Task 517: .PBLIB File Format
Task 517: .PBLIB File Format
.PBLIB File Format Specifications
Based on my research, the .PBLIB file extension refers to a PowerBASIC Library file. PowerBASIC was a series of BASIC compilers developed by PowerBASIC Inc. (now defunct), targeting DOS and Windows. .PBLIB files are proprietary binary libraries used to bundle multiple Shared Link Library (.SLL) modules into a single archive-like structure for convenient linking during compilation. The compiler treats the contained .SLL modules individually, ignoring unused ones to optimize the resulting executable.
No public specifications for the internal binary format of .PBLIB files were found. The format is proprietary and undocumented in available resources, including manuals, forums, and third-party analyses. PowerBASIC products are no longer supported, and the company ceased operations around 2012, which likely contributes to the lack of detailed documentation. .PBLIB files are managed using tools like the PowerBASIC Library Manager (graphical) or PLIB.EXE (command-line librarian), which allow adding, removing, replacing, renaming, and extracting .SLL units. Without reverse-engineering or access to internal company documentation, the exact header, structure, and encoding cannot be determined.
List of all the properties of this file format intrinsic to its file system:
- Extension: .PBLIB (case-insensitive on Windows).
- File Type Category: Developer file / Binary library archive.
- MIME Type: application/octet-stream (generic binary, as no specific MIME is defined).
- Content Structure: Archive containing one or more .SLL (Shared Link Library) modules, which are pre-compiled code units. The archive allows modular linking, with unused modules ignored during compilation.
- Creation Method: Generated using PowerBASIC's PLIB.EXE or Library Manager by adding .SLL files or other .PBLIB files (which expands their contents).
- Usage: Static linking into PowerBASIC executables (.EXE). Linked via #LINK compiler directive; supports garbage collection of unused code.
- Associated Software: PowerBASIC compilers (e.g., PB/Win, PB/CC versions 8-10), PLIB.EXE for management.
- Platform: Primarily Windows (Win95 and later), with legacy DOS support in older versions.
- File Signature/Magic Number: Unknown (no public documentation; likely proprietary header to identify as PowerBASIC library).
- Encoding: Binary, not human-readable; contains compiled code and metadata for .SLL units.
- Dependencies: Requires compatible PowerBASIC compiler version; .SLL files within are compiler-specific (e.g., PB/Win vs. PB/CC).
- Size Properties: Variable size based on contained .SLL modules; no fixed minimum or maximum, but typically kilobytes to megabytes for libraries.
- Access Properties: Standard file system attributes (read/write permissions, timestamps); no inherent encryption mentioned, but contents are compiled/binary.
- Other Intrinsic Traits: Not self-executing; acts as a container for code reuse. Adding a .PBLIB to another .PBLIB merges units without overwriting duplicates.
Two direct download links for files of format .PBLIB:
No public direct download links for .PBLIB files were found. The format is obsolete and proprietary to an unsupported compiler, with no official archives or examples available. Former PowerBASIC forums (e.g., forum.powerbasic.com) mentioned attachments like ObjectRand.zip containing .PBLIB files, but the site is read-only or inaccessible, and no mirrors or direct links could be retrieved. Similarly, no GitHub repositories or file hosting sites had verifiable .PBLIB examples. If you have access to legacy PowerBASIC installations, you can create sample .PBLIB files using PLIB.EXE.
Ghost blog embedded HTML JavaScript for drag-and-drop .PBLIB file dump:
Without file format specifications, I cannot implement functional decoding to dump properties. Here's a basic HTML/JavaScript template for a Ghost blog embed that allows drag-and-drop of any file and displays basic file system metadata (e.g., name, size, type). It does not decode .PBLIB-specific properties due to lack of specs.
- Python class for opening, decoding, reading, writing, and printing .PBLIB properties:
Without file format specifications, I cannot implement decoding, reading, or writing of .PBLIB-specific properties. Here's a basic Python class that opens the file as binary and prints general file system metadata. Full functionality is impossible without specs.
import os
import datetime
class PBLIBHandler:
def __init__(self, filepath):
self.filepath = filepath
self.properties = {}
def open_and_read(self):
if not os.path.exists(self.filepath):
print("File not found.")
return
with open(self.filepath, 'rb') as f:
content = f.read()
stat = os.stat(self.filepath)
self.properties = {
'File Name': os.path.basename(self.filepath),
'File Size': stat.st_size,
'Last Modified': datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(stat.st_mtime),
'File Type': 'PowerBASIC Library (proprietary binary)',
# Placeholder: No specs for internal properties like SLL units
'Contained SLL Modules': 'Unknown (no format specs available)',
'Binary Preview (first 100 bytes)': content[:100].hex()
}
self.print_properties()
def print_properties(self):
for key, value in self.properties.items():
print(f"{key}: {value}")
def write(self, new_content):
# Cannot meaningfully write without specs; basic overwrite
with open(self.filepath, 'wb') as f:
f.write(new_content)
print("File overwritten (no .PBLIB-specific encoding applied).")
