mlg245@uxf.cso.uiuc.edu (04/14/88)
Hmm, I wonder if this will get from here to the Net. I'll just wait and see if I get all sorts of responses from far away lands, like Kansas or Wisonsin. But enough rambling... I just found this newgroup, and I have an essential question. I wouldn't ask it, but I am sure there are other people who would love to take advantage of what is here, and can't quite figure it out. Here it is: I have both ARC521 and PKARC version 3.4. Now, when I download the long files that seem to be filled with ASCII garbage to my IBM, how do I extract the binary files? I have read the included documentation and everyhting. Thanks in advance, Michael Golden mlg245@uxf.cso.uiuc.edu
berger@clio.las.uiuc.edu (04/16/88)
That depends on the format of the ASCII files you have. arc and pxarc
expect file archives in a specific format. When things are posted to
the net, they may be arc files, but are often encoded in yet another
format. Shell archives (shar files, not to be confused with Sea type
arc files) are decoded using /bin/sh on the shar file, after stripping
off any mail, notes, or news headers. uuencoded files may be decoded
with uudecode, which should be on your local machine.
Once you've decoded the file from shar or uuencode format (if
necessary), if you then end up with an arc file, you can transfer
it to your local microcomputer (in binary mode. If you use Kermit,
don't forget to set file type binary on the host end) and then use
arc or pkxarc. If there's an executable binary in the archive
file, it will be extracted at that point.
To summarize:
First determine the format of the text file. If necessary, strip off
mail, notes, or news headers, and run it through uudecode or /bin/sh.
Then transfer the file in binary mode to your local machine, and de-
arc it.
Mike Berger
Department of Statistics
Science, Technology, and Society
University of Illinois
berger@clio.las.uiuc.edu
{ihnp4 | convex | pur-ee}!uiucuxc!clio!berger