Pages on ebyte.org

About

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

ebyte.org is the home of EByte, a small engine for binary file formats. You describe a format once, in a JSON schema: which fields come first, how wide each one is, which byte order, how many records follow. EByte then uses that one description three ways. It reads a file into JSON you can edit, it writes edited JSON back into a binary file, and it traces a file field by field, so when something doesn’t match you get the field, the byte offset and what was expected.

Command Reference

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

ebyte has four commands. They all use the same interpreter as the Go library, and they never guess a format: every command needs a schema. The full reference is cli.md on GitHub.

ebyte validate-schema --schema format.json
ebyte decode  --schema format.json --input file.bin  --output file.json
ebyte encode  --schema format.json --input file.json --output new.bin
ebyte inspect --schema format.json --input file.bin  --format text

Commands

validate-schema checks a schema and prints its name and SHA-256 identity as JSON. It doesn’t read any binary input.

Contact

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

ebyte.org would like to hear from:

Anyone trying EByte out. Which format you pointed it at, what worked, and what got in the way.
Anyone who found a bug. A file that didn’t come back byte for byte, an offset that looked wrong, an error you didn’t expect.
Anyone with a format EByte can’t describe yet. Bit fields, floats, offsets, checksums: knowing which ones people need decides what comes next.

Write to info@ebyte.org.

Download EByte

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The ebyte command is one file with nothing else to install. Each archive below holds it along with a short quick start, the example format, the manual and the license files. The links always point to the latest release.

System	Download	Checked before release
Linux, x86-64	ebyte-linux-amd64.tar.gz	Run on Linux
Linux, ARM64	ebyte-linux-arm64.tar.gz	Cross-built
macOS, Apple silicon	ebyte-darwin-arm64.tar.gz	Run on macOS
macOS, Intel	ebyte-darwin-amd64.tar.gz	Cross-built
Windows, x86-64	ebyte-windows-amd64.zip	Run on Windows

Checksums are in SHA256SUMS. RELEASE-MANIFEST.json records the source commit, the Go version that built each binary and how each archive was checked. Every release is listed on GitHub.

Quick Start

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

EByte reads a binary file through a schema you write, turns it into JSON you can edit, and writes it back. This page goes from download to your first round trip in a few minutes, using the example that ships in every archive.

1. Get the Tool

Download the archive for your system from the download page and unpack it. On Linux or macOS:

tar -xzf ebyte-linux-amd64.tar.gz
cd ebyte
./ebyte --version

That prints the version, such as ebyte 0.2.0. The folder also holds examples/, the manual and the license files.

Schema Library

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ready-made EByte schemas for real formats. Each one comes with a real sample file, and on every change to EByte the tests decode that sample and encode it back, checking every byte. Download a schema, point ebyte at your own file, and you’ll know within a line whether it matches.

Format	Schema	Sample	Walkthrough
Plain PCM WAV	pcm-wav.schema.json	tone.wav	WAV case study
24-bit BMP	bmp-24bit.schema.json	stripes.bmp	BMP case study
WAV, any chunks	riff-wave.schema.json	tagged.wav	WAV chunks case study
ZIP, any entries	zip.schema.json	three.zip	ZIP case study
One-file ZIP	zip-one-stored-file.schema.json	one.zip	ZIP case study

All five are in the schemas folder on GitHub, along with a note on each schema’s limits.

Schema Reference

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A schema tells EByte what a binary format looks like: the fields in order, how wide each one is, and how they depend on each other. This page covers version 1 of the schema format, the one EByte reads. The repeat type needs EByte 0.2.0 or later. Worked schemas for real formats are in the schema library. The full contract, with every edge case, is schema-v1.md on GitHub.

The File

A schema is a UTF-8 JSON file with exactly four members: