Typex

Category: Bletchley

Status: Registered and callable in the CyberChef 11.3.0 compatibility inventory.

Input / output: string → string

Background: https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Typex

What it does

Encipher/decipher with the WW2 Typex machine. Typex was originally built by the British Royal Air Force prior to WW2, and is based on the Enigma machine with some improvements made, including using five rotors with more stepping points and interchangeable wiring cores. It was used across the British and Commonwealth militaries. A number of later variants were produced; here we simulate a WW2 era Mark 22 Typex with plugboards for the reflector and input. Typex rotors were changed regularly and none are public: a random example set are provided. To configure the reflector plugboard, enter a string of connected pairs of letters in the reflector box, e.g. AB CD EF connects A to B, C to D, and E to F (you’ll need to connect every letter). There is also an input plugboard: unlike Enigma’s plugboard, it’s not restricted to pairs, so it’s entered like a rotor (without stepping). To create your own rotor, enter the letters that the rotor maps A to Z to, in order, optionally followed by < then a list of stepping points. More detailed descriptions of the Enigma, Typex and Bombe operations can be found here.

Note

Status here means the operation name is implemented and callable. It does not by itself promise byte-for-byte parity for every upstream option. See Compatibility and current status for the verified scope and known boundaries.

Warning

Historical machine presets currently cover a documented compatibility subset.

Arguments and options

Arguments are positional. Keep their order when using bake() or Pipeline.then().

Index

Name

UI type

PyChef default

Accepted values / format

0

1st (left-hand) rotor

editableOption

'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW'

'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW', 'KHWENRCBISXJQGOFMAPVYZDLTU<BFHNQUW', 'BYPDZMGIKQCUSATREHOJNLFWXV<BFHNQUW', 'ZANJCGDLVHIXOBRPMSWQUKFYET<BFHNQUW', 'QXBGUTOVFCZPJIHSWERYNDAMLK<BFHNQUW', 'BDCNWUEIQVFTSXALOGZJYMHKPR<BFHNQUW', 'WJUKEIABMSGFTQZVCNPHORDXYL<BFHNQUW', 'TNVCZXDIPFWQKHSJMAOYLEURGB<BFHNQUW'

1

1st rotor reversed

boolean

False

True or False

2

1st rotor ring setting

option

'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

3

1st rotor initial value

option

'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

4

2nd rotor

editableOption

'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW'

'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW', 'KHWENRCBISXJQGOFMAPVYZDLTU<BFHNQUW', 'BYPDZMGIKQCUSATREHOJNLFWXV<BFHNQUW', 'ZANJCGDLVHIXOBRPMSWQUKFYET<BFHNQUW', 'QXBGUTOVFCZPJIHSWERYNDAMLK<BFHNQUW', 'BDCNWUEIQVFTSXALOGZJYMHKPR<BFHNQUW', 'WJUKEIABMSGFTQZVCNPHORDXYL<BFHNQUW', 'TNVCZXDIPFWQKHSJMAOYLEURGB<BFHNQUW'

5

2nd rotor reversed

boolean

False

True or False

6

2nd rotor ring setting

option

'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

7

2nd rotor initial value

option

'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

8

3rd (middle) rotor

editableOption

'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW'

'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW', 'KHWENRCBISXJQGOFMAPVYZDLTU<BFHNQUW', 'BYPDZMGIKQCUSATREHOJNLFWXV<BFHNQUW', 'ZANJCGDLVHIXOBRPMSWQUKFYET<BFHNQUW', 'QXBGUTOVFCZPJIHSWERYNDAMLK<BFHNQUW', 'BDCNWUEIQVFTSXALOGZJYMHKPR<BFHNQUW', 'WJUKEIABMSGFTQZVCNPHORDXYL<BFHNQUW', 'TNVCZXDIPFWQKHSJMAOYLEURGB<BFHNQUW'

9

3rd rotor reversed

boolean

False

True or False

10

3rd rotor ring setting

option

'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

11

3rd rotor initial value

option

'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

12

4th (static) rotor

editableOption

'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW'

'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW', 'KHWENRCBISXJQGOFMAPVYZDLTU<BFHNQUW', 'BYPDZMGIKQCUSATREHOJNLFWXV<BFHNQUW', 'ZANJCGDLVHIXOBRPMSWQUKFYET<BFHNQUW', 'QXBGUTOVFCZPJIHSWERYNDAMLK<BFHNQUW', 'BDCNWUEIQVFTSXALOGZJYMHKPR<BFHNQUW', 'WJUKEIABMSGFTQZVCNPHORDXYL<BFHNQUW', 'TNVCZXDIPFWQKHSJMAOYLEURGB<BFHNQUW'

13

4th rotor reversed

boolean

False

True or False

14

4th rotor ring setting

option

'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

15

4th rotor initial value

option

'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

16

5th (right-hand, static) rotor

editableOption

'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW'

'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW', 'KHWENRCBISXJQGOFMAPVYZDLTU<BFHNQUW', 'BYPDZMGIKQCUSATREHOJNLFWXV<BFHNQUW', 'ZANJCGDLVHIXOBRPMSWQUKFYET<BFHNQUW', 'QXBGUTOVFCZPJIHSWERYNDAMLK<BFHNQUW', 'BDCNWUEIQVFTSXALOGZJYMHKPR<BFHNQUW', 'WJUKEIABMSGFTQZVCNPHORDXYL<BFHNQUW', 'TNVCZXDIPFWQKHSJMAOYLEURGB<BFHNQUW'

17

5th rotor reversed

boolean

False

True or False

18

5th rotor ring setting

option

'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

19

5th rotor initial value

option

'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

20

Reflector

editableOption

'AN BC FG IE KD LU MH OR TS VZ WQ XJ YP'

'AN BC FG IE KD LU MH OR TS VZ WQ XJ YP'

21

Plugboard

string

''

''

22

Typex keyboard emulation

option

'None'

'None', 'Encrypt', 'Decrypt'

23

Strict output

boolean

True

True or False

Recipe template

Important

This is a call template built from the documented defaults. Replace placeholder values such as empty keys, paths, patterns, or lookup data before running it.

from pychef import bake

input_value = "example"
args = ['MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW', False, 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW', False, 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW', False, 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW', False, 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW', False, 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'AN BC FG IE KD LU MH OR TS VZ WQ XJ YP', '', 'None', True]
result = bake(input_value, [{"op": 'Typex', "args": args}])
print(result)

Pipeline example

from pychef import Pipeline

args = ['MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW', False, 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW', False, 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW', False, 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW', False, 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW', False, 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'AN BC FG IE KD LU MH OR TS VZ WQ XJ YP', '', 'None', True]
transform = Pipeline().then('Typex', *args)
result = transform("example")

Dedicated operation module

The registered entry point lives in pychef.operations.by_operation.typex. Direct calls receive the input value and a positional argument tuple:

from pychef.operations.by_operation.typex import run

result = run("example", tuple(['MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW', False, 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW', False, 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW', False, 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW', False, 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'MCYLPQUVRXGSAOWNBJEZDTFKHI<BFHNQUW', False, 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', 'AN BC FG IE KD LU MH OR TS VZ WQ XJ YP', '', 'None', True]))
pychef.operations.by_operation.typex.run(value, args)

Run this operation using its shared internal implementation.

Parameters:

  • value (str | bytes)

  • args (Sequence[Any])

Return type:

str | bytes