[sci.electronics] What is a zoo file?

rand@oakhill.UUCP (Rand Gray) (05/26/90)

I noticed a few days ago a reference to a schematic for an IR
decoder or some such which was available in a uuencoded zoo file.
Can someone describe what is a zoo file?  And, of course, what
utility is required to display it (I assume it's a graphical
representation).

Rand Gray
Motorola Microprocessor Products Group
Austin, Texas

ee88ppk@EE.Surrey.Ac.UK (KAVANAGH Peter Paul Damien) (05/26/90)

In article <3347@zeta.oakhill.UUCP> rand@oakhill.UUCP (Rand Gray) writes:
>I noticed a few days ago a reference to a schematic for an IR
>decoder or some such which was available in a uuencoded zoo file.
>Can someone describe what is a zoo file?  And, of course, what

Well, a zoo file is a 'packed' data file. You need a program to unpack this 
file, which runs on PC compatibles. 

As the original posting stated, you first need to run the file through uudecode,
a Unix program to convert an ASCII file back to its original binary version.

After transferring the file ( using KERMIT or other file transfer ) to a PC,
running the ZOO program produces a .DOC file ( containing the instructions )
and a .GIF file ( containing the schematic.

However, when I tried this, the ZOO program threw up some error messages!
All that I could figure was that the original posting must have had some
errors when we received it. Could it be re-posted, please? ( Or email to me
at the address below. ).

Hope this answers your question.

mjw06513@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Mary Winters) (05/28/90)

In article <23578@rphroy.UUCP> rhaar@rcsac1.UUCP (Bob Haar CS50) writes:
>
>What is a ZOO file? I have seen references to a ZOO utility for
>MS-DOS that is some kind of archiver or file compressor. Is this
>the same? Is there a corresponding ZOO utility for UNIX systems?


Yes, ZOO is a file compression/archiving utility. I chose ZOO because the 
source code is freely available and it has been ported to scads of different
platforms (including UNIX, MS-DOS, the Mac, and Amiga). I don't know 
offhand where you can get the sources, but I know they're available all over
the place (including many BBSi and anonymous ftp sites). And speaking of
anonymous ftp sites, the Zapper plans (as well as other video control info)
now have an official directory of their own on mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu
[128.174.73.105]. You'll find the uncompressed versions of the Zapper plans
(including the recently posted PostScript schematic) as well as some other
stuff in the video directory there. If anyone out there has anything nifty
in the way of video equipment control specs/software/projects, we welcome
your contributions. 


--
uv@f69.n233.z1.fidonet.org
Suffering from PMS (Presentation Manager Syndrome)

jeff@carroll1.cc.edu (Jeff Bartig) (05/29/90)

In article <1990May26.134949.8760@EE.Surrey.Ac.UK> ee88ppk@EE.Surrey.Ac.UK (KAVANAGH Peter Paul Damien) writes:
|In article <3347@zeta.oakhill.UUCP> rand@oakhill.UUCP (Rand Gray) writes:
|>I noticed a few days ago a reference to a schematic for an IR
|>decoder or some such which was available in a uuencoded zoo file.
|>Can someone describe what is a zoo file?  And, of course, what
|
|Well, a zoo file is a 'packed' data file. You need a program to unpack this 
|file, which runs on PC compatibles. 

ZOO is available for many different systems.  I have both the
IBM PC and Unix versions.  I believe it is also available for
the Atari ST, Amiga, Mac, and VMS.

|As the original posting stated, you first need to run the file through uudecode,
|a Unix program to convert an ASCII file back to its original binary version.
|
|After transferring the file ( using KERMIT or other file transfer ) to a PC,
|running the ZOO program produces a .DOC file ( containing the instructions )
|and a .GIF file ( containing the schematic.
|
|However, when I tried this, the ZOO program threw up some error messages!
|All that I could figure was that the original posting must have had some
|errors when we received it. Could it be re-posted, please? ( Or email to me
|at the address below. ).

I just uudecoded it and tested the zoo file on our Unix system.
ZOO said that the archive was just fine.  You probably forgot to
use binary mode when transfering the file to your PC.  The ZOO
version does not need to be reposted.  Perhaps the two files
contained in the ZOO archive should be posted separately for
those who do not have ZOO.  It there is interest in this, I could
do it.

Jeff

-- 
 Jeff Bartig, Carroll College   |     "The sooner you fall
 jeff@carroll1.cc.edu           |   behind, the more time you
 uunet!marque!carroll1!jeff     |       have to catch up."