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--------------------------------------------- DDUMP: Dual Dump File Utility with Limited Editing. --------------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 1989, Christopher Laforet All Rights Reserved Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Introduction and Legal Stuff Introduction and Legal Stuff 1.1 Introduction 1.1 Introduction This utility was inspired somewhat by a similar utility available in the DOS world called CABLE. CABLE was written by David Mitchell, an employee of IBM in England, a number of years ago. The utility was just so well designed and thought out that it became quite a favorite among those programmers who had a chance to use it. The basic thrust of CABLE was to permit the user to pull in one or two files for searching, editing (in ASCII and hex), or simply for comparison. DDUMP is a similar utility for OS/2 programmers, a utility to permit one to search for patterns in a file, to make minor editing changes (in ASCII or in hex), to browse around, or to compare two files. DDUMP will work at the OS/2 command line or will run in a text window in Presentation Manager. I may make a "pure" PM version at some time. It is my hope that the users of DDUMP will find it as powerful a little tool for their personal toolkits as I found CABLE. 1.2 Copyright and Registration 1.2 Copyright and Registration DDUMP and all of its associated files including but not limited to the executable and this documentation are copyrighted material of their author, Christopher Laforet. This program is distributed under the shareware concept and is not Public Domain material. What this means is that you are encouraged to share the original distribution files (including this documentation) with your friends or to provide them on diskette or by means of BBSes to other users. You are allowed to use the program for a period of time without registering it until you decide that you really have a use for it. This period of time can vary, but I suggest that if you use it for a period of over a month, you ought to do the honest thing and register your copy. Registration entitles you to the latest copy of DDUMP on diskette and the means to contact me for reporting bugs or making suggestions. To register, please print, fill out, and mail the --------------------------------------------- Dual Dump File Utility Usage Page Two Copyright (c) 1989, Christopher Laforet accompanying REGISTER.DOC and enclose a check or money order made out to Christopher Laforet for the amount of $15 US (NC residents add 5% sales tax or $0.75) to the following address: Christopher Laforet 511-D Poplar St Graham, NC 27253 1.3 Warranty and Disclaimer 1.3 Warranty and Disclaimer The LOG program and all accompanying documentation are provided on an "AS IS" basis. This means that Christopher Laforet does not warrant, guarantee, or make any other representations regarding the use, or results of use, of LOG or the documentation in terms of accuracy, reliability, correctness, currentness, or otherwise. Christopher Laforet will not be held responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages including damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information, or otherwise arising from the use or inability to use LOG, even if Christopher Laforet has been advised of the possibility of such damages. The use of this product is on an "AT YOUR OWN RISK" basis. 1.4 Contacting Me and Support 1.4 Contacting Me and Support Non-registered users can feel free to forward suggestions or bug reports to me at the above address, through Compuserve Email (76120,110), through FidoNet mail (1:151/402), or can call my BBS and leave me a message (Chris Laforet, The Programmer's Oasis, 919-226-6984 HST,2400,1200). Flames will be sent directly to NUL! If there is a decent response (as measured in registrations) to this product, I will continue to upgrade it as new versions of OS/2 arrive and as bugs appear (God forbid!). It is for this reason that I urge you to register your copy. --------------------------------------------- Dual Dump File Utility Usage Page Three Copyright (c) 1989, Christopher Laforet Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Using DDUMP Using DDUMP 2.1 Starting DDUMP 2.1 Starting DDUMP To run DDUMP, type DDUMP in the protected mode shell of OS/2. After signing-on, you will be presented with the main screen which consists of a pull-down menu along the top, a status line on the bottom, and two sections for files. At this point you may load a file (or files) to browse and/or edit by pressing Alt-F to pull down the Files menu and then select the Open File option by moving the light-bar over the choice and pressing Enter. (To load the files directly from the command line, you may type DDUMP d:\path\file1 [d:\path\file2].) 