Converting binary file to readable format in Ksh

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1

In Unix/Ksh, when I try to look inside a file it says that the file may be a binary file and if I want to see it anyway. When i say 'yes', it shows me the content filled with unreadable symbols (looks like binary). Is there a command that I can run from the Unix prompt to convert/translate that binary file (data) into a readable format?
Thanks much.

2

You can use a hex dump utility for this task. Two standard Unix shell commands are hexdump and od.

Examples:

hexdump -C <filename>
od -tcx1 <filename>

My Mac OSX machine has hexdump (and not od), BTW.

3

If you are looking for readable content then often strings can be useful too.

4

Thanks Neo,
od -tcx1 <filename> worked for me.
Much appreciate it.