Telecom-2: Downloading & Uploading
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Telecom-2: Downloading & Uploading
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001- What's the easiest way to download files from
Apple II sites?
002- Some of my downloads are bad; what's wrong?
003- Are there download files I should process
on the PC (or Mac)?
004- How do I upload files?
005- What kinds of files should I upload to which
sites?
006- How can I read & send email and newsgroup
msgs with my A2?
007- With a fast modem, how can the IIe connect
to the internet?
008- I'm running the Lynx web browser. Where do
I put the URL?
009- How do I download an .SHK file through Lynx?
010- Can I send and receive FAXes using my Apple
II?
011- What is a "Binary II" header?
012- Should I add a Binary II header to files
I upload?
013- How can I use my Apple II on the internet?
014- Why do I get bad .zip
downloads? Is there a solution?
001- What is the easiest way to download files from Apple II sites?
Modern PC internet browsers like Netscape and
Internet Explorer have
spoiled much of the challenge of connecting to sites on the net. For
example,
entering
http://www.apple2.org.za/mirrors/ground.icaen.uiowa.edu/apple16/Games/
in IE's "Address" box gets you to Ground's IIgs games folder ready to
download with just a mouse click.
Downloading via a Browser
Some major Apple II sites are FTP sites-- places
you get to via an ftp://
URL. FTP connections tend have a pretty raw look-- instead of colorful
backgrounds, pictures, fancy buttons, etc., what you see is mainly
text
showing folder and file names. You may get folder icons and, perhaps,
some
simple icon next to each file name.
Today, many Apple II sites are web sites with
pages you get to via an
http:// URL. Often, web download sites will offer a relatively fancy
display
listing titles with descriptions and, by each title, a button to click
to do the
download. Other web sites may do without html pages and not be much
fancier than an FTP site.
Whether FTP or HTTP, you usually just click
a button or file name
to start the download process. An exception might be when the file
is a
Text file you wish to download; for Text file downloads you may need
to
right-click or SHIFT-click on the item to get some sort of 'Save file'
dialogue.
If the file is some binary type (like .shk,
.dsk, .zip, etc.), just clicking on
the download link or button should bring up a Save dialogue-- like
an alert
asking if you wish to Save the file-- or take you immediately to a
Save
window.
When regular (left) clicking gets you to a
Save dialogue or window, it
probably indicates that the download page's server knows that the item
is
binary or that your browser is one which defaults to binary mode when
the
filetype is not recognized. Either way, the odds favor getting a good
download.
Many Apple II sites are on servers which have
no difficulty recognizing
PC filetypes like .zip and .bin but do not recognize popular Apple
II
filetype designations such as .shk, .sdk, and .dsk If a regular click
on a
download link or button for a shk, or other binary file results in
a dump of
garbage text to your screen, it means your browser thinks it is supposed
to download some kind of Text file.
Right-clicking or SHIFT-clicking should allow
you to avoid the garbage
and get a Save dialogue and download the file. However, since the browser
thinks it's Text, the resulting file will probably have the linefeed
character
code ($0A) added after every $0D in the file which is not followed
by an
$0A. So, almost certainly, the download will be corrupted.
One try at a workaround if you are on an http://
site is to try the place's
ftp:// URL if it has one. If that doesn't help, contacting the FTP
site via an
FTP program will almost certainly work.
If you are using an older browser, going to
a newer version of IE or
Netscape could get the job done.
If you have not defined the particular Apple
II filetype in Windows and/or
your browser, that may help. (See Geoff Weiss's page which talks about
making web browsers aware of Apple II file types for FTP connections
at ...
http://www.gwlink.net/geoff/IIdownload.html
.)
If the item is available from another place,
you may find that going there
for your download solves the problem.
Another pretty good alternative
is to go ahead and download the .shk, etc.
file and use a PC utility named "Uncook" to try
producing a copy with the
corruption removed.
