#Mac-AMIGA
14 messages in this thread
Winfried,
The easiest way is to use an MSDOS formatted disk and CrossDOS on the
Amiga, and try using the Apple File Exchange program on the MAC. If you
have a 1.44MB drive on the Amiga all the better, but it will work with
720K diskettes.
I prefer a third party MAC file Exchange program. It is called AccessPC.
Reads MSDOS disks and can transfer binary files without munging them up
like the Apple File Exchange program does.
Christopher
Question: I tried taking a Mac file downloaded from CIS, putting it on a MSDOS
hi-d floppy (through CrossDOS), then giving it to a Mac user to pull into their
hi-d drive-equipped Mac IIcx. They were using Apple File Exchange and said the
program was trying to somehow _translate_ the Mac file as if it were an ASCII
document or something. Problem is, the file was a program.
Is there a way to turn off the translation, and simply copy the file verbatim
from the PC-format disk onto the Mac?
Regards, Phil Combs
>> Is there a way to turn off the translation, and simply copy the file
>> verbatim from the PC-format disk onto the Mac?
There is a progam called BinHex that will strip the Mac Binary header out of
the file, then it should work fine.
Mac comm programs know about the Mac Binary format, and automatically strip it
out. You could upload it to the Mac via modem, or using a null modem cable if
he/she has another computer nearby.
-Mitch
If it's a Mac-format file on a PC-formatted disk, would I _want_ to strip of
the Mac header?
Also, it would be much simpler to do it this way, through diskette exchange
(the friend doesn't have a modem).
Regards, Phil Combs
>> If it's a Mac-format file on a PC-formatted disk, would I _want_ to
>> strip of the Mac header?
Well I was kind of over simplifying, but yes. Mac files have a resource fork
and a data fork. Other systems know nothing about them and the files just get
stored as one big lump-o-data. While stripping out this header, BinHex also
puts the file back into a form the Mac can understand. Being fairly new to Macs
myself, I don't know that much about the subject myself.
I do most of my downloading with OzCIS on my 386 box, and then either put the
files on a floppy and run them through BinHex on the Mac, or send them over via
a null modem cable and let the terminal program on the Mac end straighten them
out.
-Mitch
Oh. Thanks for the info. Now comes the chicken-and-egg question: How do I get
the program to use if I don't have a term program on the Mac, and can only
download with the PC? Regards, Phil Combs
Re: Chicken/Egg situation
There is a DOS program called macsee [shareware] which will do the translation
for you. The non-registered version will only allow you to process files 16k
and under, but that is big enough to do BinHex.
-Mitch
Thanks for the info. Would I find that in the Mac or DOS sections here?
Regards, Phil COmbs
>> Thanks for the info. Would I find that in the Mac or DOS sections
>> here? Regards, Phil COmbs
Both, I think. I have a listing that shows ver. 3.1 in MACCOM LIB 8. The
version I have is 4.0b. I don't know if the latest version is there.
-Mitch
I found v4.0b. THe only problems is that the unregistered version will not
format a hi-d Mac disk, though it can translate. Hmmm…… By the by, the
Apple System 7 manual seems to say that the included Apple File Exchange can
translate ASCII (for text files) and binary (for other types of files).
Perhaps I won't need an external program after all.
Regards, Phil Combs
Apple File Exchange's "binary" setting means "just transfer the file without
any translation at all." From Mac to PC, this means writing the data fork into
a PC file. From PC to Mac, this means writing the PC file into the data fork
of an untyped Mac file. In other words, you should still grab the MacBinary
filter. You'll need it, particularly if you want to move Mac files *intact* to
PC disks. For example, all the Mac-specific files you'll find on a BBS or
CompuServe are actually in MacBinary format. The AFE filter will reconstitute
the MacBinary files, resulting in a true Mac file composed of the data fork and
the resource fork, with the proper icon and long filename.
I'm e-mailing you a zip file. Put a dos formated disk in drive a: then unzip
this file with the command:
pkunzip -d binhex.zip a:
This assumes a 3.5" drive is a:. If it's b: use that, of course.
I tested it, and it worked over here. I even tried it on both 720k & 1.44m
disks.
DON'T MESS WITH THE FILE CALLED MACCRYS.TAL. I think it is used by PCExchange,
and it is normally be hidden.
-Mitch
Apple File Exchange does not come with the needed translator. Somewhere
here on CIS and on other systems is a translator file called MacBinary II.
This translator is what you need for the file transfer to properly move
over the data and resource fork.
-Jonathan
// Amiga online via Autopilot. MAC Quadra 900 and
\\// 486 emulation. E-Mail: jonathanb@delrina.com
phil,
I've found the Apple File Exchange unreliable when transfering binary
files via MSDOS formatted disks, trys to turn them into text files one and
all. I prefer and use AccessPC (commercial file exchange program) which
hasn't a problem handling binary formats.
I think you need another loader for AFE to enable it to handle the binary
transfers, however I've never seen or heard of one.
The other way I move files is with AMAX via SyQuest cartridges or MAC
formatted floppys. My last technique is to use a null-modem cable between
machines and terminal programs running on each.
My preferred method these days is a HiDensity MSDOS floppy for small files
like ASCII, fonts and graphics, large stuff I use the SyQuest.
Christopher