NAME
vbindiff - hexadecimal file display and comparison
SYNOPSIS
vbindiff file1 [ file2 ]
DESCRIPTION
Visual Binary Diff (VBinDiff) displays files in hexadecimal and ASCII
(or EBCDIC). It can also display two files at once, and highlight the
differences between them. Unlike diff, it works well with large files
(up to 4 GB).
Viewing files
Movement Keys
-------------
Up Move one line (16 bytes) towards the beginning of the file
Down Move one line (16 bytes) towards the end of the file
Left Move one byte towards the beginning of the file
Right Move one byte towards the end of the file
PageUp Move one page towards the beginning of the file
PageDn Move one page towards the end of the file
Home Move to the beginning of the file
End Move to the end of the (shorter) file
F Search for a string or byte sequence
G Move to a specified file position
When displaying two files, both files move together. If bytes have
been added or removed in one of the files, you can adjust the
comparison by moving just one of the files. To move only the top file,
press "T". To move only the bottom file, press "B". To return to
moving both files, press the same key again. (The window at the bottom
of the screen will indicate when you are moving only one file.)
Other Keys
----------
Enter Move to the next difference between the files
Space (same as Enter)
C Toggle between ASCII and EBCDIC display
E Edit currently displayed section of file
Esc Exit VBinDiff
Q Exit VBinDiff
The "Enter" key will advance to the next difference between the files
(after those already displayed on the screen). If there are no more
differences, it moves to the end.
Line editor
The line editor is used to enter search strings and file positions. It
uses the basic Emacs-style editing keys.
Keys
-----------------
Ctrl-B, Left Move the cursor one character left
Ctrl-F, Right Move the cursor one character right
Ctrl-A, Home Move to the beginning of the line
Ctrl-E, End Move to the end of the line
Ctrl-P, Up Move up in input history
Ctrl-N, Down Move down in input history
Ctrl-H, Backspace Delete the character to the left
Ctrl-D, Delete Delete the character under the cursor
Ctrl-K Delete from cursor to end of line
Insert Toggle between insert & overstrike mode
Enter Finished entering text
Esc Abort the operation
Editing files
You can press "E" to edit the current file. When displaying two files,
this edits the one in the top window, unless you are in "move bottom"
mode.
When editing, you can move the cursor around with the arrow keys. Use
TAB to switch between entering hexadecimal or ASCII (or EBCDIC)
characters. Press the Esc key when you are done. You will be given
the choice to save or discard your changes then.
If you are displaying two files, you can use the Enter key to copy a
byte from the other file into the one you are editing.
You cannot scroll through the file while editing, although you can save
your changes and then move to a different part of the file. Also, you
cannot insert or delete bytes, only change them.
OPTIONS
-L, --license Display license information for vbindiff
-V, --version Display the version number
--help Display help information
BUGS
Does not work properly with files over 4 gigabytes. It should be able
to view the first 4 gigabytes ok, but the display only has room for 8
hex digits of file position, and the Goto box is also limited to 8
digits.
LICENSE
VBinDiff is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
option) any later version.
VBinDiff is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License
for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
with VBinDiff (see the file COPYING); if not, write to the Free
Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
AUTHOR
Christopher J. Madsen <vbindiff .at. cjmweb.net>
<http://www.cjmweb.net/vbindiff/>