Re: Format for downloadable apps?

[CUTblakeney@home.com (Jeff Blakeney)]

On Mon, 27 Dec 1999 23:45:32 +0200, nipp@planet.nl (Pim Blokland)
wrote:

>I want to make a few IIgs applications available for download on the web,
>but now I wonder what the preferred format for files is.
>I know which formats there are (BQX, BQY, BXY etc), and how to
>encode/decode them (well, most of them), and that some of them have
>pitfalls, so my question is: are some of these formats preferred over
>others? Is there maybe even a consensus about which format to use?

The most widely used format for transferring Apple II files is as a
ShrinkIt archive (SHK) in a Binary II wrapper (BNY) which is referred
to by using the file name extension BXY.  However, some people do have
problems downloading binary files such as BXY from certain sites so
what I do is also make the file(s) available as a ShrinkIt archive
that has been encoded to a BINscii file (BSQ).  BSQ files are 7 bit
ASCII files and will not be corrupted whether they are sent as binary
or ASCII text.

With BXY files, simply clicking on the link to them will usually
result in corrupted files but right (or shift) clicking on the link to
the file and selecting Save As will often result in a proper download
of an Apple II file.

With BSQ files, depending on what OS I'm using to FTP the files to my
web space, I will also change the end of line character(s) in the file
to be more appropriate.  For instance, if I'm using gwftp on my IIgs
to FTP the files, I will FTP the BXY file in binary mode and the BSQ
file in ASCII (or text) mode so that the end of line characters won't
be modified in the BXY file and they will be in the BSQ file.
However, if I'm going to FTP the files using my Windows machine then I
will change all carriage returns (CR) to carriage return/line feed
(CRLF) before I transfer that file from my Apple II to Windows for
FTPing.  This way when I do an ASCII transfer of the BSQ file the
CRLFs will be converted properly by the FTP software during transfer.

This means that people using Netscape or Internet Explorer can click
on the BSQ link and it will be displayed in their browser window and
they can then do a Save As to save the BSQ to disk as a text file.
They can also just right (or shift) click the link and do a direct
Save As to a text file without displaying it.  This file can then be
transferred to an Apple II and decoded and unpacked.  Most, if not all
BINscii decoders don't care whether the end of line character is CR,
CRLF or LF.

Now, how to make these types of files.  BXY files can be created with
ShrinkIt or GSHK (aka ShrinkItGS).

In GSHK you select the "New File Archive..." menu item from the "File"
menu and select the file(s) you wish to archive and press the "Accept"
button, then in the next dialog, check the "Add Binary II to this
archive" check box, type in a name (making sure it ends in .BXY and
press the "Save" button.  The program will ask you if you really want
to add a Binary II wrapper so just press the "OK" button and you're
done.

In ShrinkIt, select "N=New Archive", choose "File" for a file archive,
select the files you want in the archive and press return, select the
directory you want to save the file to and type in a name (making sure
the extension is .BXY) then press Open Apple-Return.  If you don't
hold down the open apple key when you press return then you will just
get a standard SHK file with the wrong name extension.

To create a BSQ file, use ShrinkIt or GSHK to create an SHK file (note
that you shouldn't use the BXY file created above, otherwise the
person who downloads the BSQ file will have to decode the file, then
remove the Binary II header somehow, then unpack the ShrinkIt
archive).  Use a program like Spectrum, GScii+ NDA, StolenBase NDA,
BSC.It or some other program that allows you to make BINscii files and
give it the SHK file you just created as input and you will get one or
more files as output.  You can append all the files into one for use
on a web page but for posting to a usenet newsgroup like
comp.binaries.apple2 it is best to have each message have 3 segments
or less in it.

An alternate way to create these files is the create the SHK file,
make a BSQ file out of it and then run Gary Little's BINARY.UP program
to add a Binary II header to the SHK file.

If you have any questions about these processes or where to find some
of these program, let me know and I'll do what I can to help.

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| Jeff Blakeney - Dean of the Apple II University in A2Pro on Delphi     |
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