Copy HEX values to other programs

[GhostScript0r]

I just recently noticed that I cannot copy the HEX value "as shown" to other editors. For example when I copy the following content

I get the following text, which is neither the HEX value nor the text after UTF encoding.
//79/1AATgBHAA0ACgANAAoAGgANAAoAAAAAAAAADQAKAEkASABEAFIAAAAAAAcA/f8AAAAABAD9/wgABgAAAAAAAAD9/yQAfgQAAAAAAAABAHMAUgBHAEIAAAD9//3/HAD9/wAAAAAAAAQAcwBCAA==

[connor4312]

The copied value is the base64 representation of the bytes

[tkuraku]

Is it possible to change it so that you can copy and paste the hex values as text to and from the editor window? That would be very helpful.

[lorsanta]

Hi! I was reading the code to find a way to solve this issue, but there's something I don't understand.
Why in hexEditorProvider.ts the copied selection is base64 encoded, and not encoded as a hex string? To be clearer why can’t we do something like this?

--- a/media/editor/copyPaste.tsx
+++ b/media/editor/copyPaste.tsx
const decode: { [key in Encoding]: (data: string) => Uint8Array } = {
-	[Encoding.Base64]: d => base64.toUint8Array(d),
+	[Encoding.Base64]: d => Uint8Array.from(d.split(" ").map((byte) => parseInt(byte, 16))),
 	[Encoding.Utf8]: d => new TextEncoder().encode(d),
 };

--- a/src/hexEditorProvider.ts
+++ b/src/hexEditorProvider.ts
	const parts = await Promise.all(message.selections.sort((a, b) => a[0] - b[0]).map(s => document.readBuffer(s[0], s[1] - s[0])));
	const flatParts = flattenBuffers(parts);
-	const encoded = message.asText ? new TextDecoder().decode(flatParts) : base64.fromUint8Array(flatParts);
+	const encoded = message.asText ? new TextDecoder().decode(flatParts) : Array.from(flatParts).map(byte => byte.toString(16).padStart(2, "0")).join(" ");
	vscode.env.clipboard.writeText(encoded);

What am I missing?

[lramos15]

I believe we went with base64 due to the hex editor being tightly coupled with debugging in certain scenarios.
cc @connor4312

[jnz86]

Another request for an option to not use Base64. It makes no sense for most use cases. If I copied AA BB CC I need that. I almost will never need qrvM.

I'm sure that some situations would require that, and I think it's fine to treat it that way on the backend, but when a user copies the result should be to user desirable data.

[hakanai]

Absolutely. What is selected is what should be copied. If the destination clipboard is text, the format should match as close as possible to how it looked at the source. If I select some text in an email, I don’t expect to get a base64 encoded representation of the utf8 either.

…

On Fri, 11 Aug 2023 at 01:05, jnz86 ***@***.***> wrote: Another request for an option to not use Base64. It makes no sense for most use cases. If I copied AA BB CC I need that. I almost will never need qrvM. I'm sure that some situations would require that, and I think it's fine to treat it that way on the backend, but when a user copies the result should be to user desirable data. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#341 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAAKRZAPWSCY3SVPN5BH5GDXUUBERANCNFSM5OZPOGOQ> . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[Manouchehri]

This is a huge problem when debugging C++... I can't think of a single time where I wanted to copy base64 from memory instead of hex..

[NessDan]

Any update on this? I've had to use a 3rd-party website (hexed.it) to copy byte values.

[msojocs]

bad extension.

I found an extension:

https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=slevesque.vscode-hexdump

You should install it by "Install from VSIX".

[BurningEnlightenment]

I can't think of a single time where I wanted to copy base64 from memory instead of hex..

Manually constructing a PEM file from a DER file is my only use case so far (I agree that a hex encoded copy is usually more useful).

[OhThomas]

Any plans on implementing this?

[lorsanta]

Any plans on implementing this?

It's already been implemented but the mainteiners are probably busy right now, that's why they haven't release a version with the patch yet

[BodyCSoulN]

Any plans on implementing this?

It's already been implemented but the mainteiners are probably busy right now, that's why they haven't release a version with the patch yet
Sad... It is really an useful functionality.