Decode the chunk count field: header byte 14 is the record count
Range measured: all 27 levels, 1123 chunks, over the 900000 bytes before the constant trailer. Method: compare header byte 14 against the number of offsets actually resolved for that chunk. Result: byte 14 equals the record count on 1123 of 1123 chunks, zero mismatches. This is the first genuinely decoded field in this container rather than a measured correlation. The parser now truncates the offset table to header byte 14, so a stray tagged word in a chunk's record data cannot silently extend the table and put the count at odds with its own header. Two more header bytes are near-constant and read as ASCII: byte 13 takes only 0x45 (1076 chunks) and 0x46 (47); byte 9 takes 0x44 (26), 0x45 (1084) and 0x46 (13). Those are D, E and F -- a three-letter tag at two byte positions with different distributions. Recorded as suggestive, not established: the other 14 header bytes are high-entropy and read as ASCII at no shift tried, so the D/E/F may be incidental. Worth testing against a known type table. Still open: the 14 opaque header bytes, whether bytes 9 and 13 are type tags, which record fields are index/length/offset, and whether a chunk is moby_anim.
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@@ -799,3 +799,36 @@ the `0xF0` tag, which fields are index/length/offset, and whether a chunk is
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moby_anim or something else. A parser can extract chunks and records
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bounds-checked today; naming fields needs a domain argument this project has
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not yet found.
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## The chunk header: byte 14 is the record count
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**Range measured:** all 27 levels, 1,123 chunks, over the 900,000 bytes
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before the constant trailer.
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**Method:** compare header byte 14 against the number of offsets actually
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resolved for that chunk.
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**Result: byte 14 equals the record count on 1,123 of 1,123 chunks, zero
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mismatches.** This is the first genuinely *decoded* field in this container
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rather than a measured correlation.
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The parser now truncates the offset table to header byte 14, so a stray
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tagged word appearing in a chunk's record data cannot silently extend the
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table -- which would otherwise let the count disagree with its own header.
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**Two more header bytes are near-constant and look like ASCII:**
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- byte 13: only two values across 1,123 chunks -- `0x45` (1,076) and `0x46`
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(47).
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- byte 9: three values -- `0x44` (26), `0x45` (1,084), `0x46` (13).
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`0x44`, `0x45` and `0x46` are ASCII `D`, `E` and `F`. That three-letter tag
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appearing at two different byte positions with different distributions is
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suggestive of a type or class field, but it is not established: the remaining
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14 header bytes are high-entropy and do not read as ASCII at any shift tried,
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so the ASCII in bytes 9 and 13 could be incidental.
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**Still open:** the 14 opaque header bytes, whether bytes 9 and 13 are type
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tags, which record fields are index/length/offset, and whether a chunk is
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moby_anim. The `D`/`E`/`F` values are suggestive enough to be worth testing
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against a known type table, but that has not been done.
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