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From: jeffe@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (George Jefferson )
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.comm
Subject: Re: I don't get it (ftp, binhex, unsit files on unix network)
Keywords: help
Message-ID: <38548@netnews.upenn.edu>
Date: 1 Mar 91 20:30:08 GMT
References: <1991Mar1.150029.4001@fwi.uva.nl>
Sender: news@netnews.upenn.edu
Reply-To: jeffe@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (George Jefferson )
Organization: University of Pennsylvania
Lines: 37

the header of unsit-15.shar on sumex-aim.stanford.edu (info-mac/unix )
contains a reasonable explination

:after i downloaded a file like foo.sit (yes i did it in binary mode) and tried
:"unsit". I couldn't find any documentation about unsit and mcvert so please...

:I would also like to know how i convert a macbinary file to a macintosh file
:(preferably also on a unix machine)

I think here is your conceptual problem.  A 'macintosh' file can not
exist on a unix machine, hence the formats ".bin" or macbinary,
".hqx" or binhex, and the (IMO obsolete) macbput/macbget format which
is also confusingly refered to as macbinary.
( a 'mbput' 'file' will be three unix files with extensions like .rsrc )

unsit will read either 'macbinary' format, but only outputs mbput files,
so there are a lot of steps...   say you start with foo.sit.hqx
mcvert foo.sit.hqx --> foo.sit.bin
unsit foo.sit.bin --> three files for each file in the stuffit archive
if you have a terminal which supports mbput you can download these directly
_or_ get macbin  (macbinary.shar@sumex)  to
put the .data, .rsrc,.. files back together to create " .bin" files

" .bin" files must be transferred in _macbinary_ mode ( not binary )
(which is more widely supported, and works with kermit, zmodem, etc)

In either case the conversion from 'macbinary' to mac format is
handled by the terminal software. (you should get real double clickable
files with icons, etc)

Personally I use mcvert, and let stuffit do the rest on my mac (SE)
It is less hassle, and the 'stuffed' files are smaller so 
you make up time on the download.


--
-george            george@mech.seas.upenn.edu