WpfHexEditorControl

Wpf Hexeditor is a powerful and fully customisable user control for editing file or stream as hexadecimal, decimal and binary. Can be used in Wpf or WinForm application

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WPF HexEditor Samples

This directory contains various sample applications demonstrating different features and use cases of the WPF HexEditor control.

📁 Available Samples

🖥️ WPFHexEditor.Sample.CSharp

Platform: WPF (C#) Description: Main C# WPF sample application showcasing core features of the HexEditor control.

Features demonstrated:

  • Opening and editing binary files
  • Copy/paste operations (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V)
  • Undo/redo functionality (Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Y)
  • Find and replace dialogs
  • Custom character table (TBL) support
  • Multiple view modes (hexadecimal, decimal, binary)
  • Bookmarks
  • Selection operations

How to run:

cd WPFHexEditor.Sample.CSharp
dotnet run

📐 WpfHexEditor.Sample.VB

Platform: WPF (VB.NET) Description: Visual Basic .NET version of the WPF sample, demonstrating the same features for VB developers.

How to run:

cd WpfHexEditor.Sample.VB
dotnet run

📊 WpfHexEditor.Sample.BarChart

Platform: WPF (C#) Description: Advanced sample showing how to visualize binary data as a bar chart alongside the hex editor.

Features demonstrated:

  • Real-time bar chart representation of byte values
  • Visual data analysis
  • Custom data visualization
  • Synchronized scrolling between chart and hex view

Use cases:

  • Analyzing file entropy
  • Visualizing data patterns
  • Finding compressed/encrypted sections
  • Binary file analysis

🪟 WpfHexEditor.Sample.Winform

Platform: Windows Forms (C#) Description: Demonstrates how to integrate the WPF HexEditor control into a Windows Forms application using ElementHost.

Features demonstrated:

  • WPF/WinForms interoperability
  • ElementHost usage
  • Cross-platform UI integration

How to run:

cd WpfHexEditor.Sample.Winform
dotnet run

🏢 WpfHexEditor.Sample.AvalonDock

Platform: WPF (C#) Description: Shows integration with AvalonDock for professional docking and tabbed layouts.

Features demonstrated:

  • Multiple hex editor instances in tabs
  • Docking panels
  • Professional IDE-like interface
  • Floating windows
  • Layout persistence

Use cases:

  • Multi-file editing
  • Professional binary editing tools
  • IDE integration
  • Advanced file comparison

📝 WpfHexEditor.Sample.InsertByteAnywhere

Platform: WPF (C#) Description: Demonstrates advanced byte insertion and deletion capabilities.

Features demonstrated:

  • Insert bytes at any position
  • Delete bytes from selection
  • Dynamic file size modification
  • Insert mode vs overwrite mode

Use cases:

  • Binary file modification
  • Data injection
  • Binary patching
  • File format manipulation

🔍 WpfHexEditor.Sample.BinaryFilesDifference

Platform: WPF (C#) Description: Advanced sample for comparing two binary files and highlighting differences.

Features demonstrated:

  • Side-by-side file comparison
  • Difference highlighting with custom background colors
  • Synchronized scrolling
  • CustomBackgroundBlock API usage

Use cases:

  • Binary diff tools
  • Version comparison
  • ROM hacking (comparing different versions)
  • Patch analysis

🔧 WpfHexEditor.Sample.ServiceUsage

Platform: Console (.NET 8.0) Description: Educational console application demonstrating direct usage of all 10 services without the HexEditor UI control.

Features demonstrated:

  • SelectionService - Selection validation and byte retrieval
  • FindReplaceService - Search with cache optimization
  • ClipboardService - Copy/paste operations
  • HighlightService - Managing highlighted byte positions
  • ByteModificationService - Insert, delete, and modify bytes
  • UndoRedoService - History management
  • BookmarkService - Bookmark creation and navigation
  • CustomBackgroundService - Background color blocks
  • PositionService - Position calculations and conversions
  • TblService - Character table operations

Use cases:

  • Learning the service API architecture
  • Building headless/automated binary processing tools
  • Understanding how to use services independently
  • Creating custom tools without the UI control
  • Unit testing and service integration

How to run:

cd WpfHexEditor.Sample.ServiceUsage
dotnet run

Output: Console output showing the results of each service operation with sample data.

