Also refactor readline and eval args into option struct and partinally start addressing some side effects during completion.
21 KiB
Basic usage
fq tries to behave the same way as jq as much as possible, so you can do:
fq . file
fq < file
cat file | fq
fq . < file
fq . *.png *.mp3
fq '.frames[0]' *.mp3
Common usages
# recursively display decode tree but truncate long arrays
fq d file
# same as
fq display file
# display all bytes for each value
fq 'd({display_bytes: 0})' file
# display 200 bytes for each value
fq 'd({display_bytes: 200})' file
# recursively display decode tree without truncating
fq da file
# recursively and verbosely display decode tree
fq dv file
# JSON repersenation for whole file
fq tovalue file
# recursively look for decode value roots for a format
fq '.. | select(format=="jpeg")' file
# can also use grep_by
fq 'grep_by(format=="jpeg")' file
# recursively look for first decode value root for a format
fq 'first(.. | select(format=="jpeg"))' file
fq 'first(grep_by(format=="jpeg"))' file
# recursively look for objects fullfilling condition
fq '.. | select(.type=="trak")?' file
fq 'grep_by(.type=="trak")' file
# grep whole tree
fq 'grep("^prefix")' file
fq 'grep(123)' file
fq 'grep_by(. >= 100 and . =< 100)' file
# decode file as mp4 and return a result even if there are some errors
fq -d mp4 file.mp4
# decode file as mp4 and also ignore validity assertions
fq -o force=true -d mp4 file.mp4
Display output
display
or d
is the main function for displying values and is also the function that will be used if no other output function is explicitly used. If its input is a decode value it will output a dump and tree structure or otherwise it will output as JSON.
Below demonstrates some usages:
First and second example does the same thing, inputs "hello"
to display
.
In the next few examples we select out the first "edit list" box in an mp4 file, it's a list of which part of media track to be included during playback, and displays it in various ways.
Default if not explicitly used display
will only show the root level:
First row shows ruler with byte offset into the line and jq path for the value.
The columns are:
- Start address for the line. For example we see that
type
starts at0xd60
+0x09
. - Hex repersenation of input bits for value. Will show the whole byte even if the value only partially uses bits from it.
- ASCII representation of input bits for value. Will show the whole byte even if the value only partially uses bits from it.
- Tree structure of decoded value, symbolic value and description.
Notation:
{}
value is an object that might have nested values.[start:end]
value is an array with index starting atstart
and ending atend
(exclusive).
With display
or d
it will recursively show the whole tree:
Same but verbose dv
:
In verbose mode bit ranges and array element names as shown.
Bit range uses bytes.bits
notation. For example type
start at byte 0xd69
bit 0
(left out if zero) and ends at 0xd6c
bit 7
(inclusive) and have byte size of 4
.
There are also some other display
aliases:
da
same asdisplay({array_truncate: 0})
which will not truncate long arrays.dd
same asdisplay({array_truncate: 0, display_bytes: 0})
which will not truncate long ranges.dv
same asdisplay({array_truncate: 0, verbose: true})
ddv
same asdisplay({array_truncate: 0, display_bytes: 0 verbose: true})
which will not truncate long and also display verbosely.
Interactive REPL
The interactive REPL has auto completion and nested REPL support:
# start REPL with null input
$ fq -i
null>
# same as
$ fq -ni
null>
# in the REPL you will see a prompt indicating current input and you can type jq expression to evaluate.
# start REPL with one file as input
$ fq -i . doc/file.mp3
mp3>
$ fq -i . doc/file.mp3
# basic arithmetics and jq expressions
mp3> 1+1
2
mp3> 1, 2, 3 | . * 2
2
4
6
mp3> [1, 2, 3] | add
6
# "." is the identity function which just returns current input, the mp3 file.
mp3> .
