srec_formatted_binary(5)

💖 NAME 💖

Okay bestie, buckle up: this is srec_formatted_binary(5), and yes, it's a File Formats Manual page. The whole vibe is the Formatted Binary file format. Slay. ✨

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🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

So this is the PDP-11 paper tape format, described in the DEC-11-GGPC-D PDP-11 "Paper Tape Software Programming Handbook" from 1972. Iconic old-school energy, ngl. 🫶

The file starts with a character sequence that appears as an arrow when punched on 8-hole paper tape:

0x08, 0x1C, 0x2A, 0x49, 0x08, 0x00

Then comes a byte count, encoded big-endian in the low 4 bits of the next 4 bytes. The high bits should be zero. 👑

Then follows a 0xFF byte.

The data follows, as many bytes as specified in the header. Literally as many as the header says. 💅

The trailer consists of these bytes:

0x00, 0x00,

and then a 2-byte checksum (big-endian).

The alternate header sequence

0x08, 0x1C, 0x3E, 0x6B, 0x08, 0x00

is followed by an 8-nibble big-endian byte count. Not me knowing both header sequences, iykyk. 🦋

🌸 Size Multiplier 🌸

In general, binary data will expand in sized very little when represented with this format. That's what the page says, bestie — keep it exactly like that. 🍓

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🔥 EXAMPLE 🔥

Here is a hex dump of a formatted binary file containing the data "Hello, World!". Look at her. Main character hex dump. 👑

0000: 08 1C 2A 49 08 00 00 00  ..*I....
0008: 00 0E FF 48 65 6C 6C 6F  ...Hello
0010: 2C 20 57 6F 72 6C 64 21  , World!
0018: 0A 00 00 04 73           ....s

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👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

srec_cat version 1.65
Copyright (C) 1998... Peter Miller

The srec_cat program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details use the 'srec_cat -VERSion License' command. This is free software and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions; for details use the 'srec_cat -VERSion License' command. Fr fr, read the license, bestie. 💜

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🧚 MAINTAINER 🧚

• Scott Finneran — E-Mail: scottfinneran@yahoo.com.au
• Peter Miller — E-Mail: pmiller@opensource.org.au

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Okay that's the page, bestie! The footer energy is Reference Manual · SRecord · srec_formatted_binary(5), and the source/version situation is srec_cat version 1.65, with that 1998... copyright date. Byeee 💅✨🌸