Uncook
was 'discovered' by GS Ed (manager of the ACN Florida
archive); and tests indicate that it usually succeeds when the file
is
corrupted. If the file is not corrupted, Uncook may produce a messed
up copy! Fortunately, it is pretty easy to tell when the latter occurs.
If the result of Uncook is a file just 2-4
or so bytes smaller, the
original is probably good and the Uncook is bad. If the new (Uncooked)
file is known to be the correct size (like it's a 143,360-byte .dsk
file) or if
it is many bytes smaller, or if the site is known to deliver corrupted
files,
then the Uncooked file is probably good. And, if there is any doubt,
you
can always try using both files-- e.g. the .sdk file which gets you
a "bad
data" error during unshrinking is the bad one.
Uncook.zip is available from GS WorldView's
"Download Help" page
at http://apple2.org.za/gswv/a2zine/DownloadHelp.htm
. To get Uncook,
click on "Download" near the bottom of the page.
Downloading via an FTP Program
A slightly different approach is to use a good
FTP program (often called
an "FTP client"), such as WS_FTP or Cute FTP. It is easier to download
(or upload) multiple files, speed is usually a bit better, and, since
you can
force binary mode, direct FTP is not much bothered with file type
recognition.
To connect to an FTP site you can run a dial-up
program to establish
contact with your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and start your FTP
program.
If you are on the net under Netscape, 'Explorer, etc., then you are
already
connected to your ISP and can start your FTP program as a new task.
After starting your FTP program, you can select
the FTP site you want
from a list you've created. The list, also called a "profile list",
contains
...
o- the site's internet name-- such as "ftp.apple.asimov.net" (Note:
there are
no "/" folder separators in this entry.)
o- the particular folder or directory you want to begin with-- such
as
"/images"
o- and the folder on your computer for downloads-- such as "C:\Downloads".
Other information, such as the kind of connection
(usually "Unix
standard") and the password you send to the site-- usually you will
log-in as
"anonymous" and use your email address as the password-- are entered
more or
less automatically when you first create a site's profile entry. (To
create a
new entry you will usually just click "New", "Create New", etc. instead
of
picking a site to contact.)
When the connection is made, you will see a
list of files and folders in
the folder you have entered. If you open one of the folders, you will
get a
new listing of files and folders contained in the selected folder.
You can, also, change the the drive and folder
on your hard disk to which
you wish to download. For example, the default "local" folder may be
C:\Downloads whenever you connect to Asimov. If you want downloads
to go into
D:\TempStuff, you can pick this destination. Another situation in which
you
may wish to change the local folder is when uploading files to a site.
Practically all programs and compressed disks
will be in .SHK, .SDK,
.DSK, or some other "binary" form. In fact, "Binary" should nearly
always be
your download/upload mode setting, even when downloading (or uploading)
Text
files. About the only exception would be when dealing with a binscii
archive
site which can not handle binary.
In general, when downloading an Apple II .SHK,
.ZIP, etc. file, it is
best to avoid letting any "helper" applications process the file during
download. Usually, it is best to unZIP .zip and .gz files on the PC
but,
still, after you have completed the download. Your Apple II can take
care of
un-Shrinking and most other kinds of processing which may be required
after
the file is downloaded and transferred from the PC (or Mac).
To download one or more files you click-highlight
each file you want.
Then, you click some button-- such as an arrow symbol pointing to your
C:\Downloads folder-- to start the download.
Usually everything will go smoothly and the
files will appear on hard
disk in your target folder (e.g. C:\Downloads). If you use a
dedicated ftp
utility you will, usually, be able to see the exact length of a file
on the
site's file list. One good check for a successful download is to compare
file
lengths displayed in your target folder with those shown in the FTP
site's
file list. If you do straight downloads with no processing, there should
be no
differences for binary transfers. (Text file transfers in Text mode
often
result in small length changes.)
002- Some of my downloads are bad; what's wrong?
