> > > I have a binary file that I have been tasked to discover > the format of > > and somehow convert the records to readable text. Is there > any way I > > can find out what binary format the file is in, so I can create an > > template for unpack() to convert the binary to text? > > The best place to start is with the `file` command, and the magic > numbers behind it, which not nearly enough people know about > these days. > > On Unix systems (or Cygwin on Windows), `file` uses a > database of magic > numbers -- fingerprints for different file types -- to > identify files, > regardless of how the file is named (i.e. the file extension doesn't > matter here). For example, consider this output:
If you do manage to find out the file contains some sort of "standard" binary format per the 'file' command, you can also visit http://www.wotsit.org/ which contains "very detailed" information about the binary structure for hundreds of different known file formats. -Dan -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <http://learn.perl.org/> <http://learn.perl.org/first-response>
