The binary file header, or ``None`` if missing. See
        :class:`BinFile's<.BinFile>` `header_encoding` argument for
        encoding options.

def header(self):
        """The binary file header, or ``None`` if missing. See
        :class:`BinFile's<.BinFile>` `header_encoding` argument for
        encoding options.

        """

        if self._header_encoding is None:
            return self._header
        else:
            return self._header.decode(self._header_encoding)