Re: BinHex decoder on a GS?

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

Randy Shackelford <shack@onyx.southwind.net> wrote:

> Ludowick <ludowick@aol.com> wrote:
> 
> : Are there any programs on the IIGS that can decode Mac BinHex files?  They
> : appear to be like Binscii files on the Apple II family.  Also, is there a
> : program that could convert a PostScript file into a file viewable on a GS?
> 
> Yep, binhex is a text encoding like binscii. GSCII can decode binhex last
> I looked.

Yep.

> Postscript is just text put into a file to download to a PS device so if
> you set the file type right, anything that can display text should work to
> view it.

Sure, view the raw Postscript, but you would have a great deal of
difficulty identifying what the output on a Postscript printer would
look like.

This is similar to the concept of looking at a BASIC program (say) and
being able to picture precisely what its output will look like, but MUCH
more complicated.

Postscript is a programming language which is interpreted by the
printer.  It can include plain text, algorithmic descriptions of
graphical output (or characters in typefaces), encoded bitmap images,
etc.

I have succeeded in extracting raw text out of Postscript files by
identifying what encapsulation the particular file is using around the
text characters, but it is not easy.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand