or data file. o +<filename> loads both the structure file and the data file associated with the given filename which must NOT have a filename extension. If both files are loaded OK the user will find themselves directly in EDIT mode. ex. bined +order - loads order.ifs & order.dat from the current directory. o ? will display the valid command line arguments and a brief summary of each one. BINED.INI & the Init Environment Variable ----------------------------------------- Bined will look for (and create it if it doesn't exist) an initialization file in the directory specified in the INIT environment variable. If there is no INIT environment variable, the BINED.INI file will be created in the current directory. If Bined finds the file BINED.INI in either the INIT directory or the current directory it will load the last structure and data file edited (unless another structure or data file is specified on the command line) and will put you directly into EDIT mode. The INIT directory is searched before the current directory. The BINED.INI file is a binary file that contains: o The names of the last data & structure files used. o Last record edited. o The last print device printed to. o Bined colors. o Default extensions for the structure file. o Current Edit base o Floating point precision value. The BINED.INI file can be edited with the BINEDINI.IFS structure file supplied with the BINED zip file. Remember to edit a COPY of the .INI file and then copy it into the directory specified by the INIT environment variable or over the .INI in the current directory. ┌────────────────────┐ │ Bined User's Guide │ 4 └────────────────────┘ Structure/Record Definition File -------------------------------- Bined uses a straight ASCII file to store its file structures in. The default extension for these files is ".ifs" though you can load any file as the definition file so long as it follows the format described below. (Please understand that this information is supplied so that you may create the Bined structure definition file in your preferred text editor or using COPY CON:, as opposed to using the EDIT->STRUCTURE Submenu function). Hdr/Rec Specifier (H/R) │ │ Data Type Size (if type Data Name │┌────────────┘ (CSHIULNFDAZ) │ is A/Z) │(23 chars max) ││ │ │ ││┌┬┬───────────────────────────┘ │ │││││┌───────────────────────────────────────────┘ RA003last_name\r\n o Bined supports files that contain a Header, so the 1st byte on the line MUST be either an 'H' or a 'R' in uppercase. It doesn't matter if the Header or Record is defined 1st as long as all members of the header or record being defined are adjacent and in the order that the record is to be edited in. This means you CANNOT have a definition as shown below: RA030last_name\r\n HLzip_code\r\n <------- this member is part of the header. RA020first_name\r\n (!WRONG!) RIcount\r\n Note that binary type fields have no size parameter because their size is known implicitly. All record members must be adjacent to each other. All header members must be adjacent to each other. Since Bined was written in C for C programmers it supports the C data types which match up with their type specifier below: Bined Type Specifier Data Type Length --------- --------- ------ C character 1 Byte S short 2 Bytes H unsigned short 2 Bytes I integer 2 Bytes U unsigned int 2 Bytes L long 4 Bytes N unsigned long 4 Bytes F float 4 Bytes D double 8 Bytes E long double 10 Bytes A char array 2 to 512 Bytes Z* char Z-array 2 to 512 Bytes Padded with NULLs * For ASCIIZ Arrays; Only the field size - 1 will be allowed to be edited so the last character will be forced to a NULL. o '*' the asterisk can be used to put comments in the structure file. It MUST be the 1st character on the line and the comments should not be larger than 120 characters per line. o Note that the size field for char arrays & z-arrays MUST be 3 digits long with leading zeros included as illustrated above. The file BINEDINI.IFS is supplied as both an example file structure and to allow the changing of Bineds colors and other defaults. Do Not change any of the other fields unless their usage is obvious (i.e. defualt extension, last data & structure files). Any fields not filled in will be padded with NULLs. ┌────────────────────┐ │ Bined User's Guide │ 5 └────────────────────┘ User Interface -------------- Menus ----- Menus can be navigated using the following keys: Home - First Menu Option End - Last Menu Option Return - Selects the Currently Hilited Option or type the hilited hot key to select an option. Dialogues --------- The TAB/SHIFT-TAB key shifts the input focus in a dialogue box. Hilited hot keys are active only when the focus is on a Command Button, List Box, Check Box [X] or Radio Button (). If the focus is in a Text input field the hot keys are inactive. List Boxes ---------- The active movement keys in a list box are: Home - Moves to the Top of the List End - Moves to the Bottom of the List PgUp - Moves back 1 page PgDn - Moves down 1 page Return - Selects the current list member (except in the Structure Edit List Box where a Command Button must be used for edit actions) also any 'Hot Keyed' Commands in a dialogue box (see Dialogues above). Fields ______ Field edit keys are as follows: TAB or Down - Next Member/Field Shift-TAB or Up - Previous Member/Field