FileGraph 14.06.21

FileGraph - File Analysis Tool

With this small tool, it is possible to analyse files and get a visual representation of what kind of data it contains. It is completely up to the user to interpret, from the visual output, what kind of data the file may hold. This tool is definitely not for everyone, but if you sometimes work with unknown file types, this may be a useful help.

Analysis

The program will analyse the given file in 8-bit chunks, also called a byte. Each chunk has 256 different combinations. The displayed graph has 256 bars along the x axis. Each bar on the graph will represent how often that value occurs in an 8-bit data chunk.

Data Density

The bottom status bar shows an interesting detail, "Data Density". From this value you can determine how compressed the data is, and also how well it would benefit from packing the file using compressing software.

Options - Ignore Zero

Normally, the graph autosizes the height of the y axis, depending on which of the 256 bars has the highest occurance. In most types of files, the most occuring index will be zero. By ignoring the zeros, the bars will autosize depending on the highest occuring index that is not zero. You can see the current scale of the y axis by looking at the last field in the status bar.

Generated Graphs

The main menu has a "Generated" category, which contains some examples of how different types of data can look, when analysed. In a sense, they are completely useless, but will still help you learn how to tell the different kind of data types apart.

FileGraph Changes | 2014 Jun 21

- Pressing [Ctrl+W] now closes the program, just like [Alt+Q]. - Using the increase/decrease barwidth from the main menu, as opposed to keyboard shortcuts, now actually works. - An "autosize graph barwidth to fit window" option has been added. The shortcut key is the keypad multiply button. - Will now use the system font for most controls, instead of always using "Tahoma". - Now uses a modern style open file dialog. - Simplified the mouse hover hint. Still shows the same amount of information, just more compact. - Fixed a drawing issue when analysing files which only have zero bytes, while the option "Ignore Zeros" is enabled. - Several optimisations regarding failed file open and scanning. One being allocated memory wasn't being freed if input file failed to open. - Pressing [Esc] now closes the program. This is meant to be a quick viewer, so it makes sense to quickly close out of it. - Moved the graph drawing into its own class. This has several benefits, such as better structured code and easier to optimize. - The graph is now drawn directly on the window device, instead of a seperate control. - Percent values describing the Y axis now has a three decimal precision instead of just two. - Reversed the order of lines in the tooltip. It now shows in the order Char, Code and Count. - Added a few alternative ways of coloring the bars, instead of just using alternating colors. Shortcut keys are [Alt+1,2,3,4]. - Support for bar spacing. Press [Ctrl+NUM+] and [Ctrl+NUM-] to increase and decrease the spacing. - Now uses the "cross" mouse cursor, for better pointing accuracy.