Re: Searching in binary files

How about a "sniffing dog" approach(or fingerprints?). Break your search string into small fragments, but long enough to be fairly unique. Then search for those fragments in a small sliding chunks of the big file. If a fragment is found, check to see if the adjacent fragments are there. If the fragment is found near the beginning or end of the sliding chunk, load in the appropriate adjacent chunk and retest.

I'm not really a human, but I play one on earth. flash japh

Comment on Re: Searching in binary files

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Re^2: Searching in binary files by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Dec 15, 2005 at 12:47 UTC
Sorry zentra, I don't quite follow. What's the advantage in searching for several smaller bits in the buffer over searching for one bigger bit? Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error. Lingua non convalesco, consenesco et abolesco. -- Rule 1 has a caveat! -- Who broke the cabal? "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority". In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.	[reply] [d/l]
Re^3: Searching in binary files by zentara (Cardinal) on Dec 15, 2005 at 12:54 UTC
The advantage is that the regex you are running over the sliding binary chunks will be smaller, and (I think) therefore faster. So I figured it would be more efficient on big files. If it's a really big file, most chunks won't match, so why test a regex string of length 1000, when a test on length 250 will give a quick "sniff", indicating whether you should dig deeper at that general area. But as always, I defer to your greater experience and wisdom. :-) I'm not really a human, but I play one on earth. flash japh	[reply]
Re^4: Searching in binary files by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Dec 15, 2005 at 12:59 UTC
But as always, I defer to your greater experience and wisdom. :-) All I've got in abundance is age! Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error. Lingua non convalesco, consenesco et abolesco. -- Rule 1 has a caveat! -- Who broke the cabal? "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority". In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.	[reply] [d/l]