eilers@stolaf.UUCP (David V. Eilers) (01/20/86)
A proposal for future file transfer methods between a Macintosh and a Unix
host.
Adapt the widely used MacBinary standard to allow automatic conversion of
files upon uploading/downloading.
New programs needed to accomplish this:
*)An xmodem file transfer utility (xmac) for the Unix end to send and receive
files that would include these specific features:
xmac -r (filename) Receive file from Mac to Unix. If a filename
is not specified, the transfered file would use
the filename that files has on the Mac. If the
file that was received is in MacBinary format,
.mb (MacBinary) would be added to the end of
the filename. i.e. filename.mb
xmac -s filename Send file from Unix to Mac. If it is a
MacBinary file, the terminal program is
responsible to decode it upon download and
name it accordingly. If it is a text file,
the file on the Mac will be named "filename",
or as per terminal instructions.
*)A converter (macbin) program to change MacBinary files to mailable (postable)
"text" and back again. It should perform the following functions:
macbin -e filename Encodes MacBinary files into text (hex) files
that can be mailed or posted. For the sake of
compatibility, the encoded form would be
BinHex 4.0.
A flag would be inserted before (This file must
be converted with BinHex 4.0) and after
(suggestions? the flag alone should not
through off BinHex 4.0's crc). These flags
would facilitate automatic stripping of
extraneous text, such as mail headers.
The resulting file would be named "filename.hqx"
macbin -es filename Included with the encode mode should be some
provision for splitting long files into smaller
ones that will not be chopped up be the
64k (approx) limit on mail of some net machines.
The resulting files would be named
"filename.hqx1", "filename.hqx2" etc.
macbin -d filename Decodes Mac files from BinHex 4.0 format into
MacBinary format. If there exists two or more
files named "filename.hqx1", "filename.hqx2",
etc., then it will filter out extraneous text,
join the two files, and then convert the file.
The new filename would be "filename.mb".
General comments:
*)Using MacBinary format will keep things standard. There is no need to have
a second standard in this case. It also means wide compatibility with
every terminal program that supports MacBinary (MacTerminal 2.0).
*)Using xmodem will also ensure compatibility. Most terminal programs that
support MacBinary have provisions for supporting it through xmodem.
Many Unix machines lack an xmodem transfer utility, hence the need for one.
On the other hand, thoughs programs that support only Kermit (MacKermit 0.8)
should be able to use the standard Kermit utility many Unix machines support.
*)Using BinHex 4.0 as a mailing standard has many advantages. To start with,
it is already the current standard. There is no need for another one.
More importantly, it remains the standard, so that people who wish, can
go along using macput and xbin with no problem. On the flip side, things
mailed or posted by those using older methods can still be downloaded using
the new method. And those wishing to use standard ascii receive and convert
with BinHex 4.0 can still do so.
*)Idealy, these programs will be portable and able to work on both 16 bit and
32 bit machines (ie PDP and VAX) running under different versions of Unix.
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I am not a programer and this is only a proposle. If any person is interested
on working on such programs, *PLEASE* DO! Also, any comments on changes or
improvements to this proposal are welcome. If there is anyone already working
on this project, or anyone who would like to start, drop me a note. (I will
inform you of any other person who may be working on it so you can get in
contact with that person to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort and help
each other out.)
Dave Eilers
ihnp4!stolaf!eilers
(Standard disclaimer.)tim@ism780c.UUCP (Tim Smith) (01/22/86)
One suggestion: use the extension .bin for a MacBinary file, not .mb. This is the extension that is used on Compuserve for MacBinary files, and I believe it is also used at other places. -- Tim Smith sdcrdcf!ism780c!tim || ima!ism780!tim || ihnp4!cithep!tim