Re: IIgs game programming?

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

"Michael J. Mahon" writes ...
> 
> Rubywand wrote:
> 
> >     There could be a problem with downloading a ".bxy" file
> > for many users.
> > They may end up downloading it as PC Text with added 
> > Control characters which will corrupt the download.
> >
> >     One simple cure is to rename the download files to end
> > with ".bin".
> >
> > Example: GTE.BXY becomes GTE_BXY.bin .
> 
> Isn't it better to teach users to fish than to give them a fish?  ;-)
> 
> Everyone who is serious about using the internet must learn
> how to force the type of a download, whether that means doing
> some right-click magic or changing the default options on a
> browser.
> 
> The web is full of files which do not adhere to PC naming
> onventions, and for a user not to know how to access them
> would be a great loss.
> 
> -michael
> 
> Check out amazing quality sound for 8-bit Apples on my
> Home page:  http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/



     Have read pages about setting up types. The problem is that there is so
much variation among browsers, OS's, host sites, host servers, filetypes, and
formats.

     Looking at things from the distributor end ... If someone actually wants
his/her Apple II software to get downloaded from an html site in one piece
without all sorts of hassle, he/she should stick the .shk, .sdk, etc. file in
a .zip file.

     Otherwise, adding ".bin" as the only dot suffix to the file name (and
telling the user to change the name after downloading) is a decent
workaround.

     Even Apple Computer adopted the practice of adding the ".bin" suffix to
.shk, .sea, ... files it wanted to be sure would be downloaded as uncorrupted
binary by Apple II users.


     From the user/downloader end, it looks like you've got to be prepared to
experiment with different browsers and setups and learn which html sites
supply the most trouble-free downloads. Plus, it's a good idea to have UnCook
ready in order to recover uncorrupted downloads. 

     What do you suggest as good fishing advice for downloading special Apple
II type binary files from html sites?

 

Rubywand