NAME

Hexdumper - A module for displaying binary data in a readable format

SYNOPSIS

use Data::Hexdumper; Data::Hexdumper::dump( data => $data, # what to dump number_format => 'S', # display as unsigned 'shorts' start_position => 100, # start at this offset ... end_position => 148 # ... and end at this offset );

DESCRIPTION

Data::Hexdumper provides a simple way to format and display arbitary binary data in a way similar to how some debuggers do for lesser languages. It gives the programmer a considerable degree of flexibility in how the data is formatted, with sensible defaults. It is envisaged that it will primarily be of use for those wrestling alligators in the swamp of binary file formats, which is why it was written in the first place.

Data::Hexdumper provides the following subroutine:

Hexdump

Does everything :-) Takes a hash of parameters, one of which is mandatory, the rest having sensible defaults if not specified. Available parameters are:

data

A scalar containing the binary data we're interested in. This is mandatory.

start_position

An integer telling us where in data to start dumping. Defaults to the beginning of data.

end_position

An integer telling us where in data to stop dumping. Defaults to the end of data.

number_format

A character specifying how to format the data. This tells us whether the data consists of bytes, shorts (16-bit values), longs (32-bit values), and whether they are big- or little-endian. The permissible values are C, S, n, v, L, N, and V, having exactly the same meanings as they do in unpack. It defaults to 'C'.

SEE ALSO

Data::Dumper

Data::HexDump if your needs are simple

perldoc -f unpack

perldoc -f pack

BUGS

If displaying data in 'short' or 'long' formats, the last element displayed may be screwed up if it does not end on the boundary of a short or a long - eg, if you try to display 39 bytes as longs.

AUTHOR

David Cantrell (david@cantrell.org.uk).

HISTORY

Version 0.01

Original version.