From: johnl@yang.earlham.edu (John Fiskio-Lasseter)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc,comp.sys.mac.comm
Subject: Re: Uncompressing .hqx, and related questions!
Date: 8 Sep 92 15:58:54 GMT
Organization: Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana

In article <oivindi.11@dhhalden.no>, oivindi@dhhalden.no (OIVIND IDSO) writes:

> 1. When I have downloaded a Mac .hqx file from an FTP-site, or for that 
>    matter any other compressed Mac-file(s), how do I uncompress it (which   
>    software)?

Well, the first thing you have to do is translate it into its Macintosh 
being :-)  BinHex is the Macintosh answer to UUDE/ENCODE -- it's a way of 
carrying Mac files across incompatible platforms by translating 8-bit 
files to 7-bit ASCII ones (otherwise, the top bit could be clobbered).  So 
the first thing you need is software on your Mac that can translate from 
BinHex.  In addition to BinHex 4.0 itself, Stuffit (all types) has the 
capability of translating .hqx files, and so (I think) does Compact Pro.

The resulting file should be either a self-extracting archive, or a 
Stuffit or Compact Pro file.

> 2. I have to download all of my Mac-files from an MS-DOS PC (my schools's!), 
>    and I'm not sure how I can use these on my dear Mac. Is it possible to 
>    "transform" them with the help of for example AccessPC? 

Sure, but there's not much point to it, as far as the translation is 
concerned (but see my comments in the next paragraph).  This can be 
accomplished on your PC.  A lot of Mac programs have translation filters 
for PC word processor formats, but I've never been satisfied with any of 
them.  I think your best bet would be to save copies of your PC files as 
ASCII text.  When you get them on your Mac, you'll have lost any special 
formatting, but the body of the text will look like it's supposed too.  
Otherwise you may end up with a lot of garbage characters in with the body 
of your text where the formatting commands used to be.  I find it a lot 
more annoying to have SOME of the formatting preserved in translation and 
yet have to scoop out a lot of garbage than to have NONE of the formatting 
preserved yet have completely readable text.

The place where Access PC (or something like it) becomes essential is when 
you need your Mac to read the floppy disk that has all those PC ASCII files.
I don't know what kind of Mac you have, but it'll have to have a 1.44 Mb 
floppy drive ("Super Drive") or a 5 1/4" floppy if you're going to have a 
chance at this.  By the way, if you don't want to spend the bucks on 
Access PC I *THINK* that Apple File Exchange (which should have been 
included with your system software) can do the trick here.  Someone 
correct me if I'm wrong about that.

A floppy disk may not be the only means at your disposal, by the way.  If 
you can get access to a Mac and a PC that can talk to each other via TOPS 
or someother kind of network, that'll be a lot faster than fooling around 
with floppies.

Or, is there a common machine to which both a Mac and a PC are connected 
and to which you have access?  (Most of our Macs and PCs have connections 
to the college VAX/VMS system, for example).  If so, you could try 
UPLOADING the files to this machine from the PC and then DOWNLOADING them 
to the Mac.  That's a bit kludgy, I realize, but if the first two options 
fail, this might be a possibility for you.
  
> 3. Does AccessPC convert all kinds of files (I have downloaded STUFFIT! from 
>    an FTP-site. Can I use AccessPC to convert it from PC to Mac?)?

I'm not sure I understand this question.  You mean you downloaded it to a 
PC?!  If so, I hope you used a binary translation format, or the file is 
toast.  If you did, Access PC *MIGHT* be able to copy it over to a Mac 
drive.  I don't really know about that either way, so lay off the flames 
if I'm wrong here -- but it seems like it should work.

Good luck.
-- John
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|John Howard Eli Fiskio-Lasseter  |     "Is obair-la\ to\iseachadh"   |
|e-mail: johnl@yang.earlham.edu   |    ("Beginning is a day's work")  |
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