Hexadecimal diff viewer for Linux

Question

I am looking for a good hexadecimal viewer for Linux.

It should have a GUI and be intuitive to use.

It should also be able to compare two files and maybe even show a diff.

Answer 1

Hex diff viewers with console/terminal graphics:

• vbindiff, Divides screen into top and bottom, no right/left view, fixed-width output.
• hexdiff, Same top/bottom look as vbindiff, fixed-width output, and it can be a hex editor.
• dhex Top/bottom diff viewer, hex editor, resizable-width output, (fits terminal), and offers better navigation.

Graphical hex diff viewers: I don't know of one, but here's a shell function using mgdiff, (which has left/right view), and hexdump (AKA hd), inefficiently:

mgdiffhex() { \
            a="$(basename "$1")" ; \
            b="$(basename "$2")" ; \
            hd "$1" > /tmp/"$a".hex ; \
            hd "$2" > /tmp/"$b".hex ; \
            mgdiff /tmp/"$a".hex /tmp/"$b".hex ; \
            rm /tmp/"$a".hex /tmp/"$b".hex ; }

Then run:

mgdiffhex foo bar

Notes: The hexdump util can be invoked with formatting options that allow for arbitrary terminal widths; mgdiffhex can be resized but lacks any means of reformatting the hex dumps within the resized window. Combining them makes for a crude graphical hex diff viewer.