Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!watmath!iuvax!mailrus!ulowell!cg-atla!granger
From: granger@cg-atla.UUCP (Pete Granger)
Newsgroups: comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d
Subject: Getting files from c.b.i.p (explanation)
Message-ID: <7479@cg-atla.UUCP>
Date: 28 Jul 89 13:16:08 GMT
Reply-To: granger@cg-atla.UUCP (Pete Granger)
Organization: Agfa Compugraphic Division
Lines: 90

Maybe I shouldn't be doing this, because my ways for doing things may not work
for everyone. But this should give people a little help, at least, with getting
these files to their PC's. Anything I say is just based on my own experience,
on a VAX running Ultrix.

The binaries in comp.binaries.ibm.pc have been zoo'ed, uploaded, uuencoded,
split up, and posted. You just have to reverse the process.

1) Get each of the parts saved from news onto your unix machine. This is
   usually best done with the 'w' command while you're looking at the article.
   Each article should have a part number in the subject line, and it is
   helpful to use that number in the filename that you save to. For example,
   the six parts of the "foo" program would be foo01 through foo06. Be
   careful: the parts don't always appear in the right order, so check that
   subject line. (This undoes the "posted" part.)

2) Copy the first file to another name, and save the summary that appears
   at the top of the file. This is optional, but you'll probably want it
   later.

3) Strip off the additional information in the file. This is done by deleting
   the "cut here" lines and everything above and below them. In the first file,
   you will be deleting everything above the "begin 644 foo.zoo" line. In the
   last file, you will be deleting everything below the "end" line. All of the
   strange looking stuff that you are leaving is uuencoded data (We'll get to
   that later). Now "cat" all of the files, in order, into another file, such
   as "cat foo01 foo02 foo03 foo04 foo05 foo06 > foo.all". Wild cards are
   allowed, of course. Do *not* cat them into foo.zoo, since that may be
   reserved for the uudecode output. (This undoes the "split up" part.)

   If you'd rather not do this by hand, you can use the "combine" script
   below (I forget who posted it, but thanks!). Just say
   "combine foo01 ... foo06" or whatever is appropriate to the files you've
   saved. Make sure you give all the parts, in order. Wild cards also work,
   so you could say "combine foo0*" or whatever you need to distinguish the
   files you want combined. You'll get a file with the ".zoo" suffix, which
   is what you need. (This undoes the "split up" and "uuencoded" parts. You
   can skip to step 5.)

#! /bin/sh
# This is the comp.binaries.ibm.pc script called "combine".
# It concatenates and uudecodes the important parts of files from
# comp.binaries.ibm.pc.
cat $* | sed '/^END/,/^BEGIN/d'| uudecode

4) If you're reading this, you must not be using the script. After step (3),
   you now have your foo.all file, which is a uuencoded version of the
   zoo archive. Just say "uudecode foo.all" and uudecode will create a
   file with the ".zoo" suffix, which is what you need for your PC. (This
   undoes the "uuencoded" part.)

5) Verify that the zoo archive is okay. In the summary that is included in
   the first file of any binary, the file size and a checksum are given
   for the .zoo file. These can be checked by running "sum" on the file
   and checking its size. Both are done with the script below. There is
   also something called "brik" which can be used to verify checksums (it's
   also mentioned in the file header), but I don't have it myself. "sumsize"
   has always worked fine for me.

# Gives the checksum and filesize for comparison with the moderator's notes
# in comp.binaries.ibm.pc
#
sum $1
wc $1

5) Download the file to your PC. I use kermit in binary mode, but other
   protocols should work just as well. Just remember that it has to be
   binary mode. (This undoes the "uploaded" part.)

6) Now you need the ZOO executable on your PC. A new version of this was
   posted just a short time ago, so everyone should be able to get it. (As
   an aside, I think it should be posted regularly, perhaps every month,
   so that new users can get it when they need it.) First you'll want to
   run "zoo -t foo.zoo". The -t option tests the file for integrity. If
   you get errors, you should probably go back to step (5). If it tests out
   okay, then run "zoo -extract foo.zoo" and all the files will be extracted
   from the archive. Note that there is a shorter version of the -extract
   option, but I can never remember what it is. It's given in zoo.man, though.
   (This undoes the "zoo'ed" part.)

7) At this point, you should have the file(s) as it was created on the PC,
   and you can use it normally.

Hope that this helps a few people, and that I didn't step on anyone else's
jurisdiction.
-- 
Pete Granger    ...!{ulowell,ginosko,decvax,ism780c,ima}!cg-atla!granger
   "The tab, is there, to open the can.
    The can, is there, to hold in the Spam."
                                             - Weird Al Yankovic, "Spam"