# access the first frame in the mp3 file
mp3> .frames[0]
# start a new nested REPL with first frame as input
mp3> .frames[0] | repl
# prompt shows "path" to current input and that it's an mp3_frame.
# Ctrl-D to exit REPL or to shell if last REPL
> .frames[0] mp3_frame> ^D
# "jq" value of layer in first frame
mp3> .frames[0].header.layer | tovalue
3
mp3> .frames[0].header.layer * 2
6
# symbolic value, same as "jq" value
mp3> .frames[0].header.layer | tosym
3
# actual underlaying decoded value
mp3> .frames[0].header.layer | toactual
1
# description of value
mp3> .frames[0].header.layer | todescription
"MPEG Layer 3"
mp3> ^D
$
Use Ctrl-D to exit and Ctrl-C to interrupt current evaluation.
Example usages
Second mp3 frame header as JSON
fq '.frames[1].header | tovalue' file.mp3
Byte start position for the first 10 mp3 frames in an array
fq '.frames[0:10] | map(tobytesrange.start)' file.mp3
Decode at range
# decode byte range 100 to end
fq -d raw 'tobytes[100:] | mp3_frame | d' file.mp3
# decode byte range 10 bytes into .somefield and preseve relative position in file
fq '.somefield | tobytesrange[10:] | mp3_frame | d' file.mp3
Show AVC SPS difference between two mp4 files
-n
tells fq to not have an implicit input
, f
is function to select out some interesting value, call diff
with two arguments,
decoded value for a.mp4
and b.mp4
filtered thru f
.
fq -n 'def f: .. | select(format=="avc_sps"); diff(input|f; input|f)' a.mp4 b.mp4
Extract first JPEG found in file
Recursively look for first value that is a jpeg
decode value root. Use tobytes
to get bytes for value. Redirect bytes to a file.
fq 'first(.. | select(format=="jpeg")) | tobytes' file > file.jpeg
Sample size histogram
Recursively look for a all sample size boxes "stsz" and use ?
to ignore errors when doing .type
on arrays etc. Save reference to box, count unique values, save the max, output the path to the box and output a historgram scaled to 0-100.
fq '.. | select(.type=="stsz")? as $stsz | .entries | count | max_by(.[1])[1] as $m | ($stsz | topath | path_to_expr), (.[] | "\(.[0]): \((100*.[1]/$m)*"=") \(.[1])") | println' file.mp4
Find TCP streams that looks like HTTP GET requests in a PCAP file
Use grep
to recursively find strings matching a regexp.
fq '.tcp_connections | grep("GET /.* HTTP/1.?")' file.pcap
Use representation of a format
Some formats like msgpack
, bson
etc are used to represent some data structure. In those cases the torepr
function can be used to get the representation.
# whole represented value
fq -d msgpack torepr file.msgpack
# value of the key "field" from the represented value
fq -d msgpack `torepr.field` file.msgpack
# query or transform represented value
fq -d msgpack 'torepr | ...' file.msgpack
Widest PNG in a directory
$ fq -rn '[inputs | [input_filename, first(.chunks[] | select(.type=="IHDR") | .width)]] | max_by(.[1]) | .[0]' *.png
What values include the byte at position 0x123
$ fq '.. | select(scalars and in_bytes_range(0x123))' file
Support formats
See formats
The jq language
fq is based on the jq language and for basic usage its syntax
is similar to how object and array access looks in JavaScript or JSON path, .food[10]
etc. but
it can do much more and is a very expressive language.
To get the most out of fq it's recommended to learn more about jq, here are some good starting points:
- jq manual
- Peter Koppstein's A Stream oriented Introduction to jq
- jq wiki: Language Description
- jq wiki: page Cookbook
- jq wiki: Pitfalls
- FAQ
Common beginner gotcha are:
- jq's use of
;
and,
. jq uses;
as argument separator and,
as output separator. To call a functionf
with two arguments usef(1; 2)
. If you dof(1, 2)
you pass a single argument1, 2
(a lambda expression that output1
and then output2
) tof
. - Expressions can return or "output" zero or more values. This is how loops, foreach etc is achieved.
