Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!bellcore!decvax!mandrill!gatech!rutgers!mailrus!utah-gr!utah-cs!cs.utexas.edu!utastro!werner From: werner@utastro.UUCP (Werner Uhrig) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: Re: BinHex 4.0 Usage Summary: don't capture files (too easily corrupted) - download them! combine, clean, xbin, etc... on the host-machine before downloading Message-ID: <2930@utastro.UUCP> Date: 24 Jul 88 08:22:55 GMT References: <2102@ssc-vax.UUCP> <7573@cup.portal.com> <3250@juniper.uucp> Distribution: comp Organization: U. Texas, Astronomy, Austin, TX Lines: 94 In article <3250@juniper.uucp>, wizard@juniper.uucp (John Onorato) writes: > I, too, have had problems with binhex (tho it might not be binhex that is > the problem... :-). I have captured a few files from the comp.binaries.mac > newsgroup. Red Ryder, when I capture the text, puts it in a plain vanilla > text editor for me. Then I open the file with Red Writer and take out > the -- MORE n% --s. Finally, I run binhex on the final file, and I always > get a CRC error! What am I doing wrong? Has anyone had (more) success? uh, were do I start - you are doing things about as inefficiently and unreliably as one can think of..... but we all started this way, I suspect. Maybe someone can dig out an old article which gives a tutorial about things... or write a new one (to be updated and reposted at regular intervals in the future) ... here is the quick, short and dirty ... (but, hopefully, correct) 1) DO NOT capture the text - download your files with a protocol that does error detection; NEVER-EVER capture text when you cannot afford line-noise corrupting it. Red Ryder has error-detecting modes - plus it can do the download in the background. If you do not have the RR-documentation and can't figure it out, use something like Kermit, which is in the Public Domain ... the same is true for most other commercial communication programs such as VersaTerm, MicroPhone, MacTerminal, etc ... NOTE: you have to use a program like XMODEM, MACPUT, KERMIT, ... on your USEnet host for downloading (KERMIT 0.90 was distributed in comp.binaries.mac recently; it's high time the other programs get passed around again, I suspect). 2) there are a variety of scripts and utilities available which make combining, cleaning and downloading a snap: let me just name a few "buzzwords" naming items you want to get your hands on and learn how to use: comb-hex, clean-news, xbin, unpit, macbin, macbin2, .... quite a few more, mostly C-programs and UNIX-shell-scripts ... (yes, it's time those get posted again also ... or, maybe, we can get some regional archive-servers going (also) ... ) 3) I don't recall for sure, but I seem to remember that RR and/or RedWriter do something funny to the End-of-Line character and BinHex4 might not like that .... besides, BinHex also doesn't like garbage at the beginning of the file (just in case you forgot to remove the headers). StuffIt-1.40 doesn't care about those - another reason to use that program ... Maybe someone remembers a magazine article or Users-Group newsletter to which we can point folks (or even upload) to help neophytes get going ...?! (I can't recall any such item in the archives on SUMEX or SIMTEL20; I certainly don't have one on RASCAL and don't recall any in the other local archives on SALLY or IX1 ... can anyone help get some old newsletters from user-groups like BCS, BMUG, etc.. uploaded? I'll get them archived online once and for all.... if we get a number of tutorials uploaded, we can even get a new sub-directory going on SIMTEL20, dedicated to the topic) BTW, I don't see anyone fighting for the task of moderator, or even voice any thoughts on the topic.... scary amount of work, isn't it? Well, I sure hope you-all don't forget to write thank-you notes to Roger - and don't forget to congratulate him to the new Mr. Long!!! I saw one (or was it two) articles posted, expressing thanks to Roger - I hope, that means we all are doing the *RIGHT* and Roger's mailbox is flooded with signs of apprecia- tion for his years of work.... The reason why I feel like I need to mention this is because just today I got a note from a net-friend in Australia who has shared with us a number of his programming efforts (he even had to pay for transmission cost himself from 'Down-Under' across the Pacific) - accompanied only by a request of an occasional postcard to let him know that there are some happy users out there (no SHAREware-$s, no hint that a few bucks would be welcome to offset the cost of bringing it to us; no mention of being a poor student...) ... ...the note was letting me know that he received "another" postcard from Holland, this time, and that he was wondering why it seems that it is mainly (only?) Europeans he hears from ... When I think about it, I no longer wonder why there is so little PD or Shareware any more and why so many oldtimers are getting burnt out by the bad vibes and intolerance that seems to be more rampant than ever... I sure hope that at the "Netters-Meet" in Boston which Hammen from Wisconsin advertised here today, someone raises the glass to toast some of the people we have reason to show appreciation to: and if I get there, I hope to bring some postcards along which I'll ask everyone to sign to send to those that couldn't make it in person; heck one just might get the energy for another year of contributing and some good-vibes to tell the grand- children "about the barnstorming days of computer networks" ... but I am getting side-tracked, as I usually do at this hour ... -- -------------------->PREFERED-RETURN-ADDRESS-FOLLOWS<--------------------- (INTERNET) werner%rascal.ics.utexas.edu@cs.utexas.edu (DIRECT) werner@rascal.ics.utexas.edu (Internet: 128.83.144.1) (UUCP) ...{backbone-sites}!cs.utexas.edu!rascal.ics.utexas.edu!werner