What is a HEX file
Files with the HEX file format extension contain different information saved in a hexadecimal format. Those information include settings and configurations as well as other kinds of data. The HEX files are used by many compilers or assemblers. A program's source code is converted into machine code by these programs, generating a HEX file as the output.
HEX files are used by a number of programs. They are either saved in a text format which allows any common text editing program to open them. Some HEX files, however, are saved in a binary format. In this case, a special hex-editing program is needed to open and view the content of the files. The line of text saved in the HEX file contains six fields. They consist of the start code, byte count, address, record type, data and a checksum.
Here's a small, but not exhaustive list of programs that can open HEX documents:
- Cygnus Hex Editor (Windows)
- Heaventools FlexHex (Windows)
- Hex Workshop Hex Editor (Windows)
- HHD Hex Editor (Windows)
