bin2unit

A small utility to convert binary files to a format suitable for using it with Free Pascal

bin2unit - bin to pascal converter

Released under the terms of the MIT License (more info on LICENSE file)

Description

A small utility to convert binary files to a format suitable for using it with Free Pascal. I made it mainly for converting graphic and audio files for gba and nds, but it can be used for other platforms too, I suppose =P bin2unit works in two modes:

* unit mode = it creates  a single .pp file, that contains  big const arrays
              where it is stored  the  binary's datas converted  from passed
              files. 

* asm mode  = it creates .s files, that contain the binary's datas converted
              from passed files, and a  .pp unit, that  includes the  object 
              files (.o) (that come from the .s ones, by  assembling it) and 
              declares the  variables needed  to access the  datas stored in 
              these  object  files.  ASM mode  is  useful  when you  want to 
              relocate datas into a specific region of the executable.

Usage

Usage: bin2unit [-<options>] [binfile]

Example: bin2unit -Stext -A2 -Nmyvar image1.bmp image2.pcx 

Options:
 -U          Creates a pascal unit from the binary file. -S and -A are ignored
 -S<string>  Relocates data in a specified section (default=rodata)
 -A<integer> Sets alignment value (default=4)
 -N<string>  Sets variable base name (default=first binfile)
 -O<string>  Sets output path (default=first binfile)
 -V          Shows version info
 -? or -H    Shows help

Hints'n'tips

First you have to decide if you will need a pascal unit or a pascal unit + asm code. In the first case your command line will be something like:

bin2unit -U myfirstfile.bin mysecondfile.wtf mythirdfile.foo

All you have to do is to add the output file (in this case myfirstfile.pp) to the uses section of your pascal program. You my want to change the name of the generated unit:

bin2unit -U -Nmyresources myfirstfile.bin mysecondfile.wtf mythirdfile.foo

And you will get an unit called myresources.pp. If you need a pascal + asm mixed resources file, then your command line will be:

bin2unit myfirstfile.bin mysecondfile.wtf mythirdfile.foo

bin2unit -Nmyresources myfirstfile.bin mysecondfile.wtf mythirdfile.foo

if you need a different output name. In order to use this unit, another step is required: you will need to assemble the generated .s files, e.g.:

as.exe -o myfirstfile.o myfirstfile.s
as.exe -o mysecondfile.o mysecondfile.s
as.exe -o mythirdfile.o mythirdfile.s

In case of pascal + asm mixed output, you will have two other parameters that are useful in some circumstances:

bin2unit -A2 myfirstfile.bin mysecondfile.wtf mythirdfile.foo

Sets the alignment to boundary of 2 (default value is 4)

bin2unit -Sbss myfirstfile.bin mysecondfile.wtf mythirdfile.foo

Relocates data in the specified section (bss in this example). Default is rodata.

The output is written in the directory where it is present the first binary file passed to bin2unit. You may want to output files in another directory:

bin2unit myfirstfile.bin mysecondfile.wtf -Oc:\mydirectory

All output files will be generated in c:\mydirectory

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