AmigaBinary
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The CRC is an extra assurance for a number of reasons. While it is more than
likely that the header could be detected by analyzing its format, it is
possible that random data could be mistaken for a header. Red Ryder and
MicroPhone, for example, require the user to turn the MacBinary detection on
and off for binary files – this is very user-unfriendly, especially for novices
who know just enough to log onto a service like this, let alone understand all
of the intricacies of protocols and file formats.
This way, you can do a cursory check to assure that bytes 74 and 82 are 0, and
if they are, double check the header with the CRC value. If everything is in
line, then you continue via the format's specs. If not, you just do a dumb
transfer with no formatting.
MacBinary (and ABTF) specify 8 bytes for time/date, not 12, but yes, I think
space should be reserved for it right now to save confusion later.
[ Russ ]