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FAQ 5.24 How do I randomly update a binary file?

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FAQ 5.24 How do I randomly update a binary file? PerlFAQ Server 05-24-2008
Posted by PerlFAQ Server on May 24, 2008, 9:03 pm
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This is an excerpt from the latest version perlfaq5.pod, which
comes with the standard Perl distribution. These postings aim to
reduce the number of repeated questions as well as allow the community
to review and update the answers. The latest version of the complete
perlfaq is at http://faq.perl.org .

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5.24: How do I randomly update a binary file?


If you're just trying to patch a binary, in many cases something as
simple as this works:

perl -i -pe 's{window manager}{window mangler}g' /usr/bin/emacs

However, if you have fixed sized records, then you might do something
more like this:

$RECSIZE = 220; # size of record, in bytes
$recno = 37; # which record to update
open(FH, "+<somewhere") || die "can't update somewhere: $!";
seek(FH, $recno * $RECSIZE, 0);
read(FH, $record, $RECSIZE) == $RECSIZE || die "can't read record
$recno: $!";
# munge the record
seek(FH, -$RECSIZE, 1);
print FH $record;
close FH;

Locking and error checking are left as an exercise for the reader. Don't
forget them or you'll be quite sorry.



--------------------------------------------------------------------

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