Re: help w/ mac to gs transfer

[dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

In article <bede0005-2507960035510001@dialup-1-10.gw.umn.edu>,
bede0005@gold.tc.umn.edu (Robert S. Bedeaux) wrote:

>Hey out there in internet land . . . I'm looking for a little
>information.  Recently, I dusted off my Apple IIGS and hooked it back up. 
>I downloaded the new system software and also some terminal software for
>it onto my Mac.  Herein lies my problem.  When I transfer these to prodos
>disks via PC Exchange, they end up on the prodos disk with type 00
>(unknown) making them impossible to de-binhex and extract.  I have tried
>using Res-Edit to change the type and creator to text files on my mac
>before putting them onto prodos disk, but this still has no affect.

This does work (I just tried it), but you have to get it exactly right:
the file type must be 'TEXT' and the creator must be 'pdos'.  PC Exchange
recognises this combination and copies the file as a simple text file
(type 04) with a data fork only.

If you use any other creator, the file ends up as an extended file with a
type/auxtype of 0/0.  The HFS type and creator (not visible in nearly all
IIgs software) is stored in the extended key block, and the file is
unusable by ProDOS-8.

It appears that if the creator is 'pdos', then PC Exchange doesn't add a
resource fork unless there is one there already.

If the creator is 'pdos' and the type is anything unusual, then copying
the file to a ProDOS disk and back to an HFS disk (on the Mac) will change
the type to 'BINA'.  However, the file is stored on the ProDOS disk with a
type of 0, even if the original file was 'BINA' before being copied to the
ProDOS disk.


The actual ProDOS file type and auxiliary type can be set by entering an
encoded Mac type: the first character must be 'p', the second character is
the file type, and the last two characters are the high and low order
bytes of the auxiliary type (I'd have to look up the manual to see which
is which).

The last three bytes are raw binary values, which cannot be displayed by
standard programs, let alone entered.

A general solution to the text file transfer problem might be to use a
drag-and-drop file type changer utility on the Mac, which sets the type
and creator to 'TEXT' and 'pdos' for any file dropped onto the program. 
You can then copy the files to ProDOS disk.

Alternatively, some kind of Finder extension (does the Mac even have
them?) which intercepts the file copy, and changes the file type along the
way (without affecting the original file).  Tricky.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail Mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, NEW ZEALAND