2.2 The Files Menu 2.2 The Files Menu As you will see in the figure below, the files menu has a number of different entries. Alongside of the action description (like "Open File") you can see the shortcut key (like "Alt+O") which you may press without pulling down the menu every time you need to complete an action. To activate the files menu, press Alt+F from the main screen. If you are already in a menu, merely press your left or right arrow keys to get to this menu. Files Search Compare opTions ┌─────────────────────┐──────────────── │ Open File Alt+O │ │ Edit File Alt+E │ │ Browse File Alt+B │ │ Next File Alt+N │ │ Write File Alt+W │ │ Abs Offset Alt+G │ │ Plus Offset Alt+P │ │ Minus Offset Alt+M │ │ Exit Alt+X │ └─────────────────────┘ Figure 2.1: The Files Menu Figure 2.1 The options available include one to open a new file (if there is already a file being browsed, the new one will replace --------------------------------------------- Dual Dump File Utility Usage Page Four Copyright (c) 1989, Christopher Laforet it), an option to toggle into Editing mode, another one to cancel Editing and return to Browse mode (the default), and one to allow you to flip between the two files that you are browsing/editing. If you have made an editing change to a file, you may choose to write the changes out by selecting the "Write File" option. The system will remind you that a file has changed whenever you choose any option which may discard those changes and then it will prompt you if it should write the changes out. Hence the Write File option is merely there if you want to make sure that you flush changes out to the disk. To go to an absolute location in the file, choose the "Abs Offset" option. You will be presented with a window prompting you for the position that you wish to seek to. You may reply in hex (if Hex Offsets option is active) or in decimal (if the Decimal Offsets option is active). The default is to accept offsets in hex (use the opTions menu to change this if you so desire). If you select an invalid location, the pointer will not be moved. To add an offset to your current position in the file, use the "Plus Offset" option. Depending upon the mode, you will be prompted to enter this value either in hex or in decimal notation. If the combined offset is beyond EOF, the pointer will not be moved. To subtract an offset from your current position in the file, select the "Minus Offset" option from the menu. The same thing that we said about previously of the hex/decimal prompting is true of this also. If the combined offset is before the BOF, the pointer will not be moved. To exit DDUMP, select exit from this menu. Before you leave, if you have made any unsaved changes to either file, you will be prompted to save them before exiting. 2.3 The Search Menu 2.3 The Search Menu The search menu can be activated by pressing Alt+S from the main screen or if you are already in a menu, press the right or left arrows until you reach this menu. Search Compare opTions ┌─────────────────────┐────── │ Search Fwd F5 │ │ Search Back Alt+F5 │ │ Search Next Shf+F5 │ └─────────────────────┘ Figure 2.2: The Search Menu Figure 2.2 --------------------------------------------- Dual Dump File Utility Usage Page Five Copyright (c) 1989, Christopher Laforet Using this menu you may ask to search forward for a specific string pattern by selecting the "Search Fwd" option. A window will then open in the middle of the screen and prompt you to provide the desired pattern. The search will then proceed until a match is found, until EOF is hit, or until you press any key to terminate the search. The case sensitivity of the search is dependent upon the sensitivity flag (by default sensitivity is on) which can be set using the opTions menu. The state of the sensitivity flag can be seen on the status line. To do a reverse search from the current position, select the "Search Back" option. The same comments mentioned above hold true here also. To repeat a previous search, select the "Search Next" option. This will search for the previous patter in the same direction as before. 2.4 The Compare Menu 2.4 The Compare Menu This will be implemented in the next beta release of this product. 2.5 The Options Menu 2.5 The Options Menu The options menu allows you to change the state of a number of flags. To select this menu, press Alt+T from the main screen or use your arrow keys to select it if you already have a menu pulled down. opTions ┌─────────────────────┐ │ Show Ctrl-Chars F2 │ │ Case Insensitive F3 │ │ Lock Files F4 │ │ Edit in Hex F7 │ │ Offs in Decimal F8 │ └─────────────────────┘ Figure 2.3: The Options Menu Figure 2.3 The first option will show all characters in the ascii dump portion of the file dump. This option is suppressed by default (all characters less than a space (0x20) are shown as periods) to present a relatively uncluttered dump. Should you desire to see all of the characters, merely toggle the "Show Ctrl-Chars" option. You will notice that the option will change to "Hide Ctrl-Chars". --------------------------------------------- Dual Dump File Utility Usage Page Six Copyright (c) 1989, Christopher Laforet To toggle the search flag in charge of defining if searches are case sensitive or not, choose the second option. If they are currently case sensitive, the option will read "Case Insensitive" otherwise if they are case insensitive, the option will read "Case Sensitive". The "Lock Files" (and conversely "Free Files") options are related to the Comparison process. When files are locked, any scrolling that you do on one will be duplicated on the other. This option will be implemented on the next beta release. The "Edit in Hex" option toggles the mode for editing files (the default is ASCII). When you select this option you can then edit bytes in hexadecimal. The option will change to "Edit in ASCII". The "Offs in Decimal" option permits you to change the number system under which you are prompted for offsets. The default is hexadecimal. Should you select this option, it will then become an "Offs in Hex" option. 