Text Recoded

Text Recoded program offers the following useful operations on a given textual data: - Encoding, decoding and recoding between plain text, Hexadecimal and Base64 encodings - Ciphering and deciphering using Caesar cipher - Producing hashes of a raw and formatted textual data for the purpose of validating its integrity Encoding textual data to a Hexadecimal or Base64 encoding can be used to make sure that the original textual data will not get altered due to a storage or transmission medium dealing with it in an incompatible character set. Ciphering using Caesar cipher, which is a simple substitution cipher, can be used in many cases when textual data needs to remain hidden from ordinary people out there who usually do not bother to decipher it. However, it is not suitable for securing sensitive data, as it can be easily deciphered with today’s technology. The procedure of ciphering and deciphering implemented by the Text Recoded program is explained in the following example using “TEXT” as input and “test” as key: Input : TEXT (T=84, E=69, X=88, T=84) Key : test (t=116, e=101, s=115, t=116) Procedure: the input + the key Output in decimal: (200,170,203, 200) Output in hexadecimal: C8AACBC8 Deciphering is just the opposite of the above, that is the enciphered output – the key. In our case it will be: C8AACBC8 - test = TEXT The Text Recoded program receives and delivers textual data input and output, as well as the key for ciphering, in UTF-8 encoding which supports the entire Unicode character set, which accommodates characters from almost all the world’s writing systems. There is no limit for the input length except the available memory. The key can also be of any length, however if it is longer than the input it is truncated to the input length, divided into chunks of the input length and then values of the additional chunks are added to the first chunk. Ciphering output can be in Hexadecimal or Base64 encoding. Working with Binary data is not supported in this version. For the purpose of ensuring the integrity of given output, it is also possible to include their hashes in the Output box, for both Recoding and Ciphering operations. Note that produced hashes are of three types explained below. Hash for the ALL textual content is produced for the entire content of specified textual data, including empty spaces like white spaces, tabs and new lines, if any. Hash for the formatted FMT textual content is produced for the text and its internal white spaces and new lines, excluding all surrounding empty lines and white spaces. Hash for the RAW textual content is produced only for the text itself, excluding all types of empty spaces: empty lines, white spaces, tabs and new lines. For validating the integrity of given textual data in cases where a non-RAW kind of hashing is required, line lengths, number of lines and the type of new line characters are significant. This is because Windows uses #13#10 character codes for storing new lines, while Linux operating system uses just the character code of #10 to store new lines. Therefore, if a hash for textual data is produced in one OS but needs to be validated in another, an appropriate option must be set. For this purpose, there is a selection box to choose between Windows and Linux new line characters when producing hashes.