FRET / News: Recent posts

An improved version of FRET, the file format analysis tool, has been released. New --phase and --scan options have been added that allow specific tests to be performed. Also, the results list has been made clearer and some internal redesign has streamlined the code.

FRET is designed to analyse and compare files or buffers of structured data with the aim of identifying the structure of the data. Being a commandline tool it is easily integrated in the *NIX toolchain. It can be used to analyse undocumented file formats, find matching data in files, find strings in files etc. - the uses are limitless.... read more

FRET, the file format analysis tool, has taken another step forward with the release of version 0.0.5. This bug-fix release has resolved some issues that were identified since the last release.

The major improvement in v0.0.5 is a change in the order of Phase 4 and Phase 5 Scans. ScanGrind, which compares two buffers of data for common structures has been moved to Phase 4 - this means that Buffer Grams (as opposed to Group Grams previously) are now created by this Scan. This results in more accurate and useful data being reported. Also, the minimum detected length of ScanGrind Grams is now 8 bytes (from 32 bytes previously), further improving the resolution of FRET. ... read more

FRET, the file format analysis tool, has advanced another step in its development. This release includes much improved detection of data that is common to multiple files. Although still in an early phase of development, this release of FRET provides useful information to developers who need to understand the format of undocumented files. It provides information that, combined with a hex editor and binary diff output can, be used to understand a closed file format. However, FRET has many potential uses: do you need to support the colour-coding of data within a hex editor? do you want to create a plug-in for a packet analyser that identifies the data structure within packets or compares multiple packets? and there is a lot more that can be done........ read more

Version 0.0.3 of FRET and libfret have been released, marking another step in the creation of this new tool. Major changes in this release include;
A hash value is now calculated for each detected structure in a buffer. This allows much better comparisons to be made of data structures and Grams are now rationalised efficiently.
A new Scan to amalgamate Grams has been added and the purging of overlapping Grams is now not automatic.
Offset scanning is now much improved.... read more

Version 0.0.2 of FRET and libfret have been released, marking another step in the creation of this new tool. FRET is a *nix commandline tool whose aim is to aid engineers who need to understand undocumented file formats. FRET is still in an early development stage, however it is functional - feel free to try it out, browse the code and help!
http://fret.sourceforge.net

Finally an initial verion of FRET is available for download. This version functions ok but is feature poor. It currently identifies ASCII strings, fill byte sequences and some offsets - improved features will follow. Correct error handling and multi-threading are not yet supported.