for...ize(1)

📦 version 1.1, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 NAME 💖

forensics-colorize — bestie, this is the whole vibe: show differences between files using color graphics. Like, instead of squinting at a diff for three hours, you get a picture. Iconic.

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

filecompare [-b size[bkmgpe]] [-Vh] FILE1 FILE2

colorize [-h|-V] [-w <num>] [-ovd] FILES

two little commands, one big glow-up. 🦋

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

okay so forensics-colorize is a set of tools to visually compare large files, like filesystem images, by making graphics out of them. it's intuitive because the produced graphics give you a quick and perfect sense about the percentage of changes between two files. no cap. 💅

comparing large textual files using a simple diff can produce a very big result in lines, causing confusion. and lowkey? diff is improper to compare binary files. it's giving "not the right tool, bestie." 😭

so forensics-colorize uses two command line programs: filecompare and colorize.

  • the filecompare command is used to create a special and auxiliary input file for colorize.
  • the colorize command will generate an intuitive graphic that will make it easier to perceive the level of changes between the files.

in other words, you can use the filecompare command to generate a graphic to be analyzed by the colorize command. teamwork, but make it forensics. 🫶

🔥 OPTIONS FOR FILECOMPARE 🔥

  • -b — set block size with optional suffix b, k, m, g, p, or e. note that the program will output at least one complete block. make sure that you have enough disk space! 🫣
for real though, check your disk space first. this one will eat it.
  • -t — use transitional colors instead of default red or green. 🌈
  • -V — display version number and exit. ⭐
  • -h — display this help message.

💜 OPTIONS FOR COLORIZE 💜

  • -d — change direction data flows. default is down or right. 🌊
  • -o — change image orientation. default is vertical. 🎀
  • -v — verbose mode. she talks. 🗣️
  • -w — set output image width, defaults to 100. 📏
  • -V — display version number and exit. ✨
  • -h — display this help message and exit. 👋

🌸 EXAMPLES 🌸

to generate an initial graphic between 'test1' and 'test2' files to be analyzed by colorize:

$ filecompare test1 test2 > test.fc

to analyze the result:

$ colorize test.fc

the last command will generate the test.fc.bmp file. you can open it using a trivial image viewer, as sxiv or similar. obsessed. 👑

if using default parameters for both commands (filecompare and colorize), unchanged parts will be shown as green and changed parts will be colorized with red. 🍓

to get larger or smaller final graphics, use the -b option for the 'filecompare' command. as an example, the following command will produce a result greater than the default:

$ filecompare -b 64 test1 test2 > test.fc

⚠️ NOTE ⚠️

in most cases, the default block size is the same as the logical disk sector value (now a days, 512 bytes). try 'fdisk -l' or 'gdisk -l /dev/<disk>' to find the right value. 💀 don't guess — go look it up.

👑 AUTHOR 👑

the forensics-colorize was written by Jesse Kornblum <research@jessekornblum.com>.

this manual page was written by Joao Eriberto Mota Filho <eriberto@debian.org> for the Debian project (but may be used by others).

okay that's the whole page, bestie, tysm for reading 💖 this was forensics-colorize-1.1, dated Sep 2015 — main character energy since 2015, fr fr. mwah. 💅✨

📦 where this page comes from