Re: Apple2 archive at grind.isca.uiowa.edu

[nparker@cie.uoregon.edu (Neil Parker)]

In lots of articles, lots of people wrote,
>Use .bsc and .shk suffixes!  No, use separate directories!  No, use
>description files!
...or words to that effect.

For whatever it's worth, my own opinion on this issue is that suffixes are
the best way to go.  If the file name has a suffix on it, then the user can
tell at a glance how it needs to be downloaded...if I see ".shk" on the end
of a file name, I can tell immediately that I need to type "binary" before
FTPing it to my machine.  When I don't see a suffix, I have to guess.

Somebody complained about the possibility of suffixes proliferating to such
a degree that they would overflow the ProDOS file name limit and leave no
room for the actual file name.  I seriously doubt that this would be a
significant problem--a quick survey of things posted to
comp.binaries.apple2 reveals that the overwhelming majority Apple II
programs come in one or two common formats, for which a single set of
easily-learned suffixes are quite sufficient.  All we really need are
".bsc" for BinSCII-wrapped files, ".shk" and ".sdk" (and maybe ".sea") for
raw Shrinkit files, ".bny", ".bqy", and ".bxy" for Binary II files, and
maybe ".exe" if any old Executioner-wrapped files happen to appear.  A
"README" file placed in the main Apple II directory could explain the
meanings of these suffixes and the best ways to download and unpack them.

I like the idea of an "index" file containing a brief blurb about each file
and indicating the packing method.  I'm a bit worried, though, about the
implementation...I've seen a number of FTP sites out there on the net that
use such index files, and I have yet to see a single site whose index files
are up-to-date.  Usually you find a directory with twenty or thirty files
in it, only nine or ten of which are actually described in the index file
(there's also usually a description or two for files that were deleted from
the directory long ago).

Properly maintained, index files would be a very useful tool for
eliminating the mystery over the contents of a not-very-descriptively-
named file.  You need, though, to find somebody who's willing to commit
some time to making sure the index files are kept up-to-date.


End of soapbox oratory.

               - Neil Parker
--
Neil Parker                 No cute ASCII art...no cute quote...no cute
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