Hex Decode

Parse Data Analysis

Synopsis

Decodes hexadecimal strings into ASCII text, color codes, hex dumps, or Intel HEX firmware format.

Schema

- hex_decode:
    field: <ident>
    target_field: <string>
    format: <string>
    description: <text>
    if: <script>
    ignore_failure: <boolean>
    ignore_missing: <boolean>
    on_failure: <processor[]>
    on_success: <processor[]>
    tag: <string>

Configuration

The following fields are used to define the processor:

Field	Required	Default	Description
field	Y	-	Source field containing hexadecimal data to decode
target_field	N	Same as field	Target field to store decoded result
format	N	ascii	Output format: ascii, utf8, color, dump, intel_hex
description	N	-	Explanatory note
if	N	-	Condition to run
ignore_failure	N	false	Continue processing if decoding fails
ignore_missing	N	false	Skip processing if referenced field doesn't exist
on_failure	N	-	See Handling Failures
on_success	N	-	See Handling Success
tag	N	-	Identifier

Details

Decodes hexadecimal strings into various output formats depending on the format parameter.

The processor supports four specialized decode formats:

ascii/utf8: Converts hex-encoded strings to text representation. Automatically strips spaces, newlines, tabs, and "0x"/"0X" prefixes from input.

color: Parses hex color codes (3 or 6 digits, with or without "#" prefix) into RGB components with color names for common colors. Returns structured data with name, hex, R, G, B fields.

dump: Parses hexdump format (address, hex bytes, ASCII representation) and extracts binary data with file type detection for PNG, JPEG, ZIP, ELF based on magic bytes.

intel_hex: Decodes Intel HEX firmware format into structured records with length, address, record type, data, checksum, and validation status.

Default target field behavior: if not specified, overwrites the source field with decoded result.

Examples

Basic ASCII Decoding

Converting hexadecimal to text...	{ "hex_field": "48656c6c6f20576f726c6421" } - hex_decode: field: hex_field target_field: decoded_field format: ascii
decodes to readable text:	{ "hex_field": "48656c6c6f20576f726c6421", "decoded_field": "Hello World!" }

Color Code Decoding

Parsing hex color into RGB components...	{ "color_field": "#FF0000" } - hex_decode: field: color_field target_field: color_info format: color
extracts color information:	{ "color_field": "#FF0000", "color_info": { "name": "Red", "hex": "FF0000", "r": 255, "g": 0, "b": 0 } }

Hex Dump Format

Parsing hexdump with file type detection...	{ "dump_field": "00000000: 89504e47 0d0a1a0a 00000000 494844522 .PNG........IHDR" } - hex_decode: field: dump_field target_field: dump_info format: dump
extracts data with file type:	{ "dump_field": "00000000: 89504e47...", "dump_info": { "data": [137, 80, 78, 71, ...], "size": 16, "addresses": ["00000000"], "file_type": "PNG" } }

Intel HEX Format

Decoding Intel HEX firmware record...	{ "intel_hex_field": ":10010000214601360121470136007EFE09D2190140" } - hex_decode: field: intel_hex_field target_field: intel_record format: intel_hex
parses structured record:	{ "intel_hex_field": ":10010000214601360121470136007EFE09D2190140", "intel_record": { "length": 16, "address": 256, "record_type": 0, "type_name": "Data", "data": [33, 70, 1, 54, ...], "data_hex": "214601360121470136007EFE09D21901", "checksum": 64, "valid": true } }