Pre-built parse binaries

Since October 2023, I've been offering a simple way to check if a reader whether or not a reader complies with the CCID standard. See Check reader's compliance to CCID specification.

Parse tool

As early as the first version of my CCID driver, I provided a tool called parse to analyze the USB descriptor and see if a connected device is declared as a CCID devide (USB interface class = 11).

The parse tool is written in C and you have to build it from source code. This is not an easy task for non-developers.

Non-developers

For non developers, it wasn't easy. Hence the idea of providing pre-built versions of the parse tool.

I can't provide a binary for all possible systems (Unix, not just GNU/Linux).

I provide a binary version for:

  • Linux x86_64 (GNU/Linux on Intel/AMD 64 bits CPU)

  • Linux aarch64 (GNU/Linux on ARM 64 bits CPU)

  • Linux armv7l (GNU/Linux on for example on a Raspberry)

  • Darwin x86_64 (macOS on Intel 64 bits CPU)

  • Darwin arm64 (macOS on Apple M1, M2, etc. CPU)

You do not have to know what system or processor you have. Just use, in a terminal:

curl https://ccid.apdu.fr/files/parse.sh | bash -

Statistics

From last month's HTTP server logs, I get:

Architecture

#

%

Linux-x86_64

52

86.67 %

Darwin-x86_64

4

6.67 %

Linux-aarch64

4

6.67 %

Darwin-arm64

0

0 %

Linux-armv7l

0

0 %
/images/2025/06/parse.png

Unsurprisingly, the majority of users are on a GNU/Linux system with an Intel/AMD 64-bits processor.

I am pleasantly surprised to see GNU/Linux systems on ARM processors.

Security

I understand that some people prefer to build a program from source code rather than run a binary retrieved from the Internet.

I also do not like using:

curl https://random.web.site/install_script.sh | bash -

This is why is is still possible to rebuild the parse binary from the source code.

Conclusion

It should (now) be easy to check if a USB smart card reader complies with hthe CCID standard.

If you are the product owner of a new smart card reader and don't have a GNU/Linux developer available to help you, this tool will allow you to send me the details as documented at Check reader's compliance to CCID specification.

I can then add your reader in the "Should work but untested by me" list. If you want to have your reader listed in the "Supported CCID readers/ICCD tokens" list, contact me.