- Expressions have one implicit input and output value. This how pipelines like
1 | . * 2
work.
Types specific to fq
fq has two additional types compared to jq, decode value and binary. In standard jq expressions they will in most case behave as some standard jq type.
Decode value
This type is returned by decoders and it used to represent parts of the decoed input. It can act as all standard jq types, object, array, number, string etc.
Each decode value has these properties:
- A bit range in the input
- Can be accessed as a binary using
tobits
/tobytes
. Use thestart
andsize
keys to postion and size. .name
as bytes.name | tobytes
- Bit 4-8 of
.name
as bits.name | tobits[4:8]
- Can be accessed as a binary using
Each non-compound decode value has these properties:
- An actual value:
- This is the decoded representation of the bits, a number, string, bool etc.
- Can be accessed using
toactual
.
- An optional symbolic value:
- Is usually a mapping of the actual to symbolic value, ex: map number to a string value.
- Can be accessed using
tosym
.
- An optional description:
- Can be accessed using
todescription
- Can be accessed using
parent
is the parent decode valueparents
is the all parent decode valuestopath
is the jq path for the decode valuetorepr
convert decode value to its representation if possible
The value of a decode value is the symbolic value if available and otherwise the actual value. To explicitly access the value use tovalue
. In most expression this is not needed as it will be done automactically.
Binary
Binaries are raw bits with a unit size, 1 (bits) or 8 (bytes), that can have a non-byte aligned size. Will act as byte padded strings in standard jq expressions.
Use tobits
and tobytes
to create them from a decode values, strings, numbers or binary arrays. tobytes
will if needed zero pad most significant bits to be byte aligned.
There is also tobitsrange
and tobytesrange
which does the same thing but will preserve it's source range when displayed.
"string" | tobytes
produces a binary with UTF8 codepoint bytes.1234 | tobits
produces a binary with the unsigned big-endian integer 1234 with enough bits to represent the number. Usetobytes
to get the same but with enough bytes to represent the number. This is different to how numbers works inside binary arrays where they are limited to 0-255.["abc", 123, ...] | tobytes
produce a binary from a binary array. See binary array below..[index]
access bit or byte at indexindex
. Index is in units.[0x12, 0x34, 0x56] | tobytes[1]
is0x35
[0x12, 0x34, 0x56] | tobits[3]
is1
.[start:]
,.[start:end]
or.[:end]
is normal jq slice syntax and will slice the binary fromstart
toend
.start
andend
is in units.[0x12, 0x34, 0x56] | tobytes[1:2]
will be a binary with the byte0x34
[0x12, 0x34, 0x56] | tobits[4:12]
will be a binary with the byte0x23
[0x12, 0x34, 0x56] | tobits[4:20]
will be a binary with the byte0x23
,0x45
[0x12, 0x34, 0x56] | tobits[4:20] | tobytes[1:]
will be a binary with the byte0x45
,
Both .[index]
and .[start:end]
support negative indices to index from end.
TODO: tobytesrange, padding
Binary array
Is an array of numbers, strings, binaries or other nested binary arrays. When used as input to tobits
/tobytes
the following rules are used:
- Number is a byte with value be 0-255
- String it's UTF8 codepoint bytes
- Binary as is
- Binary array used recursively
Binary arrays are similar to and inspired by Erlang iolist.
Some examples:
[0, 123, 255] | tobytes
will be binary with 3 bytes 0, 123 and 255
[0, [123, 255]] | tobytes
same as above
[0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0 | tobits]
will be binary with 1 byte, 0x66 an "f"
[(.a | tobytes[-10:]), 255, (.b | tobits[:10])] | tobytes
the concatenation of the last 10 bytes of .a
, a byte with value 255 and the first 10 bits of .b
.
