Overwrite or Duplicate
Almost all Frida methods that modify a file can either overwrite the input (in-place) or duplicate it.
There is no speed difference between the two modes — it is purely a workspace management question.
Default policy
Every command has a suitable built-in default:
- Irreversible operations duplicate by default (to protect the original).
- Easily reversed operations overwrite by default.
Forcing in-place operation
Append ! to any command to force overwriting:
2 > oi! y[,,0]Without !, oi would duplicate file 2. With !, it operates
in place.
When to prefer each mode
| Situation | Recommended |
|---|---|
| Exploring data, reversibility wanted | Duplicate (default) |
| Very large files, RAM limited | Overwrite (!) |
| Quick iterative cleanup | Overwrite (!) |
| Before a long session where mistakes would be costly | Duplicate |