hexdumpstyle

Hexdumpstyle is a formatting convention for presenting binary data in a readable, line-oriented form. It borrows from traditional hex dumps used by debugging and forensic tools and specifies how offsets, byte values, and ASCII representations are arranged to improve readability and comparison.

Each line typically begins with a hexadecimal offset (often eight digits), followed by a separator. The data bytes appear next, usually in 16-byte blocks with spaces between bytes or groups. The rightmost column shows an ASCII interpretation of those bytes, with non-printable values replaced by a dot. This layout enables quick visual correlation between the byte values and their character representations. Lines are commonly 16 bytes long, though some variants use 8, 12, or 32 byte widths.

Variations of the hexdumpstyle exist across tools and documentation. Some versions group bytes into 4- or 8-byte clusters with extra spacing, include an address width of 6 or 10 hex digits, or omit the ASCII column for compactness. Others annotate certain bytes, such as repeated patterns or offsets, to aid analysis.

Use cases include debugging binary formats, network protocol analysis, malware reverse engineering, and educational materials aiming to teach byte-level data layout. The neutral, tabular presentation helps users spot patterns, null bytes, or ASCII-encoded strings within a binary stream.

Example (16-byte line): 00000000 48 65 6c 6c 6f 2c 20 57 6f 72 6c 64 21 0a 59 7a Hello, World!.Yz