The difference between tobits
and tobytes
is
TODO: padding and alignment
Functions
- All standard library functions from jq
- Adds a few new general functions:
print
,println
,printerr
,printerrln
prints to stdout and stderr.streaks
,streaks_by(f)
likegroup
but groups streaks based on condition.count
,count_by(f)
likegroup
but counts groups lengths.debug(f)
likedebug
but uses arg to produce debug message.{a: 123} | debug({a}) | ...
.path_to_expr
from["key", 1]
to".key[1]"
.expr_to_path
from".key[1]"
to["key", 1]
.diff($a; $b)
produce diff object between two values.delta
,delta_by(f)
, array with difference between all consecutive pairs.chunk(f)
, split array or string into even chunks
- Bitwise functions
band
,bor
,bxor
,bsl
,bsr
andbnot
. Works the same as jq math functions, unary uses input and if more than one argument all as arguments ignoring the input. Ex:1 | bnot
bsl(1; 3)
- Adds some decode value specific functions:
root
tree root for valuebuffer_root
root value of buffer for valueformat_root
root value of format for valueparent
parent valueparents
output parents of valuetopath
path of value. Usepath_to_expr
to get a string representation.tovalue
,tovalue($opts)
symbolic value if available otherwise actual valuetoactual
actual value (decoded etc)tosym
symbolic value (mapped etc)todescription
description of valuetorepr
convert decode value into what it reptresents. For example convert msgpack decode value into a value representing its JSON representation.- All regexp functions work with binary as input and pattern argument with these differences
compared to when using string input:
- All offset and length will be in bytes.
- For
capture
the.string
value is a binary. - If pattern is a binary it will be matched literally and not as a regexp.
- If pattern is a binary or flags include "b" each input byte will be read as separate code points
scan_toend($v)
,scan_toend($v; $flags)
works the same asscan
but output binary are from start of match to end of binary. instead of possibly multi-byte UTF-8 codepoints. This allows to match raw bytes. Ex:match("\u00ff"; "b")
will match the byte0xff
and not the UTF-8 encoded codepoint for 255,match("[^\u00ff]"; "b")
will match all non-0xff
bytes.grep
functions take 1 or 2 arguments. First is a scalar to match, where a string is treated as a regexp. A binary will be matches exact bytes. Second argument are regexp flags with addition that "b" will treat each byte in the input binary as a code point, this makes it possible to match exact bytes.grep($v)
,grep($v; $flags)
recursively match value and binaryvgrep($v)
,vgrep($v; $flags)
recursively match valuebgrep($v)
,bgrep($v; $flags)
recursively match binaryfgrep($v)
,fgrep($v; $flags)
recursively match field name
grep_by(f)
recursively match using a filter. Ex:grep_by(. > 180 and . < 200)
,first(grep_by(format == "id3v2"))
.- Binary:
tobits
- Transform input to binary with bit as unit, does not preserving source range, will start at zero.tobitsrange
- Transform input to binary with bit as unit, preserves source range if possible.tobytes
- Transform input to binary with byte as unit, does not preserving source range, will start at zero.tobytesrange
- Transform input binary with byte as unit, preserves source range if possible..[start:end]
,.[:end]
,.[start:]
- Slice binary from start to end preserving source range.
open
open file for reading- All decode function takes a optional option argument. The only option currently is
force
to ignore decoder asserts. For example to decode as mp3 and ignore assets domp3({force: true})
ordecode("mp3"; {force: true})
, from command line you currently have to dofq -d raw 'mp3({force: true})' file
. decode
,decode($format)
,decode($format; $opts)
decode formatprobe
,probe($opts)
probe and decode formatmp3
,mp3($opts)
, ...,<name>
,<name>($opts)
same asdecode(<name>)($opts)
,decode($format; $opts)
decode as format- Display shows hexdump/ASCII/tree for decode values and jq value for other types.
