The Hex Editor display is broken into layers that are stacked on top of each other. By default, the display contains a base layer (for all primary displays) and a global layer (which displays all global variables declared in the Disassembler).

Just imagine Hex Editor layers in the same way as Adobe® Photoshop® layers, where each layer stacks on top of each other to form the whole image. In the Hex Editor, the base layer is often the only layer you will see.

The Base Layer

The base layer is responsible for all of the default display of the Hex Editor. It draws the hex area and the data area. Depending on the display selection, it will draw the data area as characters, bytes, ints, shorts, longs, floats, etc. It highlights pointers and changed bytes. And drawing the data area in characters, it will show either ASCII or ASCII and ANSI (characters above 127). It will color the display area according to the color options you have chosen. For example, by default, static RAM is drawn as blue. The color for the static area is a system option, but the base layer is responsible for using that color to draw the background of the Hex Editor.

The Global Layer

The global layer only draws globals you have defined in the Disassembler. It is directly on top of the base layer, so it is drawn over the base layer. It displays their names and values.

Custom Layers

Each layer (including the default ones listed above) is implemented as a plug-in. Users can write their own DLL plug-ins to add new types of layers to display information. This feature is currently under development, so it is not available yet.

Layer Options

Each layer (including custom layers) can optionally have its own set of options. The global layer currently has no options, though it will in the future. The base layer options can be found under the View/Base Options menu item.

The following chart explains each option.