VSL
text/plain
Magic Bytes
Offset: 0
54 68 69 73 20 69 73 20 54 65 58 2C
The VSL file format is a scripting extension primarily associated with the TeX typesetting system, originally developed by Donald Knuth and maintained by the TeX Users Group. These files are utilized to define virtual style libraries or document macros that automate layout tasks within scientific and academic publishing workflows. As a plain-text format, it is inherently safe, though users should ensure that files are sourced from trusted repositories to avoid errors during document compilation.
Validation Code
How to validate .vsl files in Python
Python
def is_vsl(file_path: str) -> bool:
"""Check if file is a valid VSL by magic bytes."""
signature = bytes([0x54, 0x68, 0x69, 0x73, 0x20, 0x69, 0x73, 0x20, 0x54, 0x65, 0x58, 0x2C])
with open(file_path, "rb") as f:
return f.read(12) == signatureHow to validate .vsl files in Node.js
Node.js
function isVSL(buffer: Buffer): boolean {
const signature = Buffer.from([0x54, 0x68, 0x69, 0x73, 0x20, 0x69, 0x73, 0x20, 0x54, 0x65, 0x58, 0x2C]);
return buffer.subarray(0, 12).equals(signature);
}
Go
func IsVSL(data []byte) bool {
signature := []byte{0x54, 0x68, 0x69, 0x73, 0x20, 0x69, 0x73, 0x20, 0x54, 0x65, 0x58, 0x2C}
if len(data) < 12 {
return false
}
return bytes.Equal(data[:12], signature)
}API Endpoint
GET
/api/v1/vsl
curl https://filesignature.org/api/v1/vsl