KMILES@CC.USU.EDU ("Kurt Miles, VAX Consultant") (03/17/89)
I just saw a note in tne mail about some folks having problems getting the binscii file to work. Seems they got a series of prompts, then either it didn't save the file, or saved it as a BINARY instead of a SYSTEM file. Here is what I learned: If the file is in executioner format, the last lines of the file are the commands to save the file. You have seen them (bsave XXX,axxx,lxxx). The line before them is blank, and the linebefore that is a lind of numbers and letters. The catch is that the blank line MUST BE _BLANK_. Not even a space!!! Just a carriage return. That blank line tell the decompressor that it is through, and to look for instructions to save the file. If there is anything, even a space, in there you will have a problem, and it probably will not save your file correctly, if it saves it at all. I have seen that for some reason, the files I get in executioner format from our VAX mainframe seem to have 5-8 spaces n that blank line. I have to edit them to remove those spaces, and I have never had a problem since I started doing that. You can edit either on the mainframe, or the Apple, if the file isn't too big, but make sure if you use the apple that you print or store the edited file back tothe disk as ans ASCII text file, not an appple- works files or any other kind of word processor file. Hope this helps those of you having trouble. It took me a while to find this out, and it drove me nuts for a long time. Kurt Miles KMILES@USU