To check binary file content xxd <file name>
To edit binary file
- Open the binary file normally with vim
vim <file name>
- Convert them to xxd-human readable format
:%!xxd
- Edit the hex part in the left
- Convert xxd-human readable format back to binary
:%!xxd -r
- Save modified content
:w
Here are some useful vim commands to work with binary file
:as
(scii) orga
: print asscii value of the character under cursorg8
: print the utf-8 encoded binary of the character being displayed under the cursor, regardless the value offenc
8g8
: find the first invalid utf8 byte sequence.- To prevent vim from appending new line character
a0
at the end of file:set binary
, then:set noeol
- To open file in binary format, without de-coding its content. In other words, utf-8 compatible characters are shown as human readable while illegal characters are shown as hex value
:set binary
then :e
(you must re-open the buffer)
or
vim -b <file name>
or
:e ++binary