To access binaries in the Info-Mac archive at an info-mac mirror, use your
machine's ftp program. First select a mirror site to connect to; they
are listed in the same directory as this file, and called mirror-list.txt.
You can use either ftp or WWW access; choose a mirror site which has the
protocal listed.
The web access sites are fairly self explanitory, once you connect with your
browser (Netscape or Internet Explorer).
To access via ftp, use any ftp program (or www browser) to connect to the ftp
URL specified in the mirror-list.txt file. The account name is "anonymous"
and you should use your email address as the password, if requested.
You should be able to transfer binaries with a statement like
"get app/silly-paint.hqx" or by using the GUI interface of a Mac ftp client
program.
NOTE: Almost all files (even binaries) in the Info-Mac archive are in
text format, even though they may not be human-readable. Hence, a FTP
transfer using a text-only option, often called ASCII, should work in
all common cases.
Note that most archives have a limit to the number of users that can be
connected at any one time to improve the performance. They will usually
give you a message if your connection was rejected for this reason.
Here are some simple commands to move you around the directory structure.
This example assumes that you started in the /info-mac directory.
cd app # move into the app directory
ls # list the files there
get planet.hqx # transfer a file to your computer
cd .. # move back up to the parent directory
cd help # and so on...
Most Info-Mac files are stored in BinHex 4.0 format. We have adopted
the common practice of labeling such files with .hqx extensions. To
take these files and use them on your Macintosh, you must first run
them through a program which will convert them from .hqx format into a
regular Macintosh file. On Unix systems, you can use the mcvert
program, stored as cmp/mcvert.shar. You can also do the conversion on
your Macintosh by using any of a number of utilities, including BinHex
4.0, StuffIt, or Compact Pro. We recommend using Compact Pro because
it is slightly more convenient and reliable than the other tools.
Note: do NOT use BinHex 5.0 as it is incompatible, for some very
brain-damaged reasons. Most modern WWW browsers and FTP clients will unpack
your downloaded files automatically.
Many of our files also have been compressed to save space. You'll know
that they have been when the file name after converting to Macintosh
format ends with a .sit, .cpt, .sea, or .pit extension. Here is a
table to help you with the reconstruction:
Extension Created By Recommended unpacker Notes
.pit PackIt II StuffIt obsolete format
.sit StuffIt Compact Pro/StuffIt has type SIT!
StuffIt Deluxe Stuffit Expander has type SITD
.cpt Compact Pro Compact Pro
.sea various itself (double-click on it to unpack)
In summary, there are generally five steps to pulling .hqx files from our
archives:
1. Transfer them to your computer with FTP.
2. Transfer them to your Macintosh somehow.
3. If necessary, put separate pieces together.
4. Run a de-binhexing utility to convert the .hqx files into either
real Macintosh files or compressed Macintosh files.
5. If they are compressed, use the appropriate decompression
program to decompress them.
People using Unix may be able to skip steps 3 and 4 by using the program
mcvert on their Unix system before transferring the program to their Macintosh.
If you don't already have BinHex 4.0, it would be easiest to get it
from a friend or user group. Or, if you know how to do an 8-bit binary
download, you can FTP it from us as cmp/binhex4.bin. Unfortunately, a
little bit of pulling yourself up by the bootstraps is required.
StuffIt Expander is a more modern and useful program which incoporates
the functionality of Binhex, while also decompressing files. It is
also available in cmp/ in both binary and binhexed forms.
A CD-ROM of the archives is commercially available from Pacific HiTech.
They can be contacted by phone at 800-765-8369, fax at 801-278-2666, and email
at 71175.3152@compuserve.com. The CD-ROM is approximately $45 including
shipping and handling.
Please note that we cannot test software for reliability on all Macintosh
configurations. As the software in this archive is generally non-commercial,
it may be less reliable and more prone to crashes than you are used to.
We highly recommend that you maintain an active backup procedure to protect
yourself even in the event of a system crash that results in the loss of
some of your data. Download and use all software in this archive at your own
risk.
The Info-Mac Moderators
moderator@info-mac.org