[Last edited on March 20, 1992] I would like to thank Larry W. Virden and Dan DeMaggio for their help with this document. ======================================================================== Hi! Welcome to the comp.sys.apple2 newsgroup! This article contains the answers to some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) often seen in comp.sys.apple2. I am posting this article (once every three weeks or so) to help reduce the volume in this newsgroup and to provide hard-to-find information of general interest. I hope it answers some of your questions. Table of Contents: Q1: What is comp.sys.apple2? What is INFO-APPLE? Q2: What are the comp.binaries.apple2 and comp.sources.apple2 groups? Q3: What are the Apple II FTP sites? Q4: What is APPLE2-L? Q5: Are there other electronic mail file servers? Q6: I just spent X hours downloading a file and I can't decode it. Why not? Q7: What is a .Z, .bsq or .shk file? (some common filename extensions) Q8: What is BinSCII? Q9: What is ShrinkIt? Q10: What is Executioner? Table of Contents (for part 2): Q11: What is Kermit? Q12: What is FTP? Q13: What is BITFTP? Q14: What is the current system disk? Q15: What are technotes? * Q16: What Apple II magazines are currently being published? Q17: What is APDA? Q18: What programming resources are there? Table of Contents (for part 3): Q19: Some solutions to some very common problems Q20: General guidelines on How To Troubleshoot Q21: Recent Apple Computer Announcements and Changes Q22: Apple II resources Q23: Long directions to extract a file in Executioner format Q24: Future questions for the FAQ Q25: Editors Notes + indicates questions new to this article * indicates questions/answers with changes of content since the last issue ? on a line in the articles indicates input from the reader is being requested. Note: This is the first third of the frequently asked questions (with answers), the other two thirds should be the next couple of articles. ======================================================================== Q1: What is comp.sys.apple2? What is INFO-APPLE? Comp.sys.apple2 is a Usenet newsgroup that was created for the discussion of the Apple II series of computers. This forum provides a way for interested people to compare notes, ask questions, and share insights about Apple IIs. It works by users posting a message via specialized software to a local file on their system, and that message being passed along to all of the 30,000+ other systems around the world that share Usenet files. INFO-APPLE is a mailing list that is maintained on some networks other than Usenet. Comp.sys.apple2 messages are sent to INFO-APPLE and INFO-APPLE messages are sent to comp.sys.apple2. The central location of INFO-APPLE is at apple.com. Thank you, Apple Computer! Comp.sys.apple2 is also accessed by users of ProLine bulletin board systems. ProLine systems run, appropriately enough, on Apple II computers. ProLine users account for a large group of participants on comp.sys.apple2. Using ProLine's Conference System, users can read and reply to articles on comp.sys.apple2, as well as many other Usenet newsgroups. And since ProLine systems have UUCP/Internet access, users can also exchange electronic mail with people world-wide. ProLine system operators enjoy a close-knit network relationship with other ProLine operators. Everyday, ideas are exchanged for making ProLine systems better for their users. This includes news about additional Usenet groups available to ProLine sites for the benefit of their users. There are many newsgroups and mailing lists available to ProLine sites. Does anyone know of other folks doing the same thing for other ? networks? For instance, what is being done for Apple IIs on Fidonet? Are there are networks of relatively low cost access which run ? Apple II discussions? Any other mailing lists dealing with Apple IIs? For instance, I have heard rumors of a non-GS Apple II mailing list. ? What is it's address and policies? To subscribe (or (sadly) unsubscribe) to INFO-APPLE, send your request to the info-apple-request@apple.com address. Please do not send subscription requests to info-apple@apple.com - it is doubtful that you will achieve what you are attempting!!!! There is no need to subscribe to INFO-APPLE when you are getting comp.sys.apple2, since the messages are identical. To post a message to the thousands of readers of INFO-APPLE (and comp.sys.apple2) subscribers send their messages to one of the following addresses: info-apple@apple.com comp-sys-apple2@ucbvax.berkeley.edu To post programs to be used by thousands of grateful readers, send the appropriately formatted mail to one of the following addresses: comp-binaries-apple2@ucbvax.berkeley.edu ? comp-sources-apple2@ucbvax.berkeley.edu [Is this correct?] There is no need for