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Octal to Text

Decode octal character codes back into text.

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Quick Tool Overview

Octal to Text decodes base-8 character codes back into text, accepting space separated, comma separated, backslash escaped and solid runs. Digits outside 0 to 7 are flagged, since an 8 or a 9 means the input was never octal.

What it does
Decodes octal codes into readable text
You give it
Octal codes in any common format
You get back
The decoded text with invalid groups listed
Best for
Reading C escapes and older Unix documentation
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About the Octal to Text

Octal codes turn up in C string literals, in old Unix documentation, in some regular expression escapes and in puzzles. Reading them by hand means multiplying by powers of eight, which is exactly the sort of arithmetic worth handing to a machine.

This decodes octal in every format it appears in: space separated, comma separated, backslash escaped as in \101\102, or one solid run of digits split into three-digit groups. UTF-8 sequences are reassembled so multi-byte characters decode correctly, and any group containing a digit outside 0 to 7 is flagged — since 8 and 9 in an octal number mean the input is not really octal at all.

Key features of the Octal to Text

Backslash escapes understood

\101\102\103 decodes to ABC, which is the form octal takes inside string literals.

Invalid digits caught

An 8 or a 9 is reported rather than decoded, because it means the input is not octal at all.

UTF-8 reassembly

Multi-byte sequences become the character they encode rather than separate fragments.

Solid runs split

Unseparated octal is divided into three-digit groups, which is one byte each.

Any separator

Spaces, commas, line breaks and backslashes are all accepted in the same input.

How to use the Octal to Text

  1. 1

    Paste the octal codes

    Separated by spaces or commas, backslash escaped, or as a solid run.

  2. 2

    Set the group size

    Three digits per byte is standard for unseparated input.

  3. 3

    Choose the encoding

    UTF-8 reassembles multi-byte characters; code point mode reads each group as one character.

  4. 4

    Read the text

    The decoded text appears immediately, with invalid groups listed.

Frequently asked questions

Almost always because it contains an 8 or a 9. Octal only uses digits 0 to 7, so those characters mean the input is decimal or something else that was labelled octal by mistake.

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