NAME

       srec_ascii_hex - Ascii‐Hex file format

DESCRIPTION

       This  format  is also known as the Ascii‐Space‐Hex or Ascii‐Hex‐Space format.  If you know
       who invented this format, please let me know.  If you  have  a  better  or  more  complete
       description, I'd like to know that, too.

       The  file  starts  with  a  start‐of‐text (STX or Control‐B) character (0x02).  Everything
       before the STX is ignored.

       Each data byte is represented as 2  hexadecimal  characters,  followed  by  an  "execution
       character".   The  default  execution  character  is a space, although many programs which
       write this format omit the space character immediately preceding end‐of‐line.

       The address for data bytes is set by using a sequence of $Annnn, characters, where nnnn is
       the  4‐character ascii representation of the address.  The comma is required.  There is no
       need for an address record unless there are gaps.  Implicitly, the file starts a address 0
       if no address is set before the first data byte.

       The  file  ends  with  an  end‐of‐text  (ETX  or  Control‐C) character (0x03).  Everything
       following the ETX is ignored.

       It is also possible to specify a running 16‐bit  checksum  using  a  sequence  of  $Snnnn,
       characters,  although  this  usually  appears  after  the  ETX character and is thus often
       ignored.

   Variant Forms
       In addition to a space character, the execution character can also be percent  (%)  called
       "ascii‐hex‐percent"  format,  apostrophe (') or comma (,) called "ascii‐hex‐comma" format.
       The file must use the same execution character throughout.

       If the execution character is a comma, the address and checksum commands are terminated by
       a dot (.) rather than a comma (,).

   Size Multiplier
       In  general,  binary data will expand in sized by approximately 3.0 times when represented
       with this format.

EXAMPLE

       Here is an example ascii‐hex file.  It contains the data “Hello, World[rq] to be loaded at
       address 0x1000.
              ^B $A1000,
              48 65 6C 6C 6F 2C 20 57 6F 72 6C 64 0A ^C

COPYRIGHT

       srec_cat version 1.58
       Copyright  (C)  1998,  1999,  2000,  2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009,
       2010, 2011 Peter Miller

       The srec_cat program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY;  for  details  use  the  'srec_cat
       -VERSion  License'  command.  This is free software and you are welcome to redistribute it
       under certain conditions; for details use the 'srec_cat -VERSion License' command.

AUTHOR

       Peter Miller   E‐Mail:   pmiller@opensource.org.au
       /\/\*             WWW:   http://miller.emu.id.au/pmiller/