rbin(2m)

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NAME

rbin - Reduced binary editor mode

SYNOPSIS

rbin Mode

r - mode line letter.

DESCRIPTION

rbin mode is enabled when a file is edited in reduced binary mode. The mode is automatically enabled when a file is loaded as a binary data file via find-file(2).

When a file is loaded using rbin mode, every 256 bytes is converted into a line of text, the line is a single list of hex numbers 512 characters long, 2 bytes for each character. This format is not very user friend unlike binary(2m) mode, but is much more memory efficient (requiring approximately 2 times more memory than the file size).

When writing out a file which has rbin mode enabled the format of each line must be correct, namely an even number of hex numbers with no other characters.

EXAMPLE

Given a single line MSDOS file:

Live long and prosper.

When loaded in using binary mode the following 2 line buffer will be produced:

4C697665206C6F6E6720616E642070726F737065722E0D0A1A

Note the "0D 0A 1A" at the end, this is due to MSDOS's "\n\r" carriage returns and ^Z file termination. The given file could be made UNIX compatible by editing the buffer to:

4C697665206C6F6E6720616E642070726F737065722E0D

NOTES