VisiHex freeware hexadecimal file viewer BETA release
Posted: Sat 06 Dec 2008, 05:44
I'm releasing a new Beta version of my freeware VisiHex application, a handy GTK hexadecimal file viewer built and especially packaged with Puppy in mind. This little GTK application is coded in C to be small and fast. In addition to the normal scrolling control, there are handy keyboard shortcuts for navigation and searching. If you would like to beta-test this software, please download this .PET and give it a try (but uninstall the prior 0.9.4 version if you have it).
If you find bugs or have suggestions, please post them here and I'll work on them! Please let me know the version of Puppy you are using and any other unique configurations (special window manager, etc).
This binary is freeware, and after the source is in good shape, I'll open-source it. Thanks need to go to forum members MU and muggins for educating me on Puppy-specific things related to application packaging and integration.
General features of VisiHex:
* Loads an entire file into memory --> full file searches are fast!
* Scroll as fast as you'd like! Display refreshes almost instantly on most PCs
* Search for specific content by entering ASCII characters or the hexadecimal
codes of specific bytes
* Highlights one instance of the found search target at a time in yellow
* Repeat the search forward (down in the file) or backward(up in the file)
* Search wraps around past the end or beginning of the file in either direction
* Natural keyboard scrolling control (Home, End, PageUp, PageDn, Up arrow Down arrow)
* Convenient keyboard shortcuts for opening the search dialog:
'/' (like vi) or Ctrl+F for character mode, - or -
'?' or Ctrl+B for hex byte mode
* Convenient keyboard shortcuts for repeating search (G or N for forward search, P or V for backward)
* Uses standard GTK file select box if a file is not specified when VisiHex starts or if you want to open another file
* .PET Installer adds VisiHex to Puppy's Utility menu
* .PET installer also adds VisiHex to ROX's list of "Open With" applications
* If you make an icon for VisiHex on your desktop, you can drag and drop files to automatically open them in VisiHex
WHAT VisiHex IS NOT:
* It is not a binary file editor... all files are opened in read-only mode
* It is not internationalized... only displays character interpretation of
printable ASCII characters... maybe later we can add full unicode
support with GTK's Pango text rendering capabilities
* It is not a file classifier... allows you to view and search through any file,
but it treats all files the same
Changes since Alpha Version 0.9.4:
* The allowed-length of the Search pattern raised from 4 to 32 (was set to 4 for certain tests and unintentionally left that way when released)
* The main window can be freely resized now and the number of shown lines automatically adjusts (fixed at 20 in the Alpha version)
* The small (16x16) icon was revised to be a bit clearer
* Minor edits made to the Help text
* Beta version warning and bug report request added to bottom of About box
Known issues with Beta Version 0.9.5:
* The .PET creates an unnecessary usr-template/ directory and does not clean it up on uninstallation (reported by maddox below)
* On Puppy 2.17 with IceWM, the Alt-(key) combo in the main window does not pop up the respective menus
I hope other people find this handy! It's been fun to put together and I've learned a good bit about GTK and .PETs in the process. Let me know what you think.
If you find bugs or have suggestions, please post them here and I'll work on them! Please let me know the version of Puppy you are using and any other unique configurations (special window manager, etc).
This binary is freeware, and after the source is in good shape, I'll open-source it. Thanks need to go to forum members MU and muggins for educating me on Puppy-specific things related to application packaging and integration.
General features of VisiHex:
* Loads an entire file into memory --> full file searches are fast!
* Scroll as fast as you'd like! Display refreshes almost instantly on most PCs
* Search for specific content by entering ASCII characters or the hexadecimal
codes of specific bytes
* Highlights one instance of the found search target at a time in yellow
* Repeat the search forward (down in the file) or backward(up in the file)
* Search wraps around past the end or beginning of the file in either direction
* Natural keyboard scrolling control (Home, End, PageUp, PageDn, Up arrow Down arrow)
* Convenient keyboard shortcuts for opening the search dialog:
'/' (like vi) or Ctrl+F for character mode, - or -
'?' or Ctrl+B for hex byte mode
* Convenient keyboard shortcuts for repeating search (G or N for forward search, P or V for backward)
* Uses standard GTK file select box if a file is not specified when VisiHex starts or if you want to open another file
* .PET Installer adds VisiHex to Puppy's Utility menu
* .PET installer also adds VisiHex to ROX's list of "Open With" applications
* If you make an icon for VisiHex on your desktop, you can drag and drop files to automatically open them in VisiHex
WHAT VisiHex IS NOT:
* It is not a binary file editor... all files are opened in read-only mode
* It is not internationalized... only displays character interpretation of
printable ASCII characters... maybe later we can add full unicode
support with GTK's Pango text rendering capabilities
* It is not a file classifier... allows you to view and search through any file,
but it treats all files the same
Changes since Alpha Version 0.9.4:
* The allowed-length of the Search pattern raised from 4 to 32 (was set to 4 for certain tests and unintentionally left that way when released)
* The main window can be freely resized now and the number of shown lines automatically adjusts (fixed at 20 in the Alpha version)
* The small (16x16) icon was revised to be a bit clearer
* Minor edits made to the Help text
* Beta version warning and bug report request added to bottom of About box
Known issues with Beta Version 0.9.5:
* The .PET creates an unnecessary usr-template/ directory and does not clean it up on uninstallation (reported by maddox below)
* On Puppy 2.17 with IceWM, the Alt-(key) combo in the main window does not pop up the respective menus
I hope other people find this handy! It's been fun to put together and I've learned a good bit about GTK and .PETs in the process. Let me know what you think.