Home - Goes to the Beginning of Field End - Goes to the End of Field (Last Character) Ctrl-End - Deletes chars from cursor to end of field BackSpace - Delete character in front of cursor Delete - Deletes character under cursor. Escape can be used to exit any field window, dialogue box or menu (except the Action/System/Main Menu, or whatever you'd like to call it where you must select FILE->EXIT). ┌────────────────────┐ │ Bined User's Guide │ 6 └────────────────────┘ Search/Search & Replace Features -------------------------------- One of Bineds' biggest assets is to search or search & replace a file for either text or binary data. To activate the Search option use Alt-S while in the Edit screen. A dialogue box will pop up asking for the field to search on, the data to search for and the (optional) range to search (or the whole file). Hit G for GO in any of the Radio button or Check Box fields (or hilite it using the TAB key). Alt-R will activate the Search & Replace Dialogue Box similiar to the Search dialogue box. The only difference is you can now access the replacement text field. Please note that some floating point searches could fail if you enter less digits in the search field than the number of digits the number was stored with or if the number cannot be represented exactly in IEEE floating point format (like .01). Edit Screen Instructions ------------------------ During editing of data fields you must hit RETURN to save the changed field to memory. Do NOT enter your data and then hit a direction key (Tab, Shift-Tab, Up or Down) because this will restore the original data to the field. Also remember to save any changed records with the F5 key before you read another record using F3 or F4 or before exiting the program. Bined only operates on 1 record at a time so changes made to a record will be overwritten in memory by the newly read record. With the BINED.INI init file zipped with the program, data editable at bit level binary (chars - unsigned longs) are displayed in green foreground & blue background. Floats - long doubles are displayed in bright yellow foreground. Strings/text fields are displayed in bright white on a blue background. F1 will provide a brief description of the valid function keys. F2 allows modification of the files structure. F3 moves to the previous record F4 moves to the next record F5 saves the record to disk F6 toggles between editing records & appending records F7 prompts for a record to goto/edit. F8 changes the current Edit base for chars - unsigned longs. F9 toggles between the editing the header or records. F10 Exits to DOS Alt-R - pops up the Search and Replace Dialogue Box Alt-S - pops up the Search Dialogue Box Alt-D - prompts for the display precision for floats - doubles. Alt-P - prints the current record/header. ┌────────────────────┐ │ Bined User's Guide │ 7 └────────────────────┘ Other Valid Navigation Keys are: Page Up - Moves Up 1 Page of Members Page Down - Moves Down 1 Page of Members TAB or Down - Next Member/Field Shift-TAB or Up - Previous Member/Field Home - Goes to Beginning of Field End - Goes to End of Field (Last Character) Ctrl-End - Deletes chars from cursor to end of field BackSpace - Delete character in front of cursor Delete - Deletes character under cursor. First Time Users ---------------- When you receive the zip file, unzip it into a directory and run the program. The .INI supplied will automatically load the BINEDINI.IFS and the BINED.INI data file. Note the function keys listed on the bottom row. F10 exits to DOS. Remember to edit a copy of the .INI file because it will be saved over your just edited copy when BINED terminates. Bugs ---- Every effort has been made to ensure data integrity, (including a 9-month beta test site at my old job! (and my new one for that matter). But like any complicated software, bugs can pop up. Please report any bugs in Bined to me at the address/phone below or leave me mail at my Compuserve ID below. This also applies to any comments or questions you might have regarding Bined. Technical Specs/Assistance -------------------------- BINED v1.00 - Designed and Coded by Martin M. Hampford 30 Stevens St. #311 Bridgeport, CT 06606 Voice: (203) 374-0327 Compuserve User ID: 76635,3241 Data: (203) 374-7498 Thanks to David Welch and Karl Bockley for their suggestions and help in testing Bined in it's pre-release/beta test stages. Bined was written using BRIEF v2.1, 2.5 and 3.0 starting under DOS 3.3 and finished under OS/2 1.2. The compiler used was Microsoft C 5.1 and 6.0/6.0a and a couple of low-level keyboard routines in 8086 Assembler assembled with Microsoft MASM 5.1. NO 3RD PARTY LIBRARIES WERE USED TO IN THE CREATION OF THIS SOFTWARE. ┌────────────────────┐ │ Bined User's Guide │ 8 └────────────────────┘ Disclaimer ---------- Bined is supplied AS IS. In NO event will I be liable to you for any damages arising from the use of this program. The user assumes sole responsibility for the correct use of the program. Shareware Notification ---------------------- Bined is shareware. You are granted a license to use the program for evaluation purposes only and for a period of no more than 30 days. If this program meets your needs, a registration fee of $25 is requested. This will also ensure you are notified for future releases of Bined. End --