Re: SMB GS Latest Release Posted-- fixing Downloads

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

"Rich J." writes ...
> 
> "Bill Garber" wrote ...
> > "Lucas" <lscharen@d.umn.edu> wrote in message
> > It now says that the System.Disk may be physically
> > damaged, but it does now attempt to open, which is
> > a major step in the right direction.
> >
> 
> Interesting that it won't work there, because it works fine from
> the page that Lucas got it from:
> 
> http://rich12345.tripod.com/SMB/
> 
> Maybe it is a problem with how he is downloading/uploading it?
> 
 ....


     Tried out your SuperMarioBros/gs. Very neat!


     As some users have noticed, there can be difficulties with downloading.

     The problem is Text mode corruption. Most web host servers do not know
what an .shk file is. (Same for .sdk, .dsk, and other Apple II binary file
types.)  Usually, this leaves it up to the user's browser to decide. 

     Netscape (at least versions up through 4.7x) decides it's Text. Some
other browsers may do the same. IE seems to default to Binary.

     Some host servers which do not recognize .shk, etc. files, will
automatically tag the file as .txt. That avoids ambiguity; but, it means the
user is just about guaranteed to get a corrupted download no matter what
browser is used.

     A browser which, for whatever reason, decides it is downloading Text
will, at least under Windows, end up creating a file with the LF code added
after every CR code which is not already followed by an LF. Practically
always, that will mess up a .shk file (or any other binary file).


     The server hosting your pages and files seems to be the kind that tells
the browser "I don't know what this is". So, someone who downloads under IE
should get uncorrupted downloads of .shk files. Users with other browsers may
get corrupted downloads.

     For instance, here are lengths of downloads for the game file named
SuperMario.SHK:

SuperMario.SHK downloaded Under IE 6.x
582327 bytes

SuperMario.SHK downloaded Under NS 4.7x
585293 bytes

The Netscape download is larger because it's got extra $0A (LF) codes.
Naturally, that file will not unshrink correctly.



     A simple fix is to rename any .shk files you want people to download
from your pages so that they are sure to be treated as Binary files:

SuperMario.SHK could be renamed to SuperMarioSHK.bin .

     Every server knows a .bin file is Binary; so, SuperMarioSHK.bin will be
downloaded in Binary mode with no corruption added. You could add a note
saying the file can be renamed to SuperMario.SHK after downloading.


     By the way, there is a fix for binary files corrupted by added Text
stuff. Downloaders (to a PC) can use Uncook to repair the file. Info and the
Uncook program are available from GSWV at ...

http://apple2.org.za/gswv/a2zine/DownloadHelp.htm

     Evidently, Uncook works because the corruption is added when the file is
saved on your hard disk. Uncook seems to find the uncorrupted image of the
download in your cache and use it to replace the corrupted file. (Which means
a user should use Uncook pretty soon after doing the download before the
cached copy gets overwritten.)


     Also noticed that the link for downloading Demo.SHK is incorrect. The
link points to Demo.SHK; but, the file is actually named Demo.shk; so, the
file is not found.



Rubywand