Re: RFC: downloading info for c.s.a2 FAQ

[lesherjt@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Tilghman Lesher)]

Nathan Mates (nathan@visi.com) wrote:
: [For those of you not too familiar with internet terminology, 'RFC'
: means 'Request For Comments' In other words, this is a preliminary
: draft I just wrote that I'd like comments/corrections before I
: officially make it part of the FAQ. The current c.s.a2 FAQ is at
: http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/csa2.html, and what I wrote below
: would replace sections 3-8 of it]

[snip]

: --- Begin text
: How do I download files from the internet to my Apple II? 8/18/96

: Ok, fine. What do Binscii and Shrinkit files look like?

:    If you are given a file, first look at the end of the filename.  If
: it ends in ".BSC" or ".BSQ" (no "s, and upper/lower case doesn't
: matter), you most likely have a binscii file. Shrinkit files tend to
: end in ".SHK", but ".BXY" is also used.

Be sure to mention that Shrinkit GS can unpack files which contain other
suffixes and do not contain the 6-byte header noted below.  (i.e. ARC,
Z, etc.)

[snip]


: 1B) Make sure you have a method of getting files to a ProDOS disk on
: your Apple. That may include downloading with a communications program,
: or copying to a disk from another computer. [Please note that Apple II
: and MS-DOS 5.25" and 3.5" disk formats are different at a hardware level,
: so without (rare) addon hardware, you cannot use an IBM PC to download
: stuff to an Apple II disk. Macs running system 7 can write to ProDOS
: 3.5" 800K disks.]

Macs using PC File Exchange can r/w ProDOS disks.  System 7.1 (distributed
with the IIsi and others) does not use PC Exchange native. 

: 3C) From a WWW browser, most browsers are not set up to download .SHK
: files in binary, which will make them impossible to unpack. There are
: two solutions to this. Firstly, Dan Zimmerman has made the Apple II
: archive at Caltech automatically send files in binary mode; go to
: http://apple2.caltech.edu/a2archive.html

I'm using Lynx v.2.3.7 BETA, and it has always downloaded files in
binary mode, even before I edited the .mime.types file.  I'm currently
compiling Lynx 2.5 for my system, and there is no option in the config
files.  I am guessing that lynx, therefore, always does this...

However, the advantage in using the .mime.types definitions is that
lynx will no longer try to view these files as text files (which
invariably hung my session).

[end comments]

Tilghman