Sometimes I need to look at files in their actual hexadecimal format. I use the combination of vi and hexdump to fulfill this requirement.

To simply view a file’s content in hex format I use this command on my mac.

hexdump -C <file_name>

This typically is enough for the job at hand. However there is also another trick of using hexdump by leveraging vi command. I follow the following steps:

• Start vi by typing “vi <file_name>” on the command line.
• Type “:%!hexdump -C”
• This will replace the contents of the vi screen with the hex view of the current file.
• Save the file for future use.