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 offenc8g8: find the first invalid utf8 byte sequence.- To prevent vim from appending new line character
a0at 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
