dz6

Fast Vim-inspired hex editor for the terminal

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
• Add comments and bookmarks
• Mark blocks with colors
• PE/ELF headers parsing
• Cross-platform
• Open source

Demo

Installation

Rust package manager (all operating systems)

Follow the instructions here to install cargo. Then, open up a terminal and type

cargo install dz6

Arch Linux (via AUR)

yay -S dz6

BigLinux

pacman -S dz6

FreeBSD

pkg install dz6

Windows

If you have WinGet, install dz6 with

winget install mentebinaria.dz6

Scoop users can also

scoop install dz6

Alternatively, download the release package for your system.

macOS

Homebrew users can

brew install dz6

From the sources

If you want to test the most recent, but still under development, version of dz6, you'll need Cargo and git, then you can

git clone https://github.com/mentebinaria/dz6.git
cd dz6
cargo install --path .

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
Tab	Switch views	Cycle through Hex, Text, and Headers. Backtab: Cycle backward.
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; - prefix = decremental jump
cmt	Add <comment> to <offset>	<offset> <comment>	cmt 1000 "my comment" (comment at offset 0x1000; offset obeys the same rules above)
sel	Select <length> bytes from <offset>	<offset> <length>	sel 40 10t (select 10 bytes from offset 0x40)
set byteline	Set the number of bytes per line	<number> or auto	set byteline 8 (default is 16; auto enables automatic setting based on screen width)
set ctrlchar	Set the character shown in the ASCII dump for non-graphic values	<char>	set ctrlchar " " would set a blankspace (default: .)
set db	Turn on database file saving/loading (default)		A database file with a .dz6 extension will be used to store bookmarks and comments for the file
set nodb	Turn off database file saving/loading
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)
set view	Changes the current view	text, hex or header	set view header (default: hex)
set wrapscan	Enable search results wrap
set nowrapscan	Disable search results wrap
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.

If you need permanent settings, create a $HOME/.dz6init file containing any of the commands above, one per line. dz6 will load that at startup. Lines starting with # are ignored.

Hex view

This is the main view you would expect from a hex editor. It displays file offsets alongside the file contents in a hexadecimal dump that you can navigate, search, edit, and more.

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 G	Go to the last offset in the file
Ctrl+f or Page Down	Move down one page
Ctrl+bor Page Up	Move up one page
r	Enter replace mode
z	Set the byte under the cursor zero
~	Change case if applicable	Only works with bytes within the ASCII alphabetic range
Ctrl+a	Increment byte under the cursor
Ctrl+x	Decrement byte under the cursor
v	Enter select mode
u	Undo the last change made to the buffer	Use it before writing to the file (:w)
/	Search (forward)	Search the entire file. Tab cycles between ASCII and hex search
n	Search next (forward)
?	Search (backward)	Search the entire file. Tab cycles between ASCII and hex search
N	Search next (backward)
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 selection mode

Key	Action	Tips
Arrow keys	Navigation	Vim-like h, j, k, l also work
~	Change case if applicable	Only works with bytes within the ASCII alphabetic range
n	Fill selected bytes with NOPs	This puts dz6 in replace mode; press Enter to save the buffer; Esc to cancel
z	Fill selected bytes with zeroes	Same as above
y	Copy bytes to system's clipboard	There is no paste command yet
Alt+m	Mark a block with a random color	Alt+m again to pick another color. [ and ] to navigate to block boundaries
Esc	Go back to normal mode

Hex replace mode

Key	Action	Tips
Arrow keys	Navigation
Backspace	The same as navigating left
~	Change case if applicable	Only works with bytes within the ASCII alphabetic range
z	Set byte to zero
Ctrl+a	Increment byte
Ctrl+x	Decrement byte
Esc	Go back to normal mode	Changes are saved to buffer, but not written to file yet
Tab	Cycle through hex and ASCII dump to edit the file in ASCII
t	Remove all bytes after the the selected offset	Be aware this can't be undone
T	Remove all bytes before the 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
/	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 is a work in progress.

The Text view displays the file as plain text. This can be useful even when editing binary files, as it lets you quickly inspect large blocks of text contained within them.

Key	Action
e	Open encoding selection dialog

Header view

This view is a work in progress.

The Header view is a new view (expected in v0.8.0) available for executable files. It parses the executable headers and shows them in a nice way. Currently, it supports PE and ELF files, but all features from them.

Key	Action	Tips
Arrow keys	Tab navigation	Left/Right only. Vim-like h, l also work. To quickly pick a tab, you can also press keys 1, 2, etc.
Arrow keys	Field navigation	Up/Down only. Vim-like j, k also work.
Ctrl+f/b	Scroll one page forward / backword
Space	Change output numeric base	Output numbers in hexadecimal (default) or decimal
Enter	Follow a field value	For applicable fields (e.g., AddressOfEntryPoint in the PE Optional Header), follow their value in the Hex view.

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.