Merriam-Webster Pocket Dictionary file
application/octet-stream
Magic Bytes
Offset: 11
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
The Merriam-Webster Pocket Dictionary file is a proprietary data format developed by Merriam-Webster for use on legacy handheld devices. This format primarily stores dictionary definitions, pronunciation guides, and specialized linguistic data for use within dedicated pocket electronic organizers and early mobile operating systems. Although now considered obsolete due to the rise of modern smartphones, the format remains non-executable and presents negligible security risk to contemporary computing environments.
Validation Code
How to validate .pdb files in Python
Python
def is_pdb(file_path: str) -> bool:
"""
Check if file is a valid PDB by magic bytes.
Signature offset: 11 bytes
"""
signature = bytes([0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00])
with open(file_path, "rb") as f:
f.seek(11)
return f.read(24) == signatureHow to validate .pdb files in Node.js
Node.js
function isPDB(buffer: Buffer): boolean {
// Signature offset: 11 bytes
const signature = Buffer.from([0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00]);
if (buffer.length < 35) return false;
return buffer.subarray(11, 35).equals(signature);
}
Go
func IsPDB(data []byte) bool {
// Signature offset: 11 bytes
signature := []byte{0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00}
if len(data) < 35 {
return false
}
return bytes.Equal(data[11:35], signature)
}API Endpoint
GET
/api/v1/pdb
curl https://filesignature.org/api/v1/pdb