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

  • .NET 8.0 SDK or .NET Framework 4.8
  • Visual Studio 2022 or later (optional)
  • Windows OS

Building All Samples

From the repository root:

cd Sources
dotnet build WpfHexEditorControl.sln

Running a Specific Sample

Navigate to the sample directory and run:

dotnet run --project <SampleProjectName>.csproj

Or open the solution in Visual Studio and set the desired sample as the startup project.

📚 Learning Path

Recommended order for learning:

  1. Architecture First: WpfHexEditor.Sample.ServiceUsage ⭐ NEW! Understand the service layer architecture and how services work independently

  2. Start with: WPFHexEditor.Sample.CSharp Learn the basics: opening files, editing, copy/paste, undo/redo

  3. Next: WpfHexEditor.Sample.InsertByteAnywhere Learn advanced editing: insertion, deletion, dynamic modifications

  4. Then: WpfHexEditor.Sample.BarChart Learn data visualization and analysis techniques

  5. Advanced: WpfHexEditor.Sample.BinaryFilesDifference Learn file comparison and custom rendering

  6. Integration: WpfHexEditor.Sample.AvalonDock Learn professional UI integration patterns

  7. Cross-platform: WpfHexEditor.Sample.Winform Learn WPF/WinForms interoperability

🎨 Common Code Patterns

Opening a File

hexEditor.FileName = @"C:\path\to\file.bin";

Programmatic Selection

hexEditor.SelectionStart = 0x100;
hexEditor.SelectionStop = 0x1FF;

Finding Data

byte[] searchData = new byte[] { 0x48, 0x65, 0x6C, 0x6C, 0x6F }; // "Hello"
long position = hexEditor.FindFirst(searchData);

Custom Character Table

hexEditor.LoadTblFile(@"C:\path\to\custom.tbl");

Handling Events

hexEditor.SelectionStartChanged += (s, e) =>
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Selection at: 0x{hexEditor.SelectionStart:X}");
};

🛠️ Architecture Integration

All samples now use the new Service-based Architecture (10 services total):

Stateless Services (6):

  • SelectionService - Selection validation and manipulation
  • FindReplaceService - Search with optimized caching
  • ClipboardService - Copy/paste operations
  • ByteModificationService - Insert/delete/modify bytes
  • UndoRedoService - Undo/redo history management
  • PositionService - Position calculations and conversions

Stateful Services (4):

  • HighlightService - Search result highlighting
  • BookmarkService - Bookmark management
  • CustomBackgroundService - Background color blocks
  • TblService - Character table operations

Learn more:

📖 Additional Resources

💡 Tips

  • Performance: For large files (>100MB), consider using AllowVisualByteAdress to view only a portion
  • Custom TBL: Create your own character tables for game modding or proprietary formats
  • Events: Subscribe to events like BytesModified, SelectionChanged for reactive UI
  • Theming: Customize colors via properties like ForegroundSecondColor, SelectionFirstColor

🐛 Troubleshooting

Issue: Sample won’t build Solution: Ensure you’re targeting .NET 8.0-windows or .NET Framework 4.8

Issue: File won’t open Solution: Check file permissions and that the file exists

Issue: High memory usage Solution: Use AllowVisualByteAdress for large files

📝 Contributing

Want to add a new sample? Please:

  1. Follow the naming convention: WpfHexEditor.Sample.<FeatureName>
  2. Include a README in your sample directory
  3. Add your sample to this index
  4. Submit a pull request

✨ Created by Derek Tremblay (derektremblay666@gmail.com)