This file contains release notes on the ASN1VE 3.2 release.
ASN1VE (ASN.1 Viewer/Editor) is a graphical user interface (GUI) tool for analyzing and editing ASN.1 encoded data. It provides the capability to assign an ASN.1 schema to binary data to produce multiple views of the data showing all of the assigned type and element names. It also provides editing capabilities to allow data elements embedded within a message to be modified, added, or deleted.
The following new capabilities have been added:
- Added capability to import hex dump files.
- Added auto-indent capability to ASN.1 editor.
- Modified Find dialog to use a floating window instead of a fixed window in the lower left pane.
- Added size constraint checks on BER decoded string values.
- General stability and performance enhancements and bug fixes.
Documentation for this release is available in the ASN1VE help menu.
The steps to install ASN1VE on a Windows system are as follows:
- Download the ASN1VE package distribution file.
- ASN1VE for Windows is packaged in a self-extracting executable file format. To install, all that should be necessary is to double-click this file after downloading and then following the setup wizard instructions.
- The free edition of ASN1VE is now ready. To use the full version options, the options must be enabled by entering a license key value through the Edit -> Configure.. option under the License tab. This key value would have been sent via E-mail if you requested a full version evaluation.
- ASN1VE should now be operational. It should be available from both the desktop and as a start menu item under the group that was selected at installation time (by default, this would be the ASN1C group).
The following subdirectories contain the following key files (note: <installdir> refers to the installation directory that was specified during the installation process):
- <installdir>\bin\asn1ve.exe
- The main ASN1VE executable file. This program is invoked to run the ASN1VE graphic interface.
- <installdir>\bin\asn1dec.exe
- The command-line ASN1DECODER executable file. This program can be run from the command-line to do translation of ASN.1 binary-encoded files to XML, JSON, or Brace Text format.
- <installdir>\asn1specs
- This directory contains a collection of common ASN.1 specification files from existing standards that have been used with the tool.
- <userdir>\Documents\ASN1VE\sample
- This directory contains sample programs containing encoded BER/DER message files (these files have a '.dat' or '.bin' extension) and corresponding ASN.1 schema files (these have extension '.asn'). ASN1VE can be used to view/edit these files by opening a message file (File/Open) and then assigning the schema (ASN.1/Assign ASN.1).
- <userdir>\Documents\ASN1VE\sample_per
- This directory contains sample programs containing encoded PER message files and corresponding ASN.1 schema files. The message files generally have an '_a' suffix for aligned PER or '_u' for unaligned PER messages.
- <userdir>\Documents\ASN1VE\sample_oer
- This directory contains sample programs containing encoded OCTET ENCODING RULES (OER) message files and corresponding ASN.1 schema files.
Sample messages and their ASN.1 files can be found in the asn1ve/sample, asn1ve/sample_per, and asn1ve/sample_oerdirectories. The steps to open/edit/save a message are as follows:
- Start ASN1VE.
- Click on the File > Open... menu item.
- Open the message.dat file in the asn1ve/sample/employee directory.
- A dialog box will appear asking for file type. Select 'ber - BER-encoded data file'.
- Another dialog box will appear allowing the selection of ASN.1 schema files. Click the 'User schema files' radio button and then the 'Add...' button next to the Schema Files text box. Select the employee.asn file in the asn1ve/sample/employee directory.
- Click the 'Finish' button at the bottom of the dialog.
- Another dialog box will be displayed asking for the file type. The tool will try to guess the type based on the content of the file. If the guessed type is known to be wrong, it can be overridden in this dialog. Click the radio button of the type and 'OK' to load the file.
- The message is opened and displayed.
For a PER encoded message, the procedure is slightly different:
- Click on the File > Open... menu item.
- Open the message_a.dat file in the asn1ve/sample/employee directory.
- A dialog box will appear asking for file type. Select 'per - PER-encoded data file'.
- The dialog box to select the ASN.1 schema file will then appear. A schema file should be selected as was done in the BER sample above. Note that it is not possible to not select a schema file in the case of PER.
- The Select PDU Type dialog is then displayed.
- Select the PersonnelRecord type (this should be the only option).
- The dialog box allowing selection of file type will then be shown. Change the file type if necessary and press 'OK'.
- You can now edit the message and save as binary/xml/text format.
An alternate way to load the message file is to use the project file that is available with some sample programs. This can be done by using the Project > Open Project menu item. If the sample program has a project file, it will show up when you navigate to the sample program directory.
Report problems you encounter by sending E-mail to support@obj-sys.com. The preferred format of example programs is the same as the sample programs. Please provide a message file and an ASN.1 syntax file (if it exists) and also indicate where the problem occurs.
If you have any further questions or comments on what you would like to see in the product or what is difficult to use or understand, please communicate them to us. Your feedback is important to us.