Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
Path: gmd.de!ira.uka.de!howland.reston.ans.net!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!pipex!uknet!pcl!marcus
From: marcus@westminster.ac.uk (Marcus Harvey)
Subject: Re: TADS for Macintosh
Message-ID: <1993Apr27.115426.28381@westminster.ac.uk>
Organization: University of Westminster
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References: <1rfdh2INN3ok@life.ai.mit.edu>
Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1993 11:54:26 GMT
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David Baggett (dmb@case.ai.mit.edu) wrote:
> In article <1993Apr22.152607.24882@westminster.ac.uk> marcus@westminster.ac.uk (Marcus Harvey) writes:
> >Hi! I recently downloaded the following files from ftp.gmd.de:
> >mac.tads2doc.sit
> >mac.tads2exe.sit

> They're not macbinary files; they're just StuffIt files.  You have to
> set the file type and owner to "SIT!" before StuffIt will recognize them.

> Dave Baggett

Actually, since posting the message I discovered that they are indeed MacBinary
files - but my latest decoder MacBinary II+ and StuffIt Lite's MacBinary decoder
didn't recognise them as such.

I have no idea why this is (they _look_ like macbinary files) but the MacBinary
translators for Apple File Exchange did recognise and successfully decode them
into StuffIt files. 

It would be helpful if whoever is in charge of the archive at ftp.gmd.de
re-named these files, appending a '.bin'. This would avoid any confusion.

For the record, you can't store 'just StuffIt files' on a non-Mac box, since,
like most Mac files they have two forks (resource and data). MacBinary merges 
these two forks to create a flat file suitable for non-Mac systems.

Thanks to Mark Phaedrus, James Jennings, Jorn Barger, Tommy Nordgren and
Jason L. Bliss for emailing me, 'though no-one got the right answer i.e try a
different MacBinary decoder! Many jumped to the same conclusion as Dave so I
really think those files need re-naming!

Now I have to find the time to write a TADS adventure...!

- marcus

JANET: marcus@uk.ac.westminster
INTERNET: marcus%westminster.ac.uk@nsf

                                                          ...Bubble Up!
