dz6

A vim-inspired, TUI-based hexadecimal editor

Features

• Fast, even when editing large files
• Runs in the terminal / Text User Interface (TUI)
• vim-like key bindings
• Configurable options
• Edit in hex or ASCII
• String list with regex filtering
• Multiple smart ways to navigate through a file
• Find strings and hex bytes
• Cross-platform
• Open source

Screenshot

Download

You can install dz6 with the Rust package manager. Follow the instructions here to install cargo. Then, use

cargo install dz6

Alternatively, download the release package for your system.

Usage

Usage: dz6 [OPTIONS] <FILE>

Arguments:
  <FILE>  File to open

Options:
  -o, --offset <OFFSET>  Initial cursor offset (hex default; `t` suffix = decimal) [default: 0]
  -r, --readonly         Set read-only mode
  -h, --help             Print help
  -V, --version          Print version

Once you load a file in dz6, you can use the commands below.

Global key bindings

Key	Action	Tips
Enter	Switch views	Currently Hex and Text
Alt+l	Open log window
:	Open command bar	See Commands

Commands

Command	Action	Parameters	Tips/Examples
<number	Go to offset		hex default; t suffix = decimal; + prefix = incremental jump
cmt	Comment	<offset> <comment>	cmt 1000 "my comment" (offset obeys the same rules above)
set byteline	Set the number of bytes per line	<number>	set byteline 8 (default is 16; range from 1 to 48)
set ctrlchar	Set the character shown in the ASCII dump for non-graphic values	<char>	set ctrlchar " " would set a blankspace (default: .)
set dimzero	Dim (gray out) null bytes only (default)
set dimctrl	Dim all control characters		all non-graphic characters will be dimmed
set nodim	Turn off byte dimming
set theme	Set the theme	dark or light	set theme light (default: dark)
w	Write changes to file
wq or x	Write changes to file and quit
q	Quit without saving changes		In replace mode, T (truncate) is an exception because it modifies the file immediately.

Hex view

Key	Action	Tips
Arrow keys	Navigation	vim-like h, j, k, l also work
w d q	Advance by a word (2 bytes), a dword (4 bytes), or a qword (8 bytes), respectively	Use the capital letters W, D, and Q to move backwards
o	Go to the next other byte (the one that differs from the byte under the cursor)	O goes backwards
Home or 0	Set the cursor to the beginning of the current line
End or $	Set the cursor to the end of the current line
Ctrl+Home or G	Go to the first offset
Ctrl+End or Shift+G	Go to the last offset in the file
Page Down	Move down one page	A page has 1KB by default
Page Up	Move up one page
r	Enter replace mode
z	Enter replace mode and set the byte under the cursor zero
Ctrl+a	Enter replace mode and increment byte under the cursor
Ctrl+x	Enter replace mode and decrement byte under the cursor
/	Search	Search the entire file. Tab cycles between ASCII and hex search
n	Search next
s	Open Strings window
Backspace	Go to the previously visited offset	This is useful after a Go to command, for example
+	Add current offset to bookmarks
-	Go to the last added bookmark
Alt+1..8	Go to bookmark
Alt+-	Remove the last added bookmark	The cursor must be at the bookmarked offset
Alt+0	Clear bookmarks
Alt+h	Toggle byte highlight
;	Add a comment to the selected offset
Ant+n	Open Names window. Added comments will be there.
?	Open Calculator

Hex replace mode

Key	Action	Tips
Arrow keys	Navigation
Backspace	The same as navigating left
z	Set the byte to zero
Ctrl+a	Increment byte
Ctrl+x	Decrement byte
Enter	Save changes to file
Esc	Cancel changes
Tab	Cycle through hex and ASCII dump to edit the file in ASCII
T	Truncate the file at the selected offset	Be aware this can't be undone

Names

Key	Action	Tips
Arrow keys	Navigation	Up/Down only
f	Filter names using a regular expression
D	Delete all names
Esc	Close
End	Select the last item shown
Ctrl+End	Select the last item on the list
Home	Select the first item shown
Ctrl+Home	Select the first item on the list
Page Down	Go down one page
Page Up	Go up one page
Enter	Follow the name in hex dump and close the window

Strings

Key	Action	Tips
Arrow keys	Navigation	Up/Down only
f	Filter strings using a regular expression
R	Re-read strings from file	Useful if you changed the file
Esc	Close
End	Select the last item shown
Ctrl+End	Select the last item on the list
Home	Select the first item shown
Ctrl+Home	Select the first item on the list
Page Down	Go down one page
Page Up	Go up one page
Enter	Follow the string in hex dump and close the window

Calculator

64-bit calculator. Default base is decimal, but you can prefix hex numbers with 0x. Pre-defined variables:

Variable	Value	Length
@x	Signed value under cursor	x is b (byte), w (word), d (dword) or q (qword)
@X	Unsigned value under cursor	X is B (byte), W (word), D (dword) or Q (qword)
@o	Current offset	dword on 32-bit systems; qword on 64
@O	Previously visited offset	same as above

Use the up and down arrow keys to navigate through the history.

Text view

This view hasn’t received much attention yet. This view still has several issues.

Key	Action
e	Open encoding selection dialog

FAQ

1. I'm on a Mac. How am I supposed to use Alt key?!

iTerm2 users: go to Settings → Profiles → (your profile) → Keys and set the Left Option key to Esc+. This will make the Option key work like Alt.

2. Do all vim commands work in dz6?

No. Some key bindings behave similarly, but dz6 is not meant to be 100% compatible with vim. For example, o in dz6 moves to the next other byte, while the same key in vim opens a new line below the current one.

3. Is dz6 stable yet?

No. Stability is expected only at v1.0.0. Until then, breaking changes are expected.

Motivation

After changing jobs and returning to Linux, I wanted something similar to Hiew that I could run on my machine. Since I like vim, I tried to combine features from both editors in dz6. VSCode, IDA, x64dbg, GDB, and Hex-Patch also served as inspiration. Hats off to the authors of these great tools!