2.6 Active Keystrokes in the Main Screen 2.6 Active Keystrokes in the Main Screen All of the shortcut keys presented on the pull-down menus are active on the main screen. An example of this is the option to toggle between the two files (Files menu, Next File option). If you wish to use the shortcut key, press Alt+N to toggle between the top and bottom file. To move around in the files you may use the left and right arrow keys (moves left or right by a byte at a time), the up and down arrow keys (moves left or right by 16 bytes at a time), the PgUp and PgDn keys (moves left or right by one screenful at a time), or the Home and End keys (to go to BOF and EOF respectively). 2.7 The File Screen 2.7 The File Screen Each of the files being browsed/edited is presented with its pathname and filesize in hex (on the top or at the bottom depending upon which screen position it occupies), a hexadecimal dump (with the current offset marked with a pointer in both hex and decimal), an ASCII dump on the right hand side, and a linear ASCII dump (under or over the hex dump depending upon its screen position). Here is an example of the hexadecimal dump of a file along with its linear ASCII dump: --------------------------------------------- Dual Dump File Utility Usage Page Seven Copyright (c) 1989, Christopher Laforet 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ┌─────────┐ 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 80 00 00 00 │0x0000040╞═0e 1f ba 0e 00 b4 09 cd 21 b8 01 4c cd 21 54 68 │ 64│ 69 73 20 70 72 6f 67 72 61 6d 20 63 61 6e 6e 6f └────────╥┘ 74 20 62 65 20 72 75 6e 20 69 6e 20 44 4f 53 20 ║ ╚══════════════════╕ ............Ç.....║..┤.═!╕.L═!This program cann Figure 2.4: The Hexadecimal Dump and Linear ASCII Dump Figure 2.4 Here is an example of the block ASCII dump corresponding to the hex dump previously presented: ................ ............Ç... ..║..┤.═!╕.L═!Th is program canno t be run in DOS Figure 2.5: The ASCII Dump Figure 2.5 2.8 Editing a File 2.8 Editing a File To edit a file in ASCII, merely select the correct position using the arrow keys and make sure that you are in ASCII Edit mode (look at the status line). Select the "Edit File" option from the Files menu or press Alt+E to toggle Edit mode. At this point, merely type in the changes that you wish to make. After each character, the current position moves to the next byte location. To edit a file in hex, make sure that your status line indicates that you are in Hex Edit mode. If you are not, change your setting using the opTions menu. Select the position in the file where you wish to do your edit and then begin editing. Notice that the hex editor accepts two hex numbers (since there are two nibbles) per byte and rotate the changes leftwise through the byte. After each two hex numbers, the current position moves to the next byte. Please notice that this editor does not allow you to insert bytes or add bytes to the end of the file. It merely permits you to change what is already there. --------------------------------------------- Dual Dump File Utility Usage Page Eight Copyright (c) 1989, Christopher Laforet Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Revision History Revision History Version 0.01: First beta release version. This version does not support file comparisons nor does it allow files to be "locked" together. --------------------------------------------- Dual Dump File Utility Usage Page Nine Copyright (c) 1989, Christopher Laforet Contents Contents Chapter 1 Introduction and Legal Stuff 2 1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1.2 Copyright and Registration . . . . . . . . . 2 1.3 Warranty and Disclaimer . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.4 Contacting Me and Support . . . . . . . . . . 3 Chapter 2 Using DDUMP 4 2.1 Starting DDUMP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.2 The Files Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.3 The Search Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2.4 The Compare Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2.5 The Options Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2.6 Active Keystrokes in the Main Screen . . . . 7 2.7 The File Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 2.8 Editing a File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Chapter 3 Revision History 9 i Figures Figures Figure 2.1: The Files Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Figure 2.2: The Search Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Figure 2.3: The Options Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Figure 2.4: The Hexadecimal Dump and Linear ASCII Dump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Figure 2.5: The ASCII Dump . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 ii