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Herein is the final version of the BSC-It utility -- encodes and decodes
-- Binscii's
-- UUcode's
-- Base64's
And it runs in 8-bit so it even works on the enhanced //e. YOU NEED IT.
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BscIT v2.1 Copyright 1997 Lysergic Software
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1. About
BscIT is small, it's fast and it allows you to encode and decode
base64, binscii and uucoded files.
2. Function
A. Decode
This is pretty easy, select the file(s) with the browser and it will
decode them into the chosen directory. BscIT automatically scans
through the file to find the start of the encoded data on all of the
formats so you don't need to worry about editing your files to chop
off offending headers.
If you're double-clicking files to decode from the Finder, BscIT
will automatically exit when finished unless you hold down the Cmd
key when the program starts up.
B. Encode
Press "E" to switch to Encode. This brings up the encode options
(see below). Press Return to accept the options or any other key
to edit the defaults. Once the mode has been changed, you can
select the files you want to be encoded and where you want to put
them. Pressing Cmd-E will automatically jump to editing the options.
C. Options
a) Format
Select which format to encode with: binscii, base64 or uucode.
b) Type
Select whether the file is formatted for Apple or Unix.
b) Segments
This is how many binscii segments will stored per file. The main
benefits to storing multiple segments per file are speed and not
gumming up your directories with lots of little files. You can
choose from 1-9, or "?" which lets it store up to 256 segments in
one file (4 megabytes).
c) Size
This is how big the binscii segment will be. The default, 16k, is
the best; smaller sizes may allow you to better use binscii in a
bulletin board environment. The binscii header is fairly large so
stick with the largest size if at all possible.
3. Format notes
A. Base64
Base64 is an encoding scheme used by MIME message systems, what
you might get if someone attached a file to your email.
Decode does not automatically decode the multiple parts of a file
that has been split.
Encode does not properly set the MIME type, generate a complete MIME
message, or split large files.
B. Binscii
Binscii is an encoding scheme used primarily by Apple II users,
it has a slightly higher overhead but has good split file support
as well as error detection.
Decode supports all features.
Encode supports all features.
C. UUcode
UUcode is an encoding scheme originating on Unix machines.
Decode does not automatically decode the multiple parts of a file
that has been split.
Encode does not split large files.
4. Browse-King(tm) mini-browser
The browser has some new features this time around:
- alphabetized file lists
- expanded filetype descriptions
And the command set this time around:
- Up and Down move up and down the list of files.
- Left moves back one directory level.
- Space allows you to mark multiple files.
- Tab lets you select from a list of online volumes.
- Cmd+Left|Right switches to the previous|next online volume with files.
- Return and Right select a directory or file.
- D sets Decode mode.
- E sets Encode mode.
- Ctrl-A selects or deselects all files.
- Ctrl-Z toggles between normal and showing all files.
- Esc exits the program.
- L brings up the launch list
- Cmd-L launches the SYS or S16 file.
5. Launch list
As much fun as decoding and encoding files can be, we understand that
you'll generally want to run some other program after BscIT.
The launch list (a text file named 'launch.lst' in the same directory
as BscIT) lets you set up a list of SYS (or S16 if you've run GS/OS)
programs that can be launched. The format for this file is:
filename1
/pathname/of/file1/
filename2
/pathname/of/file2/
...
Yes, this is the same file format and name that 2qwk! uses so you don't
need to use two seperate files if you place them in the same directory.
If you use Ctrl-Z to show all files you can launch the application under
the highlight cursor with Cmd-L.
6. Speed (decoding a 64k binscii file)
BscIT uses highly optimized assembly to do it's conversions, what
does that mean to you? Generally, a 2-3x faster translation.
BscIT BinSCII GScii+ Sscii
----- ------- ------ -----
18s 56s 1.0 MHz
8s 25s 23s 28s 2.8 MHz
3s 10s 11s 14s 7.0 MHz
7. Comments
As always, any comments or bug reports can be sent to:
ericlob@cris.com or brian.hammack@rook.wa.com