If the exact length of a downloaded file is
different than its exact
length on the download site (e.g. as shown via your FTP client program),
the download is probably corrupted. (Text files are something of an
exception-- i.e. the download length may be different and the file
may
have characters added; but, usually, the "corruption" has no damaging
impact.)
A common reason for getting a bad download
is that a binary file was
downloaded in Text mode. (See discussion about this in Q&A
001 above.)
An FTP program should be set to "Binary" before doing most downloads
from ftp sites. If using a browser, pick one which defaults to binary
mode
for unrecognized file types (e.g. a current version of Internet Explorer).
Some files may seem to be corrupted-- i.e.
'not work right'-- even if a
length check shows that the download size is identical to the file's
size on
an ftp site. One possibility is that the file was corrupted somewhere
in the
upload process. This is fairly rare for files made available for download.
A few Apple II files still include a Binary
II prefix. This may cause the
file to appear corrupted to some utility you try to use on a PC; but,
it will
work fine once transferred to your Apple II. (Normally, a modern Apple
II
telecom program such as Spectrum or ProTERM will be set to automatically
strip off the Binary II prefix during transfer. GS-ShrinkIt and 8-bit
ShrinkIt will
remove a Binary II prefix from .shk, etc. ShrinkIt files.)
The file may be okay but incorrectly named.
For example, an .sys or .bin
file may be shrinked but still uploaded as an ".sys" or ".bin" file
(instead
of ".shk"). Or, an .shk file may be uploaded in binscii form
as an ".shk"
file. (Such a file should end with ".bsq".) When a downloaded
.shk or .sdk
file is rejected by ShrinkIt, it's a good idea to try running it through
Binscii or GScii. Sometimes the result will be a genuine .shk or .sdk
file.
Other kinds of files are just misunderstood.
A user who downloads a 'disk
image' file named "NarfGame.dsk.gz" may conclude it is "corrupted"
when it is
rejected by an emulator program or fails to convert to diskette with
DSK2FILE
or ASIMOV. But, all that's required is to decompress the .gz file using
WinZIP
or a similar utility to produce a true .dsk disk image file.
A source of possible confusion for IIgs users
is the occasional .shk or
.sdk file which looks fine but is rejected as damaged by GS-ShrinkIt.
The
problem may be that the file was created by a Mac owner. Sometimes
these
Mac-created Shrink files unShrink fine using GS-ShrinkIt; sometimes,
not.
Before trashing a "damaged" .shk or .sdk IIgs file, try running it
through Balloon.
From: Greg J. Buchner
Balloon is a IIGS desk accessory that was put
out by Ego Systems...it handles
ShrinkIt archives from anywhere you can access a New Desk Accessory
on the
IIGS. For the Mac, you'd use Shrink II.
003- Are there any kinds of files I should process on the
PC (or Mac) before transfer to my Apple
II?
Yes. Many old games and other interesting wares
downloaded from
"emulator" sites like Asimov will arrive as .gz files. These will,
almost
always, be compressed 5.25" disk image (DSK) files. They should be
un-compressed on the PC via WinZIP before being sent to your Apple
II.
This avoids a messy de-compression process on the Apple and makes the
DSK file available on the PC (or Mac) should you wish to use it with
AppleWin or some other A2 emulator program.
Note: If you are running an FTP program under plain DOS or Windows 3.x,
long file names will be truncated to fit PC's old "8 and 3" format.
A .gz file
may not show up in your C:\UPDOWN (or whatever) directory with the
".gz" suffix. It is still a .gz file and will not be useful as a disk
image (DSK)
file until it is uncompressed. The usual size of a 5.25" disk image
file is
about 143kB.
Other chores you will want to handle on the
PC before sending a file to
your Apple II include converting .HTM (HTML) files to text and splitting
up
very large Text files. Similarly, it will be easier to view, process,
and
convert most large graphics files on the PC.
004- I need some help with uploading. I uploaded
a large file to
an Apple II ftp site but nobody seems
able to download it without
ending up with garbage. What's wrong?
