custom string types

[psifertex]

Long-term we'd like to allow for custom string formats. This would include:

• custom recognizers for string search
• reprs for annotation display
• custom encodings rendered in the strings list
• potentially allow modifications?

Not on the immediate-term todo list though.

[xusheng6]

Related to: #2222

[utkonos]

@psifertex Yes, I think you're right that #5794 is a component of this, if I am reading it correctly. The need I have is, for example, is when an encrypted string is located in data. That data symbol is type char* as a simple example. That data symbol then appears anywhere it gets passed around in the code, in functions. At the "source" and in all the binary ninja annotations {"foo"} in the code, the string is currently displayed as the encrypted string. My first goal is to write some Python that decrypts all the strings in the binary. Today I would put the output from that script, the plaintext string, in a comment in places where it appears. Sometimes this becomes tedious because a string is used in more than one place. If the string itself, in binary ninja, had some kind of display layer where I could put the decrypted representation, and the decrypted representation would appear anywhere binary ninja adds it's own {"foo"} annotations, that would be the minimum. It would then be a "nice to have" to be able to differentiate these custom display strings by a different color of text. And a "really nice to have" would be a custom color field so that I can have different types of strings and make it obvious what they are visually.

[utkonos]

One more thing: the minimum needs to be read and written via API so that it can be connected to a Python plugin's output.

[utkonos]

Sorry, one more thought: if you do implement a custom color feature for string display, could you have it encompass comments as well? I have this other issue about that idea:
#5251

#AngryFruitSalad 😆