
What is Synalyze It!?
Every day you work with a computer you get in contact with many different files. Each one follows a specific format that allows an application to read it in a well-defined way. Usually you don't have to care about the internals of all these formats - it's sufficient if the applications know how to handle them. This holds true for most of the users but there are cases where you want to dig deeper and see what's really contained in certain binary files.
Synalyze It! is an application for the analysis of known and unknown file formats.
What Synalyze It! can do for you
There may be cases where you have a specification for the format of files you want to analyze. The grammar editor of Synalyze It! allows you to represent and model all the structures in a generic way. The grammar can be mapped to different files of that type which makes decoding files much much easier.
Sometimes you start with little knowledge about a file format. The process of analyzing files and learning their structure is known as reverse engineering. Synalyze It! supports you in doing this by giving you immediate feedback whether your assumptions are right or wrong.
Installation
Synalyze It! comes as an application bundle that can be installed anywhere. Typically you copy it to your /Applications folder but it also runs on a memory stick or somewhere else.
When you let Synalyze It! download grammar files they are stored in a folder depending on the version you use. Check the ~/Library/Application Support/SynalyzeIt/Grammars or ~/Library/Application Support/Synalyze It! Pro/Grammars folder. Grammars stored there are suggested automatically when you open a file provided the file extension, mime type or URI matches one of the grammars.
Where to get support
If you simply want to ask something, just write an email to andreas@synalysis.net. If you found a bug or want to suggest a feature, you best access FogBugz directly.
While learning how to model own grammar files the Grammar Page has lots of sample grammars ready for you.
Quick Start
The easiest way to start modeling a binary file format is by opening a sample file.
Binary File Reverse Engineering explained
How to start analysing a file if you don't know anything of its Structure?
Structures