FileTypeIdentifier is a simple library that helps identifying file types by using a user-configurable collection of magic numbers.
This library is not designed with any black-magic, super-efficient file type checking tricks in mind - it identifies a file by matching the file's magic number with a user-configured collection of magic numbers.
Found inside this repo is a limited set of pairs of magic numbers and file names (based on my current needs use cases for identifying files). If you think that the set of preconfigured magic numbers is too limited, you are more than welcome to create a pull request or contact me with suggestions.
What the FileTypeIdentifier can do:
- Look at the initial bytes of a file and determine whether the file's magic number matches a known file type or not.
What the FileTypeIdentifier cannot do:
- Guarantee that the file is actually of the type indicated by its magic number.
- Ensure that the file is not corrupt or malicious.
I am personally using this project for...:
- ... quickly determining whether a file is a type of file my application can handle or not.
- ... determining the type of files received in web services, where the extension of the file might not match the actual file type.
- ... deciding how to process files based on their actual file type.
A small console application using the file type identifier can be found in the samples folder.