New hex editor software designed for hex files

[dataescher]

Hello,

I just created a new hex editor which is designed for hex file formats (Intel Hex, Motorola Hex, Tektronix Hex, Actel Hex, TI Text) and can also read program sections out of elf files and convert them to other formats. I designed this software which is specifically tailored to file formats with discontinuous memory regions, because I don't think that has been done before. Most hex files are editors for binary files only, not hex file formats.

Please give it a try. You can download it at:
https://dataescher.com/products/hexeditor.php

Please contact me if you have feedback. I am asking for $20 for the unlimited version, but I think that is a small ask considering how much work went into it in development costs.

[shabaz]

Hi,

I gave it a quick shot, it has promise, I had the following immediate feedback:

1. HxD is quicker to scroll through the data; any way to speed that up would be appreciated
2. An option to change the font color would be appreciated; the blue on faint blue isn't ideal for all. I could find the option to change the font, but not the color.
3. There doesn't seem to be a Find option (or at least, I couldn't find it; maybe I missed it) to search for text or a hex sequence. I also tried Ctrl-F but that didn't do anything either.
4. Some of the menu options are in unintuitive places. For instance, the font changing menu ought to be under "Settings" or similar, but instead it is at View->Font.
5. The 20kbyte file size limit feels very restrictive to properly trial it. Maybe it would be better to have (say) a minute-long nag screen instead.

[dataescher]

Thanks for the feedback! These sound like great ideas for future changes. I'll work on some of your suggestions.

As for the trial, you can create a trial license by creating an account and requesting one after logging in. The trial lasts 30 days and allows the software to be used fully-featured. I think I will increase the size limit for load/save and add a nag dialog in a future update.

[wek]

Looks nice.

Can you please introduce yourself?

JW

[dataescher]

Sure. I'm an electrical engineer who works for CheckSum, LLC in Arlington, WA, USA. CheckSum designs test fixtures for various electronic PCBA assemblies. I specialize in designing MultiWriter products. MultiWriter is our trademarked ISP (in-system programming) multi-up programming dongle, and I have a hand in the software and hardware development for this product. I've designed programming algorithms for at least 100 part families and am very familiar with a broad spectrum of microcontrollers. I also am trying to develop tools to assist with my job, including this hex editor I mentioned.

I wrote this software in my free time and have gotten permission to try selling it from my company, and so I've been experimenting also with web design also and marketing. So I'm just one person who's not normally a software engineer trying to figure out how to go through the software product lifecycle. Everything at dataescher.com is developed by me from the ground up.

I am also married and have a baby daughter. My hobbies include piano/organ (I love Bach - https://www.youtube.com/@jfeucht82), road cycling, and hiking.

[wek]

Thanks.

It's nice to put a man - and a story - behind the program and website.

JW

[SiliconWizard]

It's Windows-only, as far as i can tell?

Out of curiosity, what language did you use to develop it?

[dataescher]

It's windows only right now. Uses .NET Framework 4.8, written in C#.

[radiolistener]

Is it written by AI?

[SteveThackery]

I designed this software which is specifically tailored to file formats with discontinuous memory regions, because I don't think that has been done before. Most hex files are editors for binary files only, not hex file formats.

Sorry, but I'm not sure what that means. My hex editor opens any file in any format and just ploughs through it as a data stream, displaying every byte as a hex value (and an ASCII character) in a grid.

Could you explain more about discontinuous memory regions - as a novice I'm struggling to get my head around it.

[PA0PBZ]

My hex editor opens any file in any format and just ploughs through it as a data stream, displaying every byte as a hex value (and an ASCII character) in a grid.

Just to give one example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SREC_(file_format)

To  dataescher: You screwed up the URL in your profile...

[Siwastaja]

Could you explain more about discontinuous memory regions - as a novice I'm struggling to get my head around it.

A very common example would be a 32-bit ARM memory dump file which contains different things like flash and RAM content at very different addresses. For example, flash at address 0 and RAM at address 0x2000000. If you just make a continuous binary file out of it, you have a 500MB file. Some file formats like intel hex can say "this data starts at 0" and then "this data starts at 0x2000000". It's some overhead, but then there is no need to "fill in" gaps, they remain gaps and data for gaps is undefined.

Now if a hex editor is not written to support this kind of discontinuous stuff fundamentally but has just a "dumb" import feature, then it would fill in those gaps with some defined value.

I don't know if the claim that this has not be done before is true or not, but anyway it's a really nice feature and probably much easier to scroll around those discontinuous areas and not have to fill some crap value.

[SteveThackery]

For example, flash at address 0 and RAM at address 0x2000000. If you just make a continuous binary file out of it, you have a 500MB file. Some file formats like intel hex can say "this data starts at 0" and then "this data starts at 0x2000000". It's some overhead, but then there is no need to "fill in" gaps, they remain gaps and data for gaps is undefined.

Ah, I see. Thank you. So just to check: some file formats specifically intended to support hex memory dumps will allow the bytes in the file stream to have a physical memory location associated with them?

That makes sense.  Thank you - learnt something new today. 

[dataescher]

Is it written by AI?

I tend not to use AI tools for writing software. Google search is enough for me. In my experience, AI writes pretty lousy software.

I don't know if the claim that this has not be done before is true or not, but anyway it's a really nice feature and probably much easier to scroll around those discontinuous areas and not have to fill some crap value.

I'm not sure it's been done before either, but it doesn't seem like it should be a novel idea. However, as far as I can tell, this might be the first. I wouldn't have developed this software if I there was something readily available.

2. An option to change the font color would be appreciated; the blue on faint blue isn't ideal for all. I could find the option to change the font, but not the color.
3. There doesn't seem to be a Find option (or at least, I couldn't find it; maybe I missed it) to search for text or a hex sequence. I also tried Ctrl-F but that didn't do anything either.
4. Some of the menu options are in unintuitive places. For instance, the font changing menu ought to be under "Settings" or similar, but instead it is at View->Font.

I just published a new version with a find feature, and customizable colors for the editor.