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Byte

Import can read any file as a sequence of unsigned 8-bit integers.
Export writes a list of integers in the range (0, 255) to a binary file.

Background & Context

- Sequence of bytes.
- Raw binary format.
- Equivalent to the UnsignedInteger8 format.

Import & Export

Import["file","Byte"] imports any file, returning a packed array of integers in the range (0, 255).
Export["file",list,"Byte"] exports a list of integers in the range (0, 255) to file.
Import["file",{"Byte",elem}] or Import["file",elem ] imports the specified element from file.
Import["file",{"Byte",{elem₁,elem₂,…}}] imports multiple elements.
See the following reference pages for full general information:

	Import, Export	import from or export to a file
	CloudImport, CloudExport	import from or export to a cloud object
	ImportString, ExportString	import from or export to a string
	ImportByteArray, ExportByteArray	import from or export to a byte array

Import Elements

General Import elements:
"Elements" list of elements and options available in this file

"Summary" summary of the file

"Rules" list of rules for all available elements
Data representation element:
"Data" list of integers in the range (0, 255)
By default, Import and Export use the "Data" element.
Import["file",{"Byte",n}] gives the n byte from file.

Options

Import option:
"HeaderBytes" 0 how many bytes to skip at the beginning of the file

Examples

Basic Examples (1)

Convert a list of integers to a string representing binary 8-bit unsigned integers:

Convert the binary data back to an expression:

Import the same data, assuming it represents an array of 8-bit characters:

Skip the first 10 bytes on Import:

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