NAME
binary2ascii - Convert binary numbers to textual representation
SYNOPSIS
binary2ascii [flags]
DESCRIPTION
binary2ascii reads input consisting of binary numbers and converts them
to their textual representation. Command line flags specify the type
and size of the binary numbers and provide control over the format of
the output. Unsigned integers may be written out in binary, octal,
decimal, or hexadecimal. Signed integers may be written out only in
binary or decimal. Floating point numbers may be written out only in
decimal, either in standard or scientific notation. (If you want to
examine the binary representation of floating point numbers, just treat
the input as a sequence of unsigned characters.)
COMMAND LINE FLAGS
Long options may not be available on some systems.
-b|--base <base>
Base for integer conversions: b(binary),d(ecimal),
h(exadecimal), o(ctal), or 2,8,10, or 16.
-d|--delimit
Delimit the output as per the locale. Without this option,
floating point numbers will have a decimal point and no
separation of groups, integers no delimiters at all. With this
option, the decimal separator will be chosen according to the
locale (which, for example, may make it a comma), and non-
fractional digits will be grouped and separated according to the
rules for the locale in force. For American English, this means
groups of three digits separated by commas, whereas for German
in Germany it means groupsof three digits separated by periods.
-D|--do-not-delimit
Do not delimit the output as per the -d option.
-e|--exponential
Use exponential (scientific) notation.
-h|--help
print help message
-l|--linefeed
add a linefeed after every 0x0A value if the size is char,
short, int, or long, that is, the sizes that might represent a
character.
-L|locale <locale>
Set the LC_NUMERIC facet of the locale to <locale>.
-n|--number <number>
number of items to print per line.
-o|--offset <offset>
byte offset at which to start.
-p|--precision <precision>
the precision to use when printing floating point numbers.
-s|--sizes
print sizes of types on current machine and related information
-t|--type <type>
set type and size of input
-x|--no-hex-mark
do not mark hexadecimal output with the prefix 0x.
-V|--verbose
be verbose.
-v|--version
print version information.
-w|--width
minimum field width.
-X|--explain-exit-codes
print a summary of the exit status codes.
-z|--zero-pad-integers
zero pad on left.
-Z|--do-not-zero-pad-integers
do not zero pad on left
INPUT TYPES
The following are the possible input types. Note that some types may
not be available on some machines.
d double
f float
q long double
sc signed char
ss signed short
si signed int
sl signed long
sq signed long long
uc unsigned char
us unsigned short
ui unsigned int
ul unsigned long
uq unsigned long long
EXIT STATUS
The following values are returned on exit:
0 SUCCESS
The input was successfully converted.
1 INFO The user requested information such as the version number or
usage synopsis and this has been provided.
2 SYSTEM ERROR
An error resulted from a failure of the operating system such as
an i/o error or inability to allocate storage.
3 COMMAND LINE ERROR
The program was called with invalid or inconsistent command line
flags.
5 INPUT ERROR
This means that the input was ill-formed, that is that it could
not be interpreted as a number of the required type. For
example, if the input is 0x2A and a decimal value is called for,
an INPUT ERROR will be returned since 0x2A is not a valid
representation of a decimal integer.
AUTHOR
Bill Poser (billposer@alum.mit.edu)
LICENSE
GNU General Public License
SEE ALSO
ascii2binary(1)
February, 2007 binary2ascii(1)