Opening a Binary, Hex Text, or Base64 Message

A binary file containing ASN.1-encoded data can be opened in one of the following ways:

• By using the File -> Open Message command (described below)
• By dragging-and-dropping a file into ASN1VE
• By double-clicking a file with an extension that was associated with ASN1VE when the application was installed (Windows only).

The Open Message command is used as follows.

1. Click the File option from the File Operations toolbar.

2. Select the Open Message option to open a message file (Ctrl + O for a shortcut):

The toolbar Open icon can also be used:

3. The file navigation dialog box will be displayed to select a file.

This file can contain binary, hexadecimal text, or base64 text.

4. A sub-menu is displayed next asking to choose the file type (Binary, Hex text, or Base64) and ASN.1 Encoding Rules:

5. After the file type selection, the conversion process will be done to get the data into binary form for display/editing.

6. If ASN.1 schema files are present in the same directory as the file that was opened, the following dialog box will be presented:

If Yes is clicked, the schema files will be assigned to the message. If the PDU type cannot be automatically determined through tag matching, the Select PDU Type dialog box will be displayed. Otherwise, the schemas are assigned and the message displayed in Element View.

7. If the BER/DER/CER option is selected, the data will be displayed in tag view and the operation will be complete. If one of the PER options was selected, it will be necessary to get schema information for the file, so the ASN.1 selection dialog will be launched. If 'Other (assign later)' is selected, the message will be displayed in hex view, but other views will remain blank. The items under the Assign pulldown menu heading can then be used to assign encoding rules and schema information.

8. The ASN.1 assignment dialog begins with display of a dialog box asking the method by which schemas should be assigned:

If the 'Assign built-in ASN.1 Schema' option is selected, the procedure to assign a built-in ASN.1 schema is followed as documented Otherwise, the procedure to assign an ASN.1 schema file is followed as documented here.