# Example usage:
# handler = PBLIBHandler('example.pblib')
# handler.open_and_read()
- Java class for opening, decoding, reading, writing, and printing .PBLIB properties:
Without file format specifications, full decoding/writing is impossible. Here's a basic Java class for binary opening and metadata printing.
import java.io.*;
import java.nio.file.*;
import java.nio.file.attribute.BasicFileAttributes;
import java.time.Instant;
public class PBLIBHandler {
private String filepath;
private byte[] content;
public PBLIBHandler(String filepath) {
this.filepath = filepath;
}
public void openAndRead() throws IOException {
Path path = Paths.get(filepath);
if (!Files.exists(path)) {
System.out.println("File not found.");
return;
}
content = Files.readAllBytes(path);
BasicFileAttributes attrs = Files.readAttributes(path, BasicFileAttributes.class);
System.out.println("File Name: " + path.getFileName());
System.out.println("File Size: " + attrs.size() + " bytes");
System.out.println("Last Modified: " + Instant.ofEpochMilli(attrs.lastModifiedTime().toMillis()));
System.out.println("File Type: PowerBASIC Library (proprietary binary)");
// Placeholder: No specs
System.out.println("Contained SLL Modules: Unknown (no format specs available)");
System.out.print("Binary Preview (first 100 bytes): ");
for (int i = 0; i < Math.min(100, content.length); i++) {
System.out.print(String.format("%02X ", content[i]));
}
System.out.println();
}
public void write(byte[] newContent) throws IOException {
Files.write(Paths.get(filepath), newContent);
System.out.println("File overwritten (no .PBLIB-specific encoding applied).");
}
// Example usage:
// public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
// PBLIBHandler handler = new PBLIBHandler("example.pblib");
// handler.openAndRead();
// }
}
- JavaScript class for opening, decoding, reading, writing, and printing .PBLIB properties:
Without file format specifications, full functionality is impossible. Here's a Node.js class for binary opening and metadata printing.
const fs = require('fs');
class PBLIBHandler {
constructor(filepath) {
this.filepath = filepath;
this.properties = {};
}
openAndRead() {
if (!fs.existsSync(this.filepath)) {
console.log('File not found.');
return;
}
const content = fs.readFileSync(this.filepath);
const stat = fs.statSync(this.filepath);
this.properties = {
'File Name': this.filepath.split('/').pop(),
'File Size': stat.size + ' bytes',
'Last Modified': new Date(stat.mtime),
'File Type': 'PowerBASIC Library (proprietary binary)',
// Placeholder: No specs
'Contained SLL Modules': 'Unknown (no format specs available)',
'Binary Preview (first 100 bytes)': content.slice(0, 100).toString('hex')
};
this.printProperties();
}
printProperties() {
for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(this.properties)) {
console.log(`${key}: ${value}`);
}
}
write(newContent) {
fs.writeFileSync(this.filepath, newContent);
console.log('File overwritten (no .PBLIB-specific encoding applied).');
}
}
// Example usage:
// const handler = new PBLIBHandler('example.pblib');
// handler.openAndRead();
- C class for opening, decoding, reading, writing, and printing .PBLIB properties:
In C, we use structs for class-like behavior. Without file format specifications, full decoding/writing is impossible. Here's a basic implementation for binary opening and metadata printing.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <time.h>
#include <sys/stat.h>
typedef struct {
char* filepath;
} PBLIBHandler;
void init(PBLIBHandler* handler, char* filepath) {
handler->filepath = filepath;
}
void open_and_read(PBLIBHandler* handler) {
FILE* f = fopen(handler->filepath, "rb");
if (!f) {
printf("File not found.\n");
return;
}
fseek(f, 0, SEEK_END);
long size = ftell(f);
fseek(f, 0, SEEK_SET);
unsigned char* content = malloc(size);
fread(content, 1, size, f);
fclose(f);
struct stat st;
stat(handler->filepath, &st);
char* filename = strrchr(handler->filepath, '/') ? strrchr(handler->filepath, '/') + 1 : handler->filepath;
printf("File Name: %s\n", filename);
printf("File Size: %ld bytes\n", size);
char timebuf[26];
ctime_r(&st.st_mtime, timebuf);
printf("Last Modified: %s", timebuf);
printf("File Type: PowerBASIC Library (proprietary binary)\n");
// Placeholder: No specs
printf("Contained SLL Modules: Unknown (no format specs available)\n");
printf("Binary Preview (first 100 bytes): ");
for (int i = 0; i < 100 && i < size; i++) {
printf("%02X ", content[i]);
}
printf("\n");
free(content);
}
void write(PBLIBHandler* handler, unsigned char* new_content, long new_size) {
FILE* f = fopen(handler->filepath, "wb");
if (f) {
fwrite(new_content, 1, new_size, f);
fclose(f);
printf("File overwritten (no .PBLIB-specific encoding applied).\n");
}
}
// Example usage:
// int main() {
// PBLIBHandler handler;
// init(&handler, "example.pblib");
// open_and_read(&handler);
// return 0;
// }