Re: SHK files transfer from PC to Apple

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Gus Vilomar writes ...
> 
> Ok, I was able to transfer the files over to my computer using Comm.System
> v2.5 (1K Xmodem protocol),

     Possibly, you would be better off with Agate or ZLink or ModemMGR.
(ModemMGR can do z-modem transfers; so, I think, can Agate.)  You can download
and transfer Agate and/or ZLink as .dsk files from Ground at
ftp://ground.ecn.uiowa.edu/apple2/useful.stuff/Disks/ .

You can find Modem MGR at 
ftp://ground.ecn.uiowa.edu/apple2/apple8/Comm/Modem.mgr/ and 
ftp://ftp.gno.org/pub/apple2/appledos33/comm/term/modem.mgr/ . 



> however, the type of each file is TXT.

     This is common for binary files you transfer from PC to an Apple II. Since
Apple II filetype information is not normally included in a file, it defaults
to .TXT type.



> When the
> comm program asked me whether or not I wanted to use Binary II, I said yes -
> so I'm assuming it transferred the files as a binary file and not a text
> file.

    "Binary II" relates to the use of a short prefix or "header" which used to
be added to uploaded files by an Apple II utility or telecom program. Mainly,
this prefix contains filetype information. Most Apple II files on the net no
longer have a Binary II prefix and, in general, adding one to an uploaded file
is not a good idea.

     When you transferred files from PC to your Apple II and answered "Yes" to
the Binary II question, you told your telecom program to look for and deal with
Binary II headers on the files being transferred.

     Normally, selecting this option-- sometimes called "Binary Down"-- has no
affect when a file has no Binary II header. (It may disable some capabilities,
such as automatic retransfers for errors; but, for direct machine-to-machine
transfers, auto retransfer is not usually needed.)

     Since having "Binary Down" active will get filetype information and strip
off the header if there is a Binary II header, saying "Yes" for PC-to-Apple II
transfers is a good idea.

     Saying "Yes" to Binary II for Apple II-to-PC transfers is different. This
option-- sometimes called "Binary Up"-- adds a Binary II header to the
transferred file. On today's net, this can lead to all sorts of problems for
those who download the file. Except for self-extracting IIgs ShrinkIt files,
Binary II (e.g. the "Binary Up" option) should almost always be OFF when
transferring files from your Apple II to PC.



> Either way, ShrinkIT doesn't "see" the transfered files.  I guess
> because it thinks it's a text file.
 ....

     Fortunately, ShrinkIt files do not need to have the correct filetype; and,
the current 8-bit ShrinkIt (v3.4) is pretty good about recognizing ShrinkIt
files. If the filetype is correct or if the name ends with ".shk", the file
will show up as a candidate for unshrinking.

     For ShrinkIt files which have the wrong filetype-- like they have type
.TXT-- and have a name which does not end with ".shk"-- for example, .sdk
files--, you can type OpenApple-S when viewing the folder in which the file is
located. (This toggles the Show Archives/ Show All Files viewing option.)  All
files will show and you can select the file you want to unshrink.




Rubywand