egisin@Math.Waterloo.EDU (Eric Gisin @ University of Waterloo) (05/21/87)
I'm trying to document the variations of uuencode format, and would like to acknowledge the various authors. Here is what I've figured out; if there are errors could someone let me know? The original version was written by someone at Berkeley. It was enhanced with an "encoding table" and the ability to restore missing trailing blanks to avoid problems over RSCS. I believe this is called the Dumas version. It was further enhanced to optionally split the output by JPHD. Does anyone know the full name of these authors, or of any other enhancements to the "standard". I'll be posting a portable version of the enhanced version with full documentation in the future. Eric Gisin, University of Waterloo InterNet [CSNet/UseNet]: egisin@Math.Waterloo.EDU dumb UUCP: watmath!egisin
john@viper.UUCP (05/26/87)
In article <7702@orchid.UUCP> egisin@Math.Waterloo.EDU (Eric Gisin @ University of Waterloo) writes: > >The original version was written by someone at Berkeley. >It was enhanced with an "encoding table" and the ability >to restore missing trailing blanks to avoid problems over RSCS. >I believe this is called the Dumas version. >It was further enhanced to optionally split the output by JPHD. >Does anyone know the full name of these authors, >or of any other enhancements to the "standard". > Eric, JPHD is Jean-Pierre H. Dumas the author of "the Dumas version". His full autograph/address follows: +--------------------------------------------------+ | Jean-Pierre H. Dumas | | | | network@frsac11 (bitnet) | | network%frsac11.bitnet@wiscvm.wisc.edu (arpanet) | | ..!ihnp4!frsac11.bitnet!network (usenet ?) | | dumas@sumex-aim.stanford.edu (arpanet) | +--------------------------------------------------+ >I'll be posting a portable version of the enhanced version >with full documentation in the future. I would recommend contacting Jean-Pierre to chat about the enhanced version, your version, and subjects related to portability... :-) I think JPHD is planning to release a new version sometime soon to solve a few problems encountered with en/decoding files from/to other versions of UUENCODE/UUDECODE. The changes may prove useful. --- John Stanley (john@viper.UUCP) Software Consultant - DynaSoft Systems UUCP: ...{amdahl,ihnp4,rutgers}!{meccts,dayton}!viper!john
langdon@lll-lcc.aRpA (Bruce Langdon) (05/28/87)
In article <1046@viper.Lynx.MN.ORG>, john@viper.Lynx.MN.ORG (John Stanley) writes: > In article <7702@orchid.UUCP> egisin@Math.Waterloo.EDU (Eric Gisin @ University of Waterloo) writes: > > > >The original version was written by someone at Berkeley. > >It was enhanced with an "encoding table" and the ability > >to restore missing trailing blanks to avoid problems over RSCS. > > > >...any other enhancements to the "standard". > > atob and btoa are part of the compress package, freely available. btoa makes a more compact encoding than uuencode. Does it have trouble with weird (IBM etc) sites? If you use compress first, you REALLY save on the size of your ascii file to transmit. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bruce Langdon L-472 langdon@lll-lcc.ARPA Physics Department 339650%d@nmfecc.ARPA Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Livermore, CA 94550 (415) 422-5444 UUCP: ..{ihnp4,qantel,ucdavis,pyramid,styx,topaz}!lll-lcc!langdon ..{gymble,ll-xn,seismo}!lll-crg!lll-lcc!langdon
dfk@mcvax.UUCP (05/28/87)
In article <886@lll-lcc.aRpA> langdon@lll-lcc.aRpA (Bruce Langdon) writes: ^^^^ asking for trouble, eh? > ... >btoa makes a more compact encoding than uuencode. Does it have trouble >with weird (IBM etc) sites? > ... I have sent some KB via BITNET using tar cf - tosend | compress | btoa | mail user@host.bitnet So far it has worked fine crossing VM, MVS and VMS sites on the way. The newer versions of compress also have a shellscript called tarmail that makes this easier by splitting the result up for you. Daniel Karrenberg Future Net: <dfk@cwi.nl> CWI, Amsterdam Oldie Net: mcvax!dfk Because It's There Net: DFK@MCVAX -- Daniel Karrenberg Future Net: <dfk@cwi.nl> CWI, Amsterdam Oldie Net: mcvax!dfk Because It's There Net: DFK@MCVAX
egisin@orchid.UUCP (Eric Gisin) (05/29/87)
I'll admit atob is better that uuencode, but there is a lot of existing archived software in uuencode format. The problem with bitnet (in addition to stripping trailing blanks) is that lack of a standard for ascii/ebcdic translation on systems that need to translate between them (Unix, VMS, and TCP/IP on VM and MVS). (you would think the Bitnet people could adopt a standard and encourage its members to adopt it). There is an enhancement to uuencode that includes an encoding table at the beginning so that any one-to-one mis-translations can be reversed when decoding. (atob could enhanced likewise).
meissner@dg_rtp.UUCP (05/30/87)
In article <886@lll-lcc.aRpA> langdon@lll-lcc.aRpA (Bruce Langdon) writes: /* stuff about uuencode/uudecode deleted */ > atob and btoa are part of the compress package, freely available. > btoa makes a more compact encoding than uuencode. Does it have trouble > with weird (IBM etc) sites? If you use compress first, you REALLY save > on the size of your ascii file to transmit. One thing to note about atob/btoa is that will append upto 3 (or 4?) null bytes upon conversion from printable chars to binary. Compress evidently can handle it, but I was surprized when I was using them without compress. -- Michael Meissner, Data General Uucp: ...mcnc!rti!dg_rtp!meissner It is 11pm, do you know what your sendmail and uucico are doing?
mouse@mcgill-vision.UUCP (06/09/87)
In article <1999@dg_rtp.UUCP>, meissner@dg_rtp.UUCP (Michael Meissner) writes: > In article <886@lll-lcc.aRpA> langdon@lll-lcc.aRpA (Bruce Langdon) writes: >> [recommends using atob/btoa rather than uuencode/uudecode] > One thing to note about atob/btoa is that will append upto 3 (or 4?) > null bytes upon conversion from printable chars to binary. You must have a broken atob (or btoa, or both). % echo -n x | btoa | atob | cat -v x% echo -n xx | btoa | atob | cat -v xx% echo -n xxx | btoa | atob | cat -v xxx% echo -n xxxx | btoa | atob | cat -v xxxx% No nulls anywhere. der Mouse (mouse@mcgill-vision.uucp)