Uploading files to an FTP site is a fairly
simple process-- basically,
it's pretty close to the reverse of downloading described above. For
example,
to upload a group of Apple IIgs files named "NARFGAME" you would
...
o On the GS, use GS-ShrinkIt to created a single compressed file
containing
the NARFGAME files. The new .SHK file could be named "NARFGAME.SHK".
(On an Apple IIe or other 8-bit Apple II, you could use an 8-bit
version of
ShrinkIt to compress the NARFGAME files.)
o Use Spectrum or some other A2 telecom program to NULL modem
NARFGAME.SHK to, say, the PC's C:\UPDOWN folder using Z-modem
protocol. (Z-modem is easiest; but, other protocols, like X-modem,
are fine.
Mainly, both telecom programs, Apple II and PC, involved in the transfer
need
to be set to the same protocol.)
o Dial-up your ISP-- no need if you are already connected via
Netscape,
'Explorer, or some other browser or application.
Uploading via a Browser
o If you are running Netscape or some similar browser, you can
do the upload
very easily to one of several ftp sites. (Some ftp
sites may not permit uploading
from a browser. Major Apple II sites which will
include Asimov, Ground,
and TFFE.)
Go to the site's upload URL-- e.g. you might type in
ftp://ftp.apple.asimov.net/pub/apple_II/ (or click your
bookmark
for "Asimov") and click on the incoming/ folder to open
it.
Note1: The folder for uploads
will usually be named "upload", "uploads",
or "incoming". Sometimes, there will be folders inside,
like apple2/,
apple2gs/, etc. which you should open depending upon where
you think
your stuff fits.
Note2: Some sites will show
the current contents of the uploads folder and
some will not. Often you will see a nearly blank screen.
Open a window for the folder on your system which has the
file or
files you want to upload. For example, you may want to
upload the file
NARFGAME.SHK which is in the C:\NeatGames\ folder on your
hard disk.
So, you would open a window for C:\NeatGames\.
Select (click on) the files to upload and drag them onto
the uploads page
display-- you would click on NARFGAME.SHK and drag it
onto the
part of your screen showing the uploads page display (which
may be blank).
Click "Yes" when asked if you want to upload the file(s).
If the site accepts your upload you will get some kind
of message indicating
this somewhere on your screen-- maybe at the bottom--
saying "upload
successful", "upload done", etc..
Uploading via an FTP program
o If you prefer using an ftp program (e.g. WS_FTP, Cute FTP, etc.)
or the
ftp site will not permit browser uploads, start
your ftp program.
Select the desired FTP site's name in your "profiles list"
(or,
if necessary, create the profile entry) and connect with
the
FTP site.
Navigate to the FTP site's uploads folder-- usually, it
will be
named "uploads" or "incoming". There may be folders
inside this one (like apple2/, apple2gs/, etc.) to open
depending
upon what sort of stuff you are uploading.
Note: you may or may not see
any files listed when in a site's
Uploads folder. Some FTP sites hide file names in this
folder
and/or restrict folder access to upload-only.
For .shk, .dsk, and most other program files you upload,
make
sure 'transfer mode' is set to "binary". (For Text files,
mode
can be "text" or "ASCII"; however, "binary" mode is fine
for
Text uploads.)
Highlight "NARFGAME.SHK" (and any other binary mode files
to
upload) in the listing of files in your C:\UPDOWN folder.
Click an arrow button (or whatever) to start the transfer
to
the FTP site's uploads folder.
If the upload is successful, you will usually get a message
like "transfer
complete" on your ftp program's display.
