file · Command reference

`qzx isFileBinary`

What it does

Analyzes a file to determine if it's binary or plain text

Canonical command: isFileBinary

Accepted aliases: wonderIfFileIsBinary

Case-sensitive: no

Included in the published package

Available in PyPI 0.2.2.0.2. This page documents the 0.2.2.0.2 alpha development checkout.

Safety and effects

Read-only under the current classification

No documented dry-run parameter

No native program invocation in the current classification

No documented network use

No inherent elevation requirement

This safety classification was reviewed against implementation digest sha256:c29e702c48d4391d6399ba0332adbabbcfd3d20de0968bc27171561ab60bd94d on 2026-07-24.

Exact syntax

qzx isFileBinary <file_path> [sample_size] [binary_threshold] --json

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Default	Description
file_path	str	Yes	Not declared	Path to the file to analyze
sample_size	int	No	8192	Size of the file sample to analyze (in bytes)
binary_threshold	int	No	10	Percentage of non-text bytes required to classify as binary

Input examples

qzx wonderIfFileIsBinary script.py

Check if script.py is a binary file

qzx wonderIfFileIsBinary image.jpg

Check if image.jpg is a binary file

qzx wonderIfFileIsBinary unknown.dat 4096 5

Check if unknown.dat is binary, using a 4KB sample and 5% threshold

For the complete structured payload, add --json: qzx isFileBinary <file_path> [sample_size] [binary_threshold] --json

Representative output example

This illustrative JSON is derived from the current implementation-backed result contract. It shows what the command can return without claiming a recorded execution; values vary with inputs, host, permissions, and optional tools.

Example command: qzx wonderIfFileIsBinary script.py --json

{
    "success": true,
    "message": "Analyzes a file to determine if it's binary or plain text. In this illustrative example, the command completed successfully.",
    "analyzed_bytes": 4096,
    "details": {
        "summary": "Additional structured context is included here."
    },
    "file_path": "C:\\project\\example.txt",
    "file_size": 4096,
    "file_size_readable": "C:\\project\\example.txt",
    "is_binary": true,
    "mime_type": "text/plain"
}

View the JSON result contract

{
    "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
    "type": "object",
    "required": [
        "success",
        "message"
    ],
    "properties": {
        "success": {
            "type": "boolean"
        },
        "message": {
            "type": "string"
        },
        "analyzed_bytes": [],
        "details": [],
        "error": {
            "type": "string"
        },
        "file_path": [],
        "file_size": [],
        "file_size_readable": [],
        "is_binary": {
            "type": "boolean"
        },
        "mime_type": []
    },
    "additionalProperties": true
}

Errors and limits

The public contract requires success=false and a descriptive message on failure. This catalog does not yet declare a command-specific error taxonomy; inspect the result and do not invent error codes.

QZX is alpha software. Optional dependencies, permissions, and host capabilities can change the result.

Evidence workflow: ready for deterministic automated capture.

Evidence and provenance

Implementation: src/qzx/commands/file/is_file_binary.py
Tests: No command-specific test file with the same module name was found; this does not prove that all coverage is absent.
Documentation channel: Development documentation 0.2.2.0.2 · main · sha256:319b16857a87636ebc3b89734cc040a737bb56194464fca33ce73bdae2043096
Availability: 0.2.2.0.2 or earlier

Keep exploring

These commands also belong to the file category. Compare them to choose the operation that best fits your task.

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