hexl-inspect.el

hexl-inspect

This package implements a minor mode named hexl-inspect-mode to be used in conjunction with a buffer set to hexl-mode. When activated, the minor mode will create a data inspection buffer, window, and display to the side of the hexl-mode buffer. As the point moves around in the parent buffer, the contents will update to reflect the point’s position.

The mode depends on the variable state of hexl-inspect--big-endian-p which determines how the data under the point is to be interpreted.

The automated update structure and the mode structure was patterned after the explore mode in treesit-explore-mode in treesit.el as that was the closest analog to what I was attempting to accomplish.

Installation

MELPA

This package is not yet available at MELPA.

Manual

1. Clone the repository to a location of your choice. The examples provided will assume ~/.emacs.d/site-lisp/hexl-inspect.
2. Load the package as part of initialization, such as:

(use-package hexl-inspect
  :load-path "~/.emacs.d/site-lisp/hexl-inspect")

Usage

Activation

It may be useful to add a keybind to hexl-mode to activate the data inspection.

(add-hook 'hexl-mode-hook
          (lambda () (define-key hexl-mode-map (kbd "C-c i") 'hexl-inspect-mode)))

Keybinds

Keybind	Function
C-c h	Toggles the endianness of the data inspection.

Using hexl-inspect

It should be as easy as activating the mode and moving the point around. A buffer will appear alongside the hexl-mode buffer with the following contents (as a sample). The endian mode will change when toggled via C-c h.

-------------------- Data Inspection -------------------
--------------------  Little endian  -------------------
Byte (Hex):           0x48
Byte (Binary):        0b01001000
uint8:                72
int8:                 72
char:                 H

16-bit word (Hex):    0x4348
16-bit word (Binary): 0b0100001101001000
uint16:               17224
int16:                17224
chars:                CH

32-bit word (Hex):    0x43594348
32-bit word (Binary): 0b01000011010110010100001101001000
uint32:               1129923400
int32:                1129923400


64-bit word (Hex):    0x000f424143594348
uint64:               4294972720890696
int64:                4294972720890696
--------------------------------------------------------

Change Log

Version	Description
0.1-pre	Initial release with various clean up.

Development

To Do List [2/5]

At the moment, this suits my needs fairly well. I suspect before it’s released for general consumption some additional safety measures may need to be added. It’s also not wildly aesthetically appealing so that might be something to think about. I welcome suggestions on how to improve the module.

Current things to address:

• [X] Does not compile cleanly. Investigate compilation and address warnings/errors
• [ ] Implement more customizable parameters (timer, output products, etc.)
• [ ] Create keybind to bring the buffer back after a user hits q.
• [ ] Possibly create a keybind for dismissing the buffer like q because the point is actually in the parent buffer for operations.
• [X] Detect when the point was placed on the second nibble of an address and account for that when performing the character acquisition (foolproofing)

License

GPLv3