With a little experience everything is nearly
'automatic'. However, there are
a few common mistakes which can ruin an upload:
o Probably, the most common error is failing to make sure "binary"
is set
(check-marked, etc.) as the transfer mode when an .SHK file or other
non-Text
file is uploaded using an ftp program. Basically, you should use binary
mode for
all uploads to modern ftp sites. If some site complains when a .txt
file is uploaded
in binary mode, use "text" (or "ASCII") mode for the Text file.
o Many Apple II users seem to feel that, because "Binary Up"--
an option which
adds a Binary II header-- is available on their telecom program, it
should be
used for all transfers. It is best to turn OFF any Spectrum (ProTerm,
etc.)
option which adds a Binary II header. (Also, you should _not_ use GS-ShrinkIt's
option to add a Binary II header.) A Binary II header renders
a file useless
until the header is stripped off; so, for example, any Text file with
the
header will be un-readable by a PC. If a downloader does not have an
A2 telecom
program which automatically strips off the header during NULL modem
transfers
(or if "Binary Down" is turned OFF), the Text file will look like garbage
on
the Apple II as well.
o Too many old-time Apple II users still insist upon doing a binscii
conversion of all .SHK files before uploading them. When, as sometimes
happens,
a binscii'd .SHK file is uploaded as an ".SHK" file, downloaders end
up with a
".SHK file which ShrinkIt cannot unshrink". Except for uploads to text-oriented
services like comp.binaries.apple2, binscii is not necessary on the
modern
internet.
o Sometimes, a user will NULL modem an Apple Text file to PC using
a block
transfer protocol (like Z-modem) and, then, upload the file as Text
intended to
be readable on-line. Such a file will, usually, be a mess when viewed
on a PC.
o Mac owners sometimes use the Mac version of ShrinkIt to create
a ".SHK"
archive of Apple II files which is then uploaded to an Apple II FTP
site. The
result is another 'mystery .SHK file' which Apple II users cannot unshrink.
.SHK files uploaded to an Apple II FTP site should be created on an
Apple II
using an Apple II version of ShrinkIt.
In short, most of the common uploading errors
are the result of
carelessness or of doing something which is unnecessary. A good uploading
'rule
of thumb' is "Keep it simple".
005- What kinds of files should I upload to which
sites?
I. Many Apple II ftp sites
These sites prefer .SHK files for stuff intended
to run or be accessed on
an Apple II. For example, a game which includes a program file, text
Readme
file, and folder of pic files would be shrinked into an .SHK file.
To facilitate
server compatibility, it is usually best to place files with .shk,
.sdk, .dsk,
and similar Apple II-specific filetypes in a .zip file.
It is best to Shrink even compressed picture,
small binary, and icon files
and upload them as .SHK files because everyone is used to dealing with
.SHK
files and the filetype of shrinked files is preserved.
ProDOS diskettes should, usually, be uploaded
as a collection of files in
a regular .SHK file. This uses less space than a whole-disk archive
file.
DOS 3.3 diskettes should be uploaded as whole-disk
archive .SDK files.
(That is, you have an .SHK whole-disk archive but you change its name
to end
with ".SDK".)
Pictures and diagrams you want to be both useable
on an Apple II and
viewable on-line should be converted to .GIF form (e.g. via Super Convert)
and
uploaded in this form.
If you have several pictures or diagrams you
want to be accessible
off-line on an Apple II as well as a PC, Mac, etc., you can convert
them to
.GIF form, place them all in a .ZIP file on your PC, and upload the
.ZIP file.
All of the above would be uploaded in "binary"
mode.
Text which is intended to be readable on-line
should be uploaded as plain
Text in "ASCII" or "Text" mode or, on most sites today, in binary mode.
Whenever you upload a game, utility, etc. to
an ftp site, it's a good idea
to also upload a brief Text file with a description of the uploaded
item. For
example, after uploading NARFGAME2.SHK (in binary mode), you could
upload
a brief description in a Text file named NARFGAMEinfo.TXT (in Text
or binary
mode).
II. Asimov and other Apple II emulator ftp sites
Upload files will, generally, be individual
DOS 3.3 or ProDOS disk image
(.DSK) files created on an Apple II by DSK2FILE or ASIMOV. Upload in
binary
mode.
III. Comp.binaries.apple2
Programs, etc. posted to this newsgroup are
normally .SHK files which have
been Binscii'd-- i.e. after Shrinking, the file is changed to Text
form via a
binscii utility.
