How do you process binary files in Python

Question

We had DataInputStream for processing binary files in Java; what can we use for these files in Python?

read this post: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1035340/reading-binary-file-in-python and this one too: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8710456/reading-a-binary-file-with-python — theAlse, Mar 15 '13 at 09:05
Does you code need to be compatible with DataInputStream's file format? — Ber, Mar 15 '13 at 09:24

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 15 '13 at 09:23

I have used the Construct package a lot to read and parse structures data in Python.

Basically it lets you declare the file's structure in a very idiomatic and pythonic way and than parses or encode it for you.

After parsing you have an object that allows access to all the file's information via attributes.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 15 '13 at 09:07

1

open("file", "b") opens the file and you can read it. See here.

answered Mar 15 '13 at 09:07

Albert

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 15 '13 at 09:10

Few years ago I used struct module to parse binary responses from several game servers http://docs.python.org/2/library/struct.html#struct.unpack

Sometimes it's usefull just to .find() some bytes in data, like .find('\x00') to go to the end of NULL-terminated string.

3 Answers3