exf
exf is a console (command line) Windows utility similar to fsum, md5sum, sha1sum, etc.
- Multi-threaded operation scans multiple files concurrently so stuff gets done faster.
- Unicode-compatible so that Unicode file names aren’t a problem.
- Tests and creates digest files in the following formats:
- md5sum/fsum
- sha1sum
- sfv
- FileCheckMD5
- Supports multiple hash (checksum) routines:
- Adler32
- CRC32
- MD2, MD4, MD5
- SHA1, SHA2 (SHA256, SHA384, SHA512)
- RIPEMD128, RIPEMD160
- TIGER128, TIGER160, TIGER192
- GOST
- Supports recursive directory scanning
Revision history:
exf 1.0.1.6 BETA
- Fixed problem that caused batch files to terminate with exf.
This was caused by the way Windows consoles handle changing of the output code page. exf now reverts the console output code page to the pre-existing code page setting when exf finishes. This means that Unicode characters will appear as squares on the screen, but redirected output (such as to a file) does not lose data, so this is okay. - Minor performance improvement.
exf 1.0.0.4 BETA
- Changed SHA1 style output and digest input scanning to be compatible with GNU sha1sum.
exf 1.0.0.3 BETA
- Adjustments to file reading code.
- Fixed hidden files not getting scanned.
- Added -fp switch to include full path in digest output.
- Console output includes number of files hashed.
exf 1.0.0.1 BETA
- Initial release.
Very nice program, I can’t wait for the GUI version. I have been using FILECHECKMD5 for years and on my USB drive. Will the GUI version have the ability to process a single file like dpasha can?
Yes, ExactFile GUI will be able to do that no problem.
Can it display the number of files processed like FILECHECKMD5?
I was looking for a SHA1 checksum generator that would work recursively (unlike sha1sum!) and found exf. Awesome! Congrats! That being said, for SHA1 sums, the output format requires an asterisk (”*”) before the filename:
with exf:
; Checksums generated by ExactFile Console Application 1.0.0.1 BETA
; http://www.ExactFile.com
; 2/2/2009 1:57:41 PM
;
cf977187a5604cc29cdf2185c0e616a37b8a8ce5 test.pdf
with sha1sum (using -b for binary files):
cf977187a5604cc29cdf2185c0e616a37b8a8ce5 *test.pdf
I might not have got it right but it’d be nice to have the ability to have the full path saved in the output file, e.g. C:\test.pdf.
Again, great job!
@Mike C.
I can add a switch for full path output in file names.
As for sha1sum — the sha1sum executable I have does not have a binary switch and outputs exactly as the -osha1 output from exf. What Windows sha1sum binary are you using? I’ll need to check it out.
I’ll add that.
@Brandon
sha1sum on Windows is apparently a trimmed down version of the original Unix/Linux version. On Linux, sha1sum has an option to read files in binary mode (not needed on Windows) and you get this:
[mike@FEDORA6 ~]$ sha1sum -b foo.txt
6476df3aac780622368173fe6e768a2edc3932c8 *foo.txt
[mike@FEDORA6 ~]$
[mike@FEDORA6 ~]$ sha1sum foo.txt
6476df3aac780622368173fe6e768a2edc3932c8 foo.txt
Again, on Windows, the “-b” is implied.
I’ve updated exf (1.0.0.4) to work with gnu sha1sum style output. exf only works with binary, though, so it would not return the same checksum as gnu sha1sum in text mode.
My one and only comment will be :
WOW!very nice job!
thx a lot for making this available
Great program – just what I needed to check that a copy has copied ok.
If checking files just after creating a checksum from them will the program “force” a read of the media where the files reside or will it just read from the RAM cache so a reboot is nessesary to clear ram?
That’s left up to the operating system; typically if you check immediately after making the checksum file, it’ll just be pulled from the RAM cache. I’ll see about forcing it clear for files being tested. Not sure if that’s easily done or not…
I am trying to use exf within a batch file. The program runs correctly but then exits the bat file without continuing on to the next command.. Is there a switch or something that would correct this behavior?
Len
I’ll have to do some testing to see what is causing that.
Nice program. Can you make a Linux port, at least for the command-line version? The multithreaded comp and extra hash functions would be a nice addition to the standard hash utils.
No, at least not for a while. If Embarcadero gets a cross-platform compiler in place (as they are planning), I might do a command-line version. But I don’t use Linux so this will be an extremely low priority for me.
@Brandon
Need to say, great work! Thanks for coming up with this, very helpful for checking those large copies. I am seeing the same thing in that when I call exf.exe from a batch script the exf.exe command runs correctly but then closes the script. I am also seeing that if I run the batch script from an existing command session I can not run the script again till I close that session and open a new one. Hope that helps some.
Again, thank you for all the great work so far!
Would be great if you could add “exit code” feature to exf. Many command line utilities has this feature, for example, RAR, even fSum has it. Let’s say, 0 – means successful operation, 1 – Summing error occured, 2 – Fatal error, etc. etc. Exit code is very important when users are dealing with automation tasks. Thanks.
Version 1.0.1.6 fixes the problems reported with batch files. Due to the required changes to make it work properly with batch files, Unicode symbols will now show on screen as boxes. However, exf itself is still running with Unicode capability, and redirected output to a file will retain the full data, so this is not a problem.
Thanks for the excellent program! It’s perfect for digital photographers interested in maintaining a reliable archive.
There are quite a few folks interested in validating images over time as part of Digital Asset Management. A guy named Peter Krogh has a nice web site to discuss the topic at http://thedambook.com/
Yes the site name was picked to advertise a book, but the forum is also a good place to go to ask questions or discuss DAM issues. In any case, I’m going to go over and suggest that folks take advantage of your wonderful software.
Thanks very much,
Dan
p.s. It was easy to make a small donation via PayPal by clicking your Donate button on the home page ;-}
Hi again Brandon.
I did post a positive note about ExactFile over on the other web site I mentioned. After thinking about the way photographers are likely to use your software a bit more, I have a feature request: Support “shortcuts” to folders as if they were native folders in your Create Digest and Check Digest scans.
This would enable multi-volume collection support in the non-”Professional” versions of XP, Vista and probably Win 7. It would also defuse some probable objections.
As you may know, it’s increasingly popular to shoot in “RAW” mode with digital SLR’s. There are lots of image processing and quality advantages to doing so over JPEGs but it does produce lots of data. My “old” Canon XTi records about 10 MB of compressed data per shot and my newer Canon 50D records about 30 MB per shot. Nikon, Olympus and … SLR cameras produce similar amounts.
The need for multi-volume disk support is here today for some. I, and many others, are likely to need it in the near future. So if this request is reasonably easy to add, please consider it for your next version.
Thanks,
Dan
@Brandon
Firstly thanks very much for this software.. I have been using EXF rather than the Gui version to take away the chance of user error, and also to instruct end users on using a check method correctly.
Can you please tell me.. is there a way to have a progress bar of sorts, whilst EXF is generating hashes?
Because I have used batch files with this, a user only sees a blank screen and assumes that it has “crashed” :0)
Thanks again!
Many Thanks
Gomezie