IV. Comp.sources.apple2
Source files posted to this newsgroup are normally
plain Text.
006- How can I read & send email and newsgroup messages
with my Apple II?
You can use a program by Tom Larson named "2qwk!".
Many PC-based BBS's
and other servers have hidden among the door programs a "maildoor,"
which will
package all unread messages in a user's chosen news groups and make
them
available for download as a single compressed file, called a QWK packet.
(Hence
"2qwk", QWK access for Apple II; get it?!)
So, you have a QWK packet sent to your machine,
which takes a few seconds
to a few minutes depending on how fast the modem is and how many messages
there
are. Then, you can go off-line and launch 2qwk!. Selecting "Archiver"
lets you
start the utility of your choice (such as Angel 0.81b, available separately)
to
unpack the QWK packet and return to 2qwk!.
Now, you may select "Messages" to view your
news groups, scan messages by
author and subject, and, finally, read individual messages. When you
find a
post that needs a reply, you can decide how much of the message to
quote and
type-in your words of wisdom. You can also haul in text from disk and,
even,
pick just the right tagline (snappy words at the very end of many messages
seen
on-line nowadays). Naturally, 2qwk! allows complete freedom to change
a message
title along with the group to which it is to be posted and to originate
new
messages.
When you are done reading and replying, you
exit the program and it
creates a reply file, called a REP packet. The next time you connect,
you
simply upload the REP to the maildoor. The maildoor will decide what
goes where
and your messages will enter cyberspace pronto!
To use 2qwk! you will need an enhanced Apple
IIe, IIc, or IIgs, with at
least 128k RAM and drive space to hold the QWK data. The program itself
will
fit on a 5.25" disk with plenty of room to spare. Of course, the server
to
which you connect must have a QWK-compatible maildoor. 2qwk! runs under
ProDOS
2.x. It comes with QuickFix, a program to patch ProDOS, and other utility
programs to handle MSDOS-legal names.
007- With a fast modem, how can the IIe connect to the internet?
Get an Internet Service Provider that has the
option of a text based shell
account. For email, Proline and METAL BBS's work well too.
008- I'm on the Internet and running the Lynx web
browser.
It dosn't look like Netscape Navigator
at all. Where do
I put in the URL?
Type "g" which will bring up a URL dialog.
You can then type in the URL
and hit return.
009- How do I download an .SHK file through Lynx?
Selecting the
link gives an unusable text dump.
Just highlight the link, but do not press return.
Press "d" instead,
which will bring up the download dialog.
010- Can I send and receive FAXes using my Apple II?
If your Apple II is a IIgs, yes. There are
two GS FAXing programs:
FAXination and PMPFAX.
011- What is a "Binary II" header?
A Binary II header is a small block of code
tacked onto some Apple II
files. Sometimes, this is referred to as a "binary wrapper". Mainly,
the Binary
II header contains filetype information. The purpose of Binary II is
to allow
Apple II users to download files and have them show up with the correct
filetype. (Otherwise, a downloaded file tends to show up as a TXT type
file.)
In order for a Binary II header to be recognized
and used to supply the
filetype info, the Apple II downloading software must have its "Binary
Down"
option set to ON. The problem with this is that, at least on a few
popular
telecom wares (like Spectrum), setting "Binary Down" to ON will turn
OFF Resume
Transfer, something you probably do not want to do when downloading
over phone
lines.
When you use a PC or Mac to handle downloads
and, then, NULL-modem the
files to your Apple, it makes sense to leave "Binary Down" ON for the
telecom
program running on the Apple II. Resume Transfer is not necessary because
you
have a direct, noise-free connection between two machines. Meanwhile,
Binary
Down will automatically recognize and strip-off any Binary II header
and save
the resulting file with the correct filetype.
012- Should I add a Binary II header to files I upload?
In general, no. Binary II is an Apple-only
device which, today, is largely
unnecessary and can cause problems. Virtually the only valid use for
Binary II
is to retain filetype information for .SEA self-extracting archives.
