Command line option specification

A toolset for a machine code decoder

usage: mcdecoder [-h] [--version] command ...

Positional Arguments

command: Possible choices: generate, export, emulate, check

Named Arguments

--version: show program’s version number and exit

Sub-commands

generate

Generate a decoder or other codes to support a decoder

mcdecoder generate [-h] [--type type | --template templatedir] [--output outdir] mcfile

Positional Arguments

mcfile: A path to a machine code description file

Named Arguments

--type

The type of a generator used for generating codes. Possible generators are:

c_decoder: Generating standard decoder API in C
athrill: Generating decoder API for athrill

The gererator ‘athrill’ is deprecated and will be removed in version 1.0

--template

A path to a directoy including user-defined template files

--output

A path to an output directory (default: .)

Default: “.”

Usage:

# Generate a decoder to 'out' directory
mcdecoder generate --output out mc.yaml

# Generate codes with the generator 'c_decoder'
mcdecoder generate --type c_decoder --output out mc.yaml

# Generate codes according to user-defined template files in 'user_templates' directory
mcdecoder generate --template user_templates --output out mc.yaml

export

Export an MC description as another format. Currently, mcdecoder only supports CSV format

mcdecoder export [-h] --output outfile mcfile

Positional Arguments

mcfile: A path to a machine code description file

Named Arguments

--output: A path to an output file

Usage:

# Export a MC description as CSV format
mcdecoder export --output mc.csv mc.yaml

emulate

Emulate a decoder by inputting binary data

mcdecoder emulate [-h] --input indata [--base {2,16}] [--byteorder {big,little}] mcfile

Positional Arguments

mcfile: A path to a machine code description file

Named Arguments

--input, --pattern

A binary/hex string as input binary data for a decoder. –pattern is deprecated and will be removed in version 1.0

--base

Possible choices: 2, 16

The base of a binary/hex string (default: 16)

Default: 16

--byteorder

Possible choices: big, little

The byte order of a binary/hex string (default: big)

Default: “big”

Usage:

# Emulate a decoder when inputting e92d4800
mcdecoder emulate --input e92d4800 mc.yaml

# Emulate a decoder when inputting '1110 1001 0010 1101 0100 1000 0000 0000'
mcdecoder emulate --base 2 --input '1110 1001 0010 1101 0100 1000 0000 0000' mc.yaml

# Emulate a decoder when inputting e92d4800 as little endian
mcdecoder emulate --byteorder little --input 00482de9 mc.yaml

check

Check the instruction validity of MC description by inputting binary data to a decoder

mcdecoder check [-h] --input indata [--base {2,16}] mcfile

Positional Arguments

mcfile: A path to a machine code description file

Named Arguments

--input, --pattern

A binary/hex string as input binary data for a decoder. ‘x’ character acts as a wildcard which corresponds to a range 0-1 for binary or 0-f for hex. –pattern is deprecated and will be removed in version 1.0

--base

Possible choices: 2, 16

The base of a binary/hex string (default: 16)

Default: 16

Notes:

This command detects following problems:

No instructions are defined for a certain binary data

Duplicate instructions are defined for a certain binary data

Usage:

# Check by inputting the range from 092d4800 to f92d4800 to a decoder
mcdecoder check --input x92d4800 mc.yaml

# Check by inputting the range from '1010 1001 0010 1101 0100 1000 0000 0000' to '1110 1001 0010 1101 0100 1000 0000 0000' to a decoder
mcdecoder check --base 2 --input '1x10 1001 0010 1101 0100 1000 0000 0000' mc.yaml

# Check by inputting the range from 002d4800 to ff2d4800 to a decoder
mcdecoder check --input xx2d4800 mc.yaml