A Hexdump of a JPEG image. First column numerates the line's starting address.

A binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text. Many binary file formats contain parts that can be interpreted as text; binary files that contain only textual data - without, for example, any formatting information - are called plain text files. In ordinary usage they are typically contrasted with binary files, so that binary files are all files which do not contain merely plain text. Hexdump is a utility which dumps (displays) the specified file in ascii, decimal, hexadecimal and octal format. ... In computing, JPEG (pronounced JAY-peg) is a commonly used standard method of lossy compression for photographic images. ... A computer file is a collection of information that is stored in a computer system and can be identified by its full path name. ... The binary numeral system (base 2 numerals) represents numeric values using two symbols, typically 0 and 1. ... A document file format is a binary file format for storing documents on a storage media, especially for use by computers. ... Formatted text, styled text or rich text, as opposed to plain text, has styling information beyond the minimum of semantic elements: colours, styles (boldface, italic), sizes and special features (such as hyperlinks). ... A file format is a particular way to encode information for storage in a computer file. ... Computer files can be divided into two broad categories: binary and text. ...

Binary file formats

Binary files are usually thought of as being a sequence of bytes, which means the binary digits (bits) are grouped in eights. Binary files typically contain bytes that are intended to be interpreted as something other than text characters. Compiled computer programs are typical examples; indeed, compiled applications (object files) are sometimes referred to, particularly by programmers, as binaries. But binary files can also contain images, sounds, compressed versions of other files, etc. — in short, any type of file content whatsoever. A byte is commonly used as a unit of storage measurement in computers, regardless of the type of data being stored. ... This article is about the unit of information. ... A compiler is a computer program that translates a computer program written in one computer language (called the source language) into an equivalent program written in another computer language (called the output or the target language). ... In computer science, object file or object code is an intermediate representation of code generated by a compiler after it processes a source code file. ...

Some binary files contain headers, blocks of metadata used by a computer program to interpret the data in the file. For example, a GIF file can contain multiple images, and headers are used to identify and describe each block of image data. If a binary file does not contain any headers, it may be called a flat binary file. In information technology, Header refers to supplemental data placed at the beginning of a block of data being stored or transmitted, which contain information for the handling of the data block. ... Metadata (Greek meta over and Latin data information, literally data about data), are data that describe other data. ... The terms computer program, software program, applications program, system software, or just program are used to refer to either an executable program by both lay people and computer programmers or the collection of source code from which an executable program is created (eg, compiled). ... With pictures like this you can see the restriction of 256 colours. ...

Manipulating binary files

To send binary files through certain systems (such as e-mail) that do not allow all data values, they are often translated into a plain text representation (using, for example, Base64). This encoding has the disadvantage of increasing the file's size by approximately 30% during the transfer, as well as requiring translation back into binary after receipt. See Binary to text encoding for more on this subject. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Base 64 is a positional numeral system using a base of 64. ... A binary to text encoding is encoding of data in plain text. ...

Microsoft Windows allows the programmer to specify a system call parameter indicating if a file is text or binary; Unix does not, and treats all files as binary. This reflects the fact that the distinction between the two types of files is to a certain extent arbitrary. ‹ The template below has been proposed for deletion. ... In computing, a system call is the mechanism used by an application program to request service from the operating system, or more specifically, the operating system kernel. ... Unix or UNIX is a computer operating system originally developed in the 1960s and 1970s by a group of AT&T Bell Labs employees including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and Douglas McIlroy. ...

Viewing binary files

A view of a small binary file in a Hex editor.

If you open a binary file in a text editor, each group of eight bits will typically be translated as a single character, and you will see a (probably unintelligible) display of textual characters. If you were to open it in some other application, that application will have its own use for each byte: maybe the application will treat each byte as a number and output a stream of numbers between 0 and 255 — or maybe interpret the numbers in the bytes as colors and display the corresponding picture. If the file is itself treated as an executable and run, then the computer will attempt to interpret the file as a series of instructions in its machine language. Hex Workshop, a hex editor for Microsoft Windows A hex editor is a type of computer program that allows a user to manipulate binary (normally non-plain text) computer files. ... Notepad is the standard text editor for Microsoft Windows A text editor is a piece of computer software for editing plain text. ... A system of codes directly understandable by a computers CPU is termed this CPUs native or machine language. ...

A hex editor may be used to view hexadecimal (and possibly also decimal, binary or ASCII character) values for corresponding bytes of a binary file. The bytes may then be manipulated by changing the hexadecimal value in the hex editor. Hex Workshop, a hex editor for Microsoft Windows A hex editor is a type of computer program that allows a user to manipulate binary (normally non-plain text) computer files. ...