(An .SEA
file with a Binary II header is a .BSE file.) The only file which significantly
benefits
form a Binary II header is a self-extracting archive of GS-ShrinkIt.
013- How can I use my Apple II on the internet?
So, you have been told that you cannot get ftp or http files or images,
right?
Of course, you cannot read .pdf files either because you have an obsolete
computer, right? Well, you are told wrong!
There is a list that you can subscribe to which tells you all you need
to know
about emailing efficiently. It is called "ACCMAIL". To subscribe write
to
LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AOL.COM with message in body:
subscribe accmail your.id
and you should be on. You can change the setting to "digest", too, (which
I recommend).
So, how do you get ftp files? There are a number of addresses which
will
send you ftp files which accmail tells about. I use bitftp@pucc.princeton.edu
to get ftp files by email. I think that by sending HELP to that address
you
will get the rules of how to do it.
How about surfing the net?
Well, I send messages to www4mail@unganisha.idrc.ca or
www4mail@web.bellanet.org with SUBJECT anything (it will be ignored)
and message:
get http://www .... .html (i.e. the URL of the document)
You can expect to receive the www-document in your email box.
If you need to look at the source files of the www-page, send message:
get http://www .... .html
You also may simply send message HELP to the above addresses, if your
request fails. This way you will find out whether or not you made a
mistake
in sending your request. If the http-URL is too long (more than one
line),
you may expect problems.
Some of the servers will send you image files, too, like .gif or .jpg
files. I get
these files as file attachments in my mailbox. You have to experiment
to see
what works for you. Some files are ready to use; others (uuencode or
mime) will need to be decoded with BISCIT.
Search engines? Yes, they are available, too.
You need to know about http-URLs on keyword1 and keyword2? Send
message to www@kfs.org. In the body write this:
search keyword1 keyword2
Voila, you are in business.
If the http-URL contains a pdf-file, send message to pdf2txt@adobe.com
or to pdf2txt@sun.trace.wisc.edu with message:
http://www .... .pdf
and you will get the file back in text format.
If you want the pdf-files back in html-format, that can be done by replacing
"txt" in the URLs with "htm".
I use Proterm 3.1 for surfing by email and have my favorite addresses
available as macros.
014- Why do I get bad .zip downloads? Is there a solution?
You may have noticed that you get good IE downloads
of .zip files from
some sites-- WinZip unzips the files with no problem. But, from other
sites,
the .zip files cannot easily be unzipped or, sometimes, not at all.
One idea I've come across is that, starting
with IE 6, Microsoft began
to require that download sites provide information about .zip files,
perhaps
other kinds of files, too. If the information is supplied, the file
arrives okay.
If not, you get a 'bad' .zip file.
Either way, there is nothing wrong with the
.zip file maintained on the
site. The problem is with how IE treats .zip files.
What's happening is that the bad zip files
have been gzipped and that
is how they arrive, still with the ".zip" suffix. The good zip files
are either
not gzipped or, if they were, are sucessfully un-gzipped upon arrival.
WinZip, at least the versions I've tried,
is confused by a gzipped file
with a ".zip" suffix and will not unzip it. A solution that usually
works is to
rename the file, say "Narf.zip", to "Narf.gz". WinZip will ungzip the
file and
ask you to supply a suffix, which should be ".zip". Now, you have a
.zip
file which WinZip can unzip.
The above seems to work in most cases; but,
not always. I've come
across one case where either the initial file could not be unzipped
or
ungzipped or the resulting .zip file could not be unzipped. Via an
ftp
connection to the site, I downloaded the file; it unzipped with no
problem.
Evidently, the gzipping may introduce an error,
at least as far as WinZip
and 7-zip are concerned.
A simple solution is to use some browser other
than IE when planning
on downloading .zip files. For instance, on my Windows ME computer,
.zip file downloads from Apple II sites under Netscape 4.78 work fine.
Firefox users report the same result.
