Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84 exptools; site ihwpt.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxn!ihnp4!ihwpt!dafa From: dafa@ihwpt.UUCP (David Fay) Newsgroups: net.micro.mac Subject: Re: Red Ryder V7 question... Message-ID: <690@ihwpt.UUCP> Date: Mon, 10-Feb-86 20:13:44 EST Article-I.D.: ihwpt.690 Posted: Mon Feb 10 20:13:44 1986 Date-Received: Wed, 12-Feb-86 06:38:03 EST References: <1009@decwrl.DEC.COM> Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 55 > I have seen recent net articles indicating that Red Ryder's XMODEM will NOT work > with XBIN, and indeed it won't. However, I'm a bit confused since it SEEMS > to indicate that it will work with the MacBinary format. Isn't that the non- > standard XMODEM used by MacTerminal? ------------------- > TO SCOTT WATSON (RR's author): > > You have done a marvelous job on RR, but I wonder why you have not make it > workable with XBIN. There are obvious advantages to letting the host un-binhex > the file and just place the application file (document) on the Mac's desktop > for you, without the extra binhex step. > In file transfers there are two issues that are more or less independent. The first is what format the transfered file should be in and the second is what transfer protocol to use. Both MacTerminal transfers and MacBinary transfers use XMODEM protocols. However, they use slightly different file formats. MacBinary transfers use a format in which an application is sent as a single file, which includes a header, data, and resource fork. MacTerminal transfers use a format in which each of the three forks is sent as a separate file. So MacBinary does one XMODEM transfer when MacTerminal does three. Since xbin unpacks a binhex'd file into three separate Unix files, it is easiest to use it with MacTerminal type transfers. However, as someone pointed out recently, all you have to do to transfer the files with MacBinary is to pad each file out to a multiple of 128 bytes, cat them together, and transfer them with straight XMODEM. Awhile ago I asked Scott Watson whether he planned to add MacTerminal transfers to Red Ryder. He said he was waiting to see whether it was dropped from MacTerminal 2.0. Since it wasn't, I suppose there is some possibility he will add that capability to Red Ryder. A better approach though would be to convert the Unix file management programs like xbin, macput, and macget to MacBinary. A friend of mine will be releasing some programs to do this shortly. I expect MacTerminal transfers to die a natural death before too long. By the way, I just discovered an annoying feature of MacTerminal 2.0. When you specify MacBinary as the mode of transfer, MacTerminal still scans for the MacTerminal transfer handshake (). If it sees one it goes right into MacTerminal transfer despite what you've told it. This means that if you want to set up macput to initiate MacBinary transfers with so that VersaTerm will automatically receive MacBinary transfers, you are no longer compatible with MacTerminal. It sure would be nice if the terminal program authors would get together and straighten out this mess. Does anyone know what Microphone does? -- -------------------- David Fay AT&T Bell Laboratories Naperville, IL 60566 ihnp4!ihexp!dafa