Overview of HexDump

Each line in a window displays the location within the file (number of bytes from start of file) of the first byte on that line, in hexadecimal (base 16) notation; 16 bytes in hexadecimal, and the same 16 bytes in ASCII (regular characters). Non-printing characters, including carriage returns and linefeeds, are displayed as a period in the ASCII subwindow. Characters in extended character sets (high bit set), such as accented characters in French, are also displayed as a period in the ASCII subwindow. However, the current character (where the cursor is) is displayed in the status bar of the child window, and this does display extended single byte characters.

There is a scrollbar on the right for navigating through the file. Shortcut keys - PageUp, PageDown, ArrowUp, ArrowDown - work as expected to change which portion of the file is visible. But note that the arrow keys do not move the cursor, you can position the cursor only with the mouse.

HexDump uses the Microsoft MDI paradigm, consisting of multiple child windows within a single main frame. This allows you to view different files at the same time, and to have multiple views of the same file.

Operating System

The code was developed under Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0. The help screens were developed using Microsoft Help Workshop.

Starting HexDump

You can also drag a file from Windows Explorer to the main frame, it will then open. Similarly, you can drag a file from Explorer to the shortcut icon, and HexDump will open with that file opened in it.

You can also open a new, blank file for editing, and save it when you're done.

Command Line Options: You can specify the display font size with a parameter of the form -f10 for 10-point font. Font sizes must be between 6 and 18. Similarly, -fp10 sets the printer font size to 10 points. The first remaining word in the command line is interpreted as the name of the file to open.

Quitting

There is no malicious code, no spyware, and no advertising in this code.

The program was developed by Peter Mansbach and paid for by Syntek Systems Corp, Gaithersburg MD, which owns the code.

Menus

Clicking on a menu selection applies it to the "active" subwindow. The active subwindow is the one you last clicked on. It has a different color title bar.

Some menu items are directly accessible from the toolbar. These are described in the Toolbar section of this help file. Some menu items have keyboard shortcuts. These are described in the Shortcuts section, and appear in the drop down menus as well. Where possible, the standard Microsoft keyboard shortcuts have been used.

File Menu

New

Open a new, empty, untitled file.

Open

Select an existing file to open.

Close

Close the active subwindow. If that is the last open subwindow for that file, the file is removed from memory. If that is the last open subwindow for that file, and the file has been edited, you will be asked if you want to save it first, before it is removed from memory.

Save

Save the file under its current name, overwriting the previous version. If this is the first time you are saving this file, you will be warned of the overwrite, and be given the opportunity to cancel the save.

Note that when a file has been edited since its last save, an asterisk appears in the title bar.

Save As

Save the active file under a different name, or to a different directory.

Print

Print the currently active file. You will be given an opportunity to select the printer, and to select only some of the pages, or the highlighted section, to print. The default (if you don't change anything) is to print the whole file to the default printer. You will be warned if the file is large.

The printout looks much like the screen: the location within the file on the left of each line, hexadecimal values in the center, and ASCII on the right.

You can change the font size for printing in the View Menu.

Print Preview

See on screen how the printout will look.

Print Setup

Select the printer to use and its properties. You can do this also from

Recently Used Files

The eight most recently opened files appear here, for quick access.

Exit

Shut down the program. If any files have been edited, you will be asked if you want to save them first.

Undo

Undo the last editing command that changed something in the file. These commands are cut, paste, insert, replace, and delete. Copy cannot be undone, nor can cursor or highlight changes, or moving where you are in the file. Note that undoing a cut does not restore the clipboard contents, only the changes to the file.

You can undo multiple changes, up to 100 of them. Even if you have saved the file after some of the changes, you can still undo them.

NOTE: If you do a global replace, each replacement counts as one change. YOU CANNOT UNDO MORE THAN THE LAST 100 CHANGES. We hope to remove this restriction in a future release.

Undo affects all subwindows that are open on the same file.

If you undo your way back to the original file contents, and have not saved in between, the file modified indicator (asterisk in the subwindow's title bar) will go away, and you will not be prompted to save the file on exiting, unless you then make more changes. If you have saved the file already, that will not happen.

Redo

If you have undone a series of editing changes, you can redo them, one at a time, in reverse order (that is, the most recently undone change is the first to be redone). Once you make another editing change, however, you lose the redo information.

Cut

Remove the highlighted content from the file and place it on the clipboard.

You highlight a section by dragging the mouse cursor across it.

HexDump uses the system clipboard, and ASCII characters can be cut, copied, or pasted between different applications. Non-ASCII characters, however, are saved in a special format in HexDump, and cannot be pasted into other applications. But they can be pasted into other HexDump windows.

Copy

Copy the highlighted content from the file to the clipboard. See details under Cut.

Paste

Paste the contents of the clipboard into the file at the location of the cursor, or in place of the currently highlighted selection. See details under Cut.

Insert

Insert a specified string into the file at the cursor, or before the highlighted selection. You will be prompted for the string, and can enter it in ASCII or hexadecimal. Simply click the button labelled ASCII or Hex on the prompting form.

The form will remember your last entry, to simplify making the same change in multiple locations in the file.

As with most Windows programs, the file itself is not modified until you save your changes. If you attempt to exit without saving, a popup will ask if you wish to save.

Replace

Like Insert, except that the selection will be removed from the file and replaced with the specified string. See also Find and Replace, below.

Delete

The selection will be deleted. It is not copied to the clipboard.