Answering the Binhex Questions?

It is my opinion that the article is a complete bomb and transmits the wrong information to users. This article, I hope, will rectify that problem. What I'll not do is a tutorial on downloading files from the net, using any of the programs I mention, or doing the job of your company's IS department--w/ the exception of someone at a company that is trying to get rid of Macintoshes, in that case I'll help you A LOT! (please don't lie to get help, I'll find out and I'll feel bad). [I know, snds mean, but you've not seen my email box :)]

Most people mail to ask me "How do I use Binhex?" Well, I'll be blunt, don't. I never used it and neither should you! Matter of fact, I've not the faintest clue how to use it!

So, Scott, how do I de-Binhex files? I recommend the utility StuffIt Expander by Aladdin Systems. This utility, among other things, can de-Binhex almost anything.

I'll go into more detail:

A typical scenario involves you somehow receiving a file ending in .hqx, it is binhexed, confirmed by either:

(This file must be converted with Binhex 4.0)
(This file must be converted with Binhex 5.0)

ALL Binhex files contain this line to begin them, as described in the aforementioned article. You'll need to de-Binhex files ending in .hqx to make any further use of them. StuffIt Expander allows you to Drag & Drop the file onto it and do the conversion automatically. It works w/ Binhex 4.0 and Binhex 5.0. I know some people had problems when they downloaded Binhex 4.0 and tried it on a Binhex 5.0 document. The only way you can tell the difference is to look at the file w/ a Text Editor like Bare Bones' BBEdit and check for the line. Then you'll know what version of Binhex to use (but, why? Let StuffIt do the work for you!).

It gets harder for the PC-Clone folk. I have never dealt w/ Binhex on a PC-Clone. The only thing I can recommend is to grab the PC versions of Binhex and pray it works. What I actually suggest for transferring files between Macintoshes and PCs is the use of UUencode.

The tool UU Tool is an excellent tool to encode and decode on the Macintosh. Because you don't have to worry about MacBinary and the Resource Fork (PC-Clones simply cannot use it and it'll be stripped regardless), UUencode is ideal. Most PC-Clones use it and, being Macintoshes, we've excellent, easy-to-use tools to transfer binary files w/ our poor, deranged, PC-Clone breatheren. (perhaps, someday, they'll see the light).

So, if you're a Macintosh user exchanging files back and forth w/ a PC-Clone (OS/2, UNIX, Windows XX), you can do your compatriots a huge favor and send them UUencoded files.

I'll not go into how to use the utilities I list here as the instructions accompanying the utilities are very clear and well-written. However, I know you will all need URLs to find the mentioned items.

First, you'll need StuffIt Expander or StuffIt Lite (both by Aladdin Systems, Inc.). You can visit their web site to get both. I strongly, actually, advise getting both.

Here's the URL to their shareware/freeware archives http://www.aladdinsys.com/#SFP. You'll note when you get there they tell you how to use Netscape so that it automatically strips the .hqx (converts to Binary) the StuffIt Expander (or StuffIt Lite) file. If you have Netscape 2.x, follow the directions but CHANGE IT BACK LATTER!

Why change it back Scott? Cause, you'll make your life easier when you go attacking FTP archives for files. Trust me on this one. You'll want to point Netscape to the StuffIt Expander helper application. Again, read the Netscape instructions on doing this, they're quite good.

However, you might not be able to get to Aladdin Systems, Inc. for some reason, so, here's a few other possible sites:

AOL's Software Mirrors, UMICH: ftp://mirror.aol.com/mir01/MICH/mac/util/compression/stuffitexpander4.01.sea.bin

Apple's Software Mirrors, Info-Mac: ftp://mirror.apple.com/mirrors/info-mac/cmp/stuffit-expander-352.bin

You can click on the above to FTP transfer BINARY versions of StuffIt Expander. I've included two separate mirrors (AOL and Apple) and, for each, I picked a different major mirror site (UMICH and Info-Mac) to protect against file corruption (sometimes the master server for these popular mirrors will have a corrupt file).

You can also obtain this software, usually, from good computer stores and, also, CD-ROMs that include the above archives, AND, last but not least, direct from Aladdin Systems, Inc. for a nominal fee!

Of course, I wouldn't leave you w/o telling you where to get UU Tool, so:

Apple's Software Mirrors, Info-Mac: ftp://mirror.apple.com/mirrors/info-mac/cmp/uu-tool-24.hqx

AOL's Software Mirrors, UMICH: ftp://mirror.aol.com/mir01/MICH/mac/util/compression/uutool2.4.sit.hqx

I also suggest possible pointing your browser towards the excellent Shareware/Freeware searching engine at Shareware.com: http://www.shareware.com. PC-Cloners and Macintosh users alike can find anything, almost, at this place! (they basically give you links to the best UMICH and Info-Mac mirrors).

Reminder: .bin usually means binary, so you've to download as binary.

On a side-note for our PC-Clone breatheren: I've, since starting this article 3 hours ago interrupted by various items, found a good resource for you all: StuffIt Expander for the PC-Clone (aka Windows). Here's a URL. It is in .UU (UUencoded) format.

Apple Software Mirrors, Info-Mac: ftp://mirror.apple.com/mirrors/info-mac/cmp/stuffit-expander-10-windows.uu

Also, you can get PCBinhex on both mirrors.

I hope this article helps all those people who I haven't been able to respond to because of various reasons. I'm truly sorry if you emailed me about Binhex questions and I didn't answer individually, this is my answer. Please feel free to comment on this article.

NOTE: This article is the only actual "article" I've written in the archives. Apple has nothing to do w/ it and I've nothing to do w/ their articles. I provide this due to self-preservation, I simply cannot handle the level of email generated from that article.