d
/d($opts)
display value and truncate long arrays and binariesda
/da($opts)
display value and don't truncate arraysdd
/dd($opts)
display value and don't truncate arrays or binariesdv
/dv($opts)
verbosely display value and don't truncate arrays but truncate binariesddv
/ddv($opts)
verbosely display value and don't truncate arrays or binaries
p
/preview
show preview of field treehd
/hexdump
hexdump valuerepl
nested REPL, must be last in a pipeline.1 | repl
, can "slurp" outputs1, 2, 3 | repl
.paste
read string from stdin until ^D. Useful for pasting text.- Ex:
paste | frompem | asn1_ber | repl
read from stdin then decode and start a new sub-REPL with result.
- Ex:
Color and unicode output
fq by default tries to use colors if possible, this can be disabled with -M
. You can also
enable useage of unicode characters for improved output by setting the environment
variable CLIUNICODE
.
Configuration
To add own functions you can use init.fq
that will be read from
$HOME/Library/Application Support/fq/init.jq
on macOS$HOME/.config/fq/init.jq
on Linux, BSD etc%AppData%\fq\init.jq
on Windows
Use as script interpreter
fq can be used as a scrip interpreter:
mp3_duration.jq
:
#!/usr/bin/env fq -d mp3 -rf
[.frames[].header | .sample_count / .sample_rate] | add
Differences to jq
- gojq's differences to jq, notable is support for arbitrary-precision integers.
- Supports hexdecimal
0xab
, octal0o77
and binary0b101
integer literals. - Try include
include "file?";
that don't fail if file is missing. - Some values can act as a object with keys even when it's an array, number etc.
- There can be keys hidden from
keys
and[]
. - Some values are readonly and can't be updated.
Decoded values
When you decode something you will get a decode value. A decode values work like normal jq values but has special abilities and is used to represent a tree structure of the decoded binary data. Each value always has a name, type and a bit range.
A value has these special keys (TODO: remove, are internal)
-
_name
name of value -
_value
jq value of value -
_start
bit range start -
_stop
bit range stop -
_len
bit range length (TODO: rename) -
_bits
bits in range as a binary -
_bytes
bits in range as binary using byte units -
_path
jq path to value -
_unknown
value is un-decoded gap -
_symbol
symbolic string representation of value (optional) -
_description
longer description of value (optional) -
_format
name of decoded format (optional) -
_error
error message (optional) -
TODO: unknown gaps
Own decoders and use as library
TODO
Known issues and useful tricks
Run interactive mode with no input
fq -i
null>
select
fails with expected an ... but got: ...
Try add select(...)?
to catch and ignore type errors in the select expression.
Manual decode
Sometimes fq fails to decode or you know there is valid data buried inside some binary or maybe you know the format of some unknown value. Then you can decode manually.
# try decode a `mp3_frame` that failed to decode $ fq -d mp3 '.unknown0 | mp3_frame' file.mp3 # skip first 10 bytes then decode as `mp3_frame` $ fq -d raw 'tobytes[10:] | mp3_frame' file.mp3
Use .
as input and in a positional argument
The expression .a | f(.b)
might not work as expected. .
is .a
when evaluating the arguments so
the positional argument will end up being .a.b
. Instead do . as $c | .a | f($c.b)
.
Building array is slow
Try to use map
or foreach
to avoid rebuilding the whole array for each append.
Use print
and println
to produce more friendly compact output
> [[0,"a"],[1,"b"]]
[
[
0,
"a"
],
[
1,
"b"
]
]
> [[0,"a"],[1,"b"]] | .[] | "\(.[0]): \(.[1])" | println
0: a
1: b
repl
argument using function or variable causes variable not defined
true as $verbose | repl({verbose: $verbose})
will currently fail as repl
is
implemented by rewriting the query to map(true as $verbose | .) | repl({verbose: $verbose})
.
error
produces no output
null | error
behaves as empty
.