Input Reference

Throughout IDA, you will frequently be prompted to enter values in dialog boxes and input fields: an address to jump to, a name for a new label, or a segment to inspect. Each type of input follows specific rules about what formats are accepted and what shortcuts are available.

This reference covers all standard input types.

How to Enter a Number

You can enter any 'C' expression with constants. Long arithmetic will be used for calculations.

In these expressions, you can use all the names that you have created in your program.

How to Enter an Address

You should enter an address as a hexadecimal number or a location name. When you enter the address in the hexadecimal format, you can omit the segment part of the address and the current segment will be used. Addresses beyond the program limits are invalid.

Also, you can enter a location name with a displacement:

        name+5

And finally you can specify a relative address:

        +10             0x10 bytes further
        -5              5 bytes backwards

If the entered string cannot be recognized as a hexadecimal number or location name, IDA will try to interpret it as an expression using the current script interpreter. The default interpreter is IDC.

Special addresses: $ - current location (depends on the current assembler) Examples:

456 current segment, offset 0x456

5E current segment, offset 0x5E

3000:34 segment 0x3000, offset 0x34

ds:67 segment pointed by ds, offset 0x67

0:4000000 linear address

0x4000000 start a location with the name 'start'

How to Enter a Segment Value

You must enter a segment base value as a hexadecimal number or a segment name. IDA will warn you if you enter an invalid segment.

You may enter a segment register name too.

How to Enter an Identifier

An identifier is a name that starts with a letter and contains only letters and digits. The list of allowed characters is specified in the config file IDA.CFG. All names are case-sensitive.

The maximum length of a name is also configured there:

        MAX_NAME_LENGTH=120     // Maximal length of new names

The default is 120.

Some assemblers have a shorter name length limit.

IDA will warn you if you enter an illegal name.

How to Enter Text

In the text version of IDA, the following keys are available:

Key	Action
Enter	Start a new line
Ctrl-Enter	Finish input
Esc	Cancel input
F1	Help
Ctrl-U	Undo
Ctrl-Y	Delete line
Ctrl-T	Delete word
Ctrl-Left / Ctrl-Right	Word left / right
Ctrl-PgUp / Ctrl-PgDn	Jump to text start / end
Ctrl-L	Search again
Ctrl-O	Toggle indent mode
Ctrl-Q F	Search
Ctrl-Q A	Replace
Ctrl-Q H	Delete to line start
Ctrl-Q Y	Delete to line end
Shift-Arrow	Select
Shift-Ins	Paste
Shift-Del	Cut
Ctrl-Ins	Copy
Ctrl-Del	Clear
Ctrl-K B	Start selection
Ctrl-K H	Hide selection

Input containing only whitespace is treated as empty input. The system clipboard is also available.