cmcurtin@bluemoon.uucp (Matthew Curtin) (01/11/91)
Someone asked a while back if it is possible to write data from a II to a Mac... If you have a IIGS, the answer is, theoretically, yes. In order to do this, you would need a FST (File System Translator) for Mac OS in your /*/system/fsts folder. This will allow the finder to read mac disks (they can read the files, not execute them). This would allow you to save your data on Mac disks, allowing you to transfer them with a Mac file translator. I do not, though, know where I could get a Mac FSTS, although I would guess that one exists. If anyone knows where to get FSTs for Mac, or MS-DOS, please tell me where! :-) If you don't have a IIGS, this cannot work the way I said. --- C. Matthew Curtin P.O. Box 27081 cmcurtin@bluemoon.uucp Columbus, OH 43227 cmcurtin@pro-tcc.cts.com Apple II Forever!
AABENSON@MTUS5.BITNET (01/13/91)
There are programs to convert between the two, though. Also, the format can be read easily by the Apple 3.5 with just a few easy SmartPort calls. What is more difficult is to manipulate the Mac HFS filesystem.
SHBOUM@MACALSTR.EDU (01/13/91)
Earlier, Matthew Curtin wrote >Someone asked a while back if it is possible to write data from a II to a >Mac... >If you have a IIGS, the answer is, theoretically, yes. In order to do >this, you would need a FST (File System Translator) for Mac OS in your >/*/system/fsts folder. This will allow the finder to read mac disks (they >can read the files, not execute them). This would allow you to save your >data on Mac disks, allowing you to transfer them with a Mac file >translator. I do not, though, know where I could get a Mac FSTS, although >I would guess that one exists. If anyone knows where to get FSTs for Mac, >or MS-DOS, please tell me where! :-) >If you don't have a IIGS, this cannot work the way I said. As far as Macintosh disks go, although the HFS FST would make transfering files across the systems trivial for the IIGS, you don't need the FST to transfer Apple II files to the Mac. Because the two computer lines "share" hardware such as hard drives, the main barrier is writing the software to be able to create files on a HFS device. For a normal 800K disk on a 3.5" Apple Drive, this is no problem because the disks are formatted the same. Thats why you can sector edit Macintosh disks on a II. All the program has to do is store the information in a manner that HFS understands. You won't be able to run anything, but it will work for transferring text files, GIFS, or documents that can be read by multiple systems. However, problems arise when transferring files to a HD HFS disk won't work because Apple II's don't have a 1.44M format. I think it should work with Hard Drives as well, but I'm not sure. But this is not limited just to the IIGS. Any II with a 3.5" disk drive can do this as long as the software exists. Also, currently no "alien" operating systems FSTs exist for the IIGS (such as Macintosh or IBM) :-( | Hal Bouma | Working on a sig! | Macalester College | | Mail to SHBOUM@MACALSTR.EDU |