srec_spectrum(5)

💖 srec_spectrum(5) — the Spectrum file format, bestie edition 💖

okay so this is a page from the File Formats Manual and it's all about srec_spectrum — the Spectrum file format. grab a snack, we're getting into it 🍓

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

So the whole vibe of this format is: bytes get written down as ASCII code, and the binary digits inside them are literally just 1s and 0s. yes really. no hex, no cutesy shorthand, just ones and zeros living their truth 💅

And every single byte gets a decimal address in front of it. like a little name tag. iconic.

The file wraps up with a Control‐C character (0x03). that's the goodbye. periodt. 🎀

🌸 Size Multiplier 🌸

ngl, this format is not the skinny legend of file formats. In general, binary data will expand in size by approximately 14 times when represented with this format — or 15 times on DOS or Windows. she's thicc, she's valid, we respect her 🫶

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🔥 EXAMPLE 🔥

Here's a real Spectrum file, bestie. It contains the data “Hello, World[rq]” to be loaded at address 0x0.

^B
0000 01001000
0001 01100101
0002 01101100
0003 01101100
0004 01101111
0005 00101100
0006 00100000
0007 01010111
0008 01101111
0009 01110010
0010 01101100
0011 01100100
0012 00100001
0013 00001010
^C

see how each line is address + space + eight little bits? chef's kiss, no notes 😭✨

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👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

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

⚠️ okay important, fr fr: 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. (yes, same command both times — that's the whole point, go read the license 💀)

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🦋 MAINTAINER 🦋

the people keeping this whole thing alive, show them some love:

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

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🌈 and that's the page!! this whole thing comes to you from the Reference Manual of SRecord, and it's srec_spectrum(5) — slay, bye 💜🎀