---
name: "fstrm_dump"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "fstrm"
version: "0.6.1-2"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/fstrm_dump"
---

# fstrm\_dump(1)

Display metadata and contents of Frame Streams file.

## NAME

fstrm\_dump - Display metadata and contents of Frame Streams file.

## SYNOPSIS

**fstrm\_dump *input-file* \[*output-file*\]**

## DESCRIPTION

**fstrm\_dump** opens *input-file* and prints its framing metadata to *stderr* and frame data to *stdout*. The *input-file* may be "-" to read Frame Streams data from standard input.

Frame data is printed as a single line quoted string with non-printable characters replaced by backslash-prefixed hex escape sequences. For example, a frame containing "Hello, world\\n" would have its data printed as:

	 "Hello, world\\x0a"

The only framing metadata expected in a Frame Streams file are the start frame with a content type field, the data frame lengths, and the stop frame. These are printed, respectively, as:

	FSTRM\_CONTROL\_START

	FSTRM\_CONTROL\_FIELD\_CONTENT\_TYPE (*N* bytes)\
\
 	 "*content-type*"

	Data frame (*N*) bytes

	FSTRM\_CONTROL\_STOP

If **fstrm\_dump** is given the second *output-file* parameter, input frames are additionally written to *output-file.* This is mainly useful for regression testing of the *fstrm\_file\_writer* code.

## SEE ALSO

[**fstrm\_capture**(1)](/fstrm_capture/1.md), [**fstrm\_replay**(1)](/fstrm_replay/1.md),\
 Frame Streams C Library **https://farsightsec.github.io/fstrm**