johnston@oscar.ccm.udel.edu (02/05/91)
I noticed a problem with the BinHex 4.0 conversion feature of Compact Pro which may cause some difficulty for net people. Compact Pro fails to recognize BinHex 4.0 files that contain header text. (Most of the Mac ftp archives in BinHex 4.0 format begin with an abstract.) I assume that the problem is that Compact Pro expects a BinHex 4.0 file to *start* with the string (This file must be converted with BinHex 4.0) rather that decoding everything between "(...)" and the ":". All that is needed to make the decoder fail is to insert a single character ahead of the (...) string. Trailing garbage doesn't seem to make a difference. Otherwise, the BinHex conversion seems to be faster than that of the BinHqx DA or the StuffIts. It is possible to edit out any extraneous header info with a text editor, but this can be a hassle for long files on low memory Macs. Anybody know how to get the word to Bill Goodman? -- Bill (johnston@oscar.ccm.udel.edu) -- 38 Chambers St.; Newark, DE 19711; (302)368-1949
holzman@sequent.UUCP (Alan Holzman) (02/06/91)
In article <43720@nigel.ee.udel.edu> johnston@oscar.ccm.udel.edu writes: > >Compact Pro fails to recognize BinHex 4.0 files that contain header >text. (Most of the Mac ftp archives in BinHex 4.0 format begin with >an abstract.) I assume that the problem is that Compact Pro expects >a BinHex 4.0 file to *start* with the string (This file must be >converted with BinHex 4.0) rather that decoding everything between >"(...)" and the ":". > >It is possible to edit out any extraneous header info with a text editor, >but this can be a hassle for long files on low memory Macs. Anybody >know how to get the word to Bill Goodman? > I've already exchanged mail with Bill Goodman on Compuserve about this problem. He knows about the un-binhex problem and his answer was almost identical to Bill Johnston's posting ... remove the text leader or it won't work ! He did say that he originally had a means of removing the text leader in the Beta version, but his Beta testers complained so he removed it. He also stated that he would be adding a "more sophisticated" method (for un-binhexing ?) in the next release. He did not give a date for this next release. This is really too bad. Many people have been anxiously awaiting this new version of Compactor (Compact Pro 1.30). The hope was to finally be able to have one program that could unstuff VERY fast AND binhex. Having to remove the text headers is a big step backward compared to Stuffit or Stuffit Classic and I guess shows that everyone is human. If I was Bill, I would have waited on release until I had got un-binhexing correct. Hopefully he can correct it soon and maybe even add an auto-conversion feature from Stuffit --> Compact Pro format. Alan Holzman Internet = holzman@sequent.com Sequent Computer Systems Inc. UUCP = ...!sequent!holzman Operating Systems Product Manager AOL = AHOLZMAN (503) 578-5184 C$S = 76665,3406