freeinternals Binary Internals Viewer

An application to show binary file internals visually & interactively for the meaning of every byte.

Supported Formats

• BMP file
• Class file
  • Programming Logic: http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/35915/Java-Class-Viewer
  • Usage Sample: https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/762980/Inside-the-Hello-World-Application-via-Java-Class
• JPEG file
• PNG file
• ZIP file
  • The structure of a PKZip file
• Will supported formats
  • DEX file for Android (in progress)
  • ELF file for *nix systems (in progress)

Sample

• Here is a screen shot opening java.lang.String.class file

Download

• Download Application: https://github.com/amosshi/freeinternals/releases

User guide

• We need the java command to run this tool
  • java -jar BinaryInternalsViewer-3.5-timestamp.jar
    • Where timestamp is the auto-generated build timestamp
  • Menu item: File > Open...
  • Choose the binary file to view

Build the Source Code

• Prerequisite
  • Java Version: OpenJDK version 11 or higher
  • Set JAVA_HOME environment variable
    • If not set use the export statements in the build.sh script
  • Build Tool: Apache Maven 3.5 or higher: because we are using the Maven CI Friendly Versions ${revision} feature
• Build
  • Build via maven command
    • mvn clean package install
  • Build with Script
    • ./build.sh (Linux/MacOS/Windows Git Bash)
    • build.cmd (Windows CMD)

Structure

• This application does not have 3rd party dependency other than JDK, easy to add it to your existing project
• Project Structure
  • mvn dependency:tree
  • mvn com.github.ferstl:depgraph-maven-plugin:aggregate -DcreateImage -Dincludes=org.freeinternals -DshowGroupIds -DshowVersions -DoutputDirectory=docs - this command needs dot command from Graphviz

Legacy note

• The original Java Class Viewer has been retired and merged into Binary Internals Viewer since Apr 2021