[comp.sys.mac.apps] How do I use mcvert? Is there any documentation?

morgan@ooc.uva.nl (Chris Morgan/RIKS) (02/06/91)

I have recently downloaded mcvert-15.shar from sumex and I have sh'd and made
it etc without problems. But I am trying to find out how to use it correctly.
No documentation came with it so I am at a bit of a loss.

I can produce a .bin file from a .hqx file and I must say it is *MUCH* faster
than Stuffit (although I am still a great fan of Stuffit) but what do I
do with the .bin file? I have tried to FTP the .bin file to my Mac with
NCSA Telnet in MacBinary mode but when I then try to decode the file the
problems started to emerge.

I'm sure i'm doing something fundimentally wrong but what???

I'd be very glad of any information relating to the use of this very useful
product.

Please mail (as well as post) any response to me at morgan@riks.nl

Thanks in advance. 

barleben@sun1.ruf.uni-freiburg.de (Friedrich Barleben) (02/07/91)

morgan@ooc.uva.nl (Chris Morgan/RIKS) writes:

>I have recently downloaded mcvert-15.shar from sumex and I have sh'd and made
>it etc without problems. But I am trying to find out how to use it correctly.
>No documentation came with it so I am at a bit of a loss.


I'm pretty sure there is a mcvert.1 file included. It contains the
documentation. I think you have to put this file into some man/man1
directory, make sure your MANPATH knows about it and type "man mcvert"
to see the documentation. It should look like this:

MCVERT(LOCAL)     MISC. REFERENCE MANUAL PAGES      MCVERT(LOCAL)



NAME
     mcvert - BinHex 4.0 to MacBinary file conversion utility

SYNOPSIS
     mcvert [-options] name... [[-options] name...]...

DESCRIPTION
     The mcvert program translates MacIntosh files from one  for-
     mat  to  another.   The  primary  formats in which MacIntosh
     files are represented on non-Macs are:

     MacBinary:
          An eight  bit  wide  representation  of  the  data  and
          resource  forks  of  a  Mac file and of relevant Finder
          information, MacBinary files are  recognized  as  "spe-
          cial"  by  several MacIntosh terminal emulators.  These...

If you cannot get it working I could send you the documentation by
e-mail.

Greetings, Fiete
-- 
mail:  barleben@sun1.ruf.uni-freiburg.de  | Fiete Barleben             
phone: +49-761-203-3410 or +49-761-702503 | Institut fuer Biologie III  
fax:   +49-761-203-2745 or +49-761-702503 | Schaenzlestrasse 1         
BTX:   *0761702503#                       | D-7800 Freiburg          

dana@are.berkeley.edu (Dana E. Keil) (02/07/91)

morgan@ooc.uva.nl (Chris Morgan/RIKS) writes:

>I have recently downloaded mcvert-15.shar from sumex and I have sh'd and made
>it etc without problems. But I am trying to find out how to use it correctly.
>No documentation came with it so I am at a bit of a loss.

>I can produce a .bin file from a .hqx file and I must say it is *MUCH* faster
>than Stuffit (although I am still a great fan of Stuffit) but what do I
>do with the .bin file? I have tried to FTP the .bin file to my Mac with
>NCSA Telnet in MacBinary mode but when I then try to decode the file the
>problems started to emerge.

>I'm sure i'm doing something fundimentally wrong but what???

>I'd be very glad of any information relating to the use of this very useful
>product.

>Please mail (as well as post) any response to me at morgan@riks.nl

When you type the command mcvert filename.hqx at the UNIX command line
it should echo something like "converting filename.sit !SIT !SIT".
In that case, when you ftp the file between the Mac and the UNIX
machine (making sure that the transfer is set for binary on _both_
sides) the result should be an ordinary Stuffit archive that will
respond to a double-click for unstuffing with stuffit (assuming you
have stuffit or unstuffit on the disk). It should have the ordinary
stuffit icon when viewed in the Finder, if it doesn't something wrong
happened. One possibility is that the .hqx file was not a stuffit
archive (although usually they are) or that the file was not a
MacBinary file. Try some other files to see if they work in order to
determine if there is simply something wrong with the file you are
currently trying to convert.

I notice you used the word "decode" in relation to the beginning of
the problem you're having. You are not, by chance, trying to use the
stuffit decode binhex file menu choice on a file that has already been
decoded by mcvert are you? That wouldn't work because all you need to
do for a file that has been processed by mcvert is to unstuff it.

Hope this helps.
--
Dana E. Keil                Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics
University of California, Berkeley                      dana@are.berkeley.edu