Re: .SHK files

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

rob writes ...
> 
> I found some publicly listed ftp games and apps for the apple ][gs the
> other day, and only am able to get .shk files. i transfered them to my
> Bernie }{ the Rescue HD image, but can't seem to get them un-encoded, or
> whatever. I tried using GS>SHRINKIT, from a utilities starter disk I
> have, but no luck. Anyone know what's going on? How do I tell if the
> disk images are corrupt or valid, or whatever.
>
 ....

     Tim's idea of using an ftp program should work so long as the site permits
ftp access. (All of the major public Apple II software archives permit ftp access;
but, quite a few good smaller sites must be accessed via http:// .)

     On your ftp program, set mode to "binary" for uploads and downloads. You can
get a good check on a download by comparing the exact length in bytes of the
downloaded file and the file as maintained on the ftp site. The lengths should be
the same. 

     By the way, if a downloaded IIgs .shk file looks okay-- i.e. lengths match--
and GS-ShrinkIt will not unshrink the file correctly, try using Balloon. If the
downloaded file is a shrinked disk file (usually an .sdk file), it may need to be
unshrinked using 8-bit ShrinkIt v3.24. GS-ShrinkIt will not unshrink shrinked DOS
3.3 disk files created by 8-bit ShrinkIt.



     Regarding downloads using a browser (e.g. Netscape or IE4), a lot depends
upon your connection to the site. It may be easier to get to some sites via
http:// ; but, you are likely to find that many Apple II binary files (with
extensions like ".shk" and ".dsk") are treated like text. This appears to depend
upon the site server and what it tells your browser about the file.

     Practically all sites which make an http connection seem to recognize that
.bin, .zip, .gif, and other standard PC binary types are, in fact, binary. You
should be able to get good downloads of such files when connecting via an http://
URL with a browser.

     If, using a browser, you make an ftp connection (e.g. ftp:// ...), it should
not be difficult to get a good download of any file. If you know that a certain
binary file (say Narf.dsk) is x bytes in length and it downloads as a larger
'corrupted' file, the problem may be with your browser's understanding of the
filename extension. For example, it may not know what a ".dsk" file is and, so,
default to treating it like text-- I do not know which browsers default to text
mode-- or; somehow, the ".dsk" (or whatever) extension may be incorrectly typed.

     The usual cure is to add a filetype definition. For example, under Windows95,
you can add ".dsk" and set up a non-text Mime type. Or, while running Netscape,
you can go to Edit-->Preferences and find the place where Helper Applications for
various kinds of files are established and set up the definition there. (You will,
probably, need to tell Netscape some application to use even if you never plan to
have the application mess with the file.)

     Geoff Weiss has a page which talks about making web browsers aware of Apple
II file types at http://www.gwlink.net/geoff/IIdownload.html . (Again, this 'cure'
is for ftp connections.)

     To read more about .shk, .dsk, etc. files plus Uploading & Downloading see
the newsgroup FAQs Csa2T2TCOM file:


FAQs Sites

Pure Text for downloading or Viewing via an FTP program ...
  ftp://ground.ecn.uiowa.edu/apple2/Faqs/
 
Text formatted for on-line perusing via Netscape, etc. ...
  ftp://apple.cabi.net/pub/applegs/FAQs.and.INFO/A2.Csa2.FAQs/
  http://www.grin.net/~cturley/A2.FAQs.and.INFO/CSA2.FAQs/

HTML web site versions of the FAQs
  http://home.swbell.net/rubywand/A2FAQs1START.html
  http://members.xoom.com/apple_II/faqs.html


For example, see http://home.swbell.net/rubywand/Csa2T2TCOM.html .



Rubywand