comp.sys.apple2 users to do this - they can use the standard posting features of Usenet. On BITNET, INFO-APP@NDSUVM1 (aka VM1.Nodak.Edu) is available through the LISTSERV on NDSUVM1 to distribute the Apple II discussion mail ? (is this correct?) and APPLE2-L@BROWNVM distributes messages dealing with programs. They work by maintaining a private list of users who wish to see the messages in their mailbox. What is the address users should use to ask administrative ? questions concerning these two services? Posting commercials and advertising to comp.sys.apple2/INFO-APPLE is not only discouraged, it is not allowed under the rules of the NSFNET portion of the group. Due to the complexity of electronic mail and USENET message routings, commercial messages should not be sent on either of them. Instead, Usenet users can post their needs to misc.forsale.computers, misc.forsale, or misc.wanted. The Internet and BITNET folks are out of luck with regards to these type of postings. If they want to read and submit for sale or wanted messages, they need to find logins on one of the ProLine or other similar Bulletin Board Systems available around the country. ======================================================================== Q2: What are the comp.binaries.apple2 and comp.sources.apple2 groups? Comp.binaries.apple2 is a newsgroup used to distribute public domain, freeware, and shareware Apple II software (executables, pictures, sounds, etc...). Software distributed on comp.binaries.apple2 is expected to be a BinSCII text file of ShrinkIt archives. Comp.sources.apple2 is a newsgroup used to distribute public domain, freeware, and shareware Apple II source code. There are guidelines on the format in the comp.sources.apple2 newsgroup. Contact jac@paul.rutgers.edu for details. Discussions concerning the software posted in these groups, or the methods of locating, decoding, or accessing this software, or questions on locating archive sites of this software, or any OTHER discussions (and in fact many discussions you would NEVER dream of seeing!) are to be held in comp.sys.apple2. NO DISCUSSIONS, QUESTIONS, PLEAS FOR HELP, DISGRUNTLED OBJECTIONS, OR OTHER NON-RELATED MESSAGES ARE TO GO TO THESE GROUPS. If someone DOES either intentionally or accidentally post to these groups, please respond only in email - do not compound the problem! Note: Distributing commercial software is a crime - just don't do it! ======================================================================== Q3: What are the Apple II FTP sites? Here is a list of the sites that have Apple II software available by anonymous FTP. Site Name Internet address Directory ---------------------------- ---------------- ------------------------------ apple2.archive.umich.edu ($) 141.211.164.153 /archive/apple2 bric-a-brac.apple.com = ftp.apple.com avalanche.berkeley.edu 128.32.234.22 pub/Apple2 (IIe emulator) brownvm.brown.edu ($) (*) 128.148.128.40 LISTSERV.193 bull.cs.williams.edu 137.165.5.2 /pub/AppleII calvin.sfasu.edu 144.96.128.9 /pub/apple2 cnam.cnam.fr 192.33.159.6 /pub/Archives/comp.binaries.apple2 /pub/Archives/comp.sources.apple2 cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu 128.59.40.129 KERMA f.ms.uky.edu ($) 128.163.128.6 /pub/appleII ftp.apple.com 130.43.2.3 /dts/aii ftp.cc.utexas.edu 128.83.136.13 /gifstuff/apple ftp.hawaii.edu (@) 128.171.43.7 /incoming/apple2 ftp.tohoku.ac.jp (@) 130.34.8.9 /pub/news/comp.binaries.apple2 grind.isca.uiowa.edu 128.255.19.233 /unix/apple2 headcrash.berkeley.edu 128.32.234.31 /pub/Apple2 hp4nl.nluug.nl 192.16.202.2 /pub/newsarchive/comp/sources/apple2 isca02.isca.uiowa.edu = grind.isca.uiowa.edu j.cc.purdue.edu 128.210.9.2 /kermit/appleII jyu.fi 128.214.7.5 /pub/apple2 mcsun.eu.net 192.16.202.1 /pub/newsarchive/comp/sources/apple2 methan.chemie.fu-berlin.de(@)130.133.2.81 /pub/doc/faq nic.funet.fi 128.214.6.100 pub/archive/comp.sources.apple2 pindarus.cs.uiuc.edu 128.174.240.84 /pub/apple2 plains.nodak.edu ($) 134.129.111.64 /pub/appleII relay.cs.toronto.edu (@) 128.100.3.6 /pub/lists.1989 shark.nosc.mil 128.49.80.1 KER*MIT. syr.edu 128.230.1.49 /software/kermit/appleII tiberius.cs.uiuc.edu 128.174.240.8 /apple2 trantor.ee.msstate.edu 130.18.64.2 /files/appleII tybalt.caltech.edu ($) 131.215.139.100 /pub/apple2 ucrmath.ucr.edu 138.23.146.21 /PC/apple2 watsun.cc.columbia.edu 128.59.39.2 /kermit/a wsmr-simtel20.army.mil 192.88.110.20 PD2: wuarchive.wustl.edu ($) 128.252.135.4 /systems/apple2 /usenet/comp.binaries.apple2 /usenet/comp.sources.apple2 (*) Files on brownvm.brown.edu are stored by serial number. For a human- readable directory, send e-mail with the text "INDEX APPLE2-L" to LISTSERV@brownvm.brown.edu. ($) This sign marks the "major" sites--those with especially large and diverse collections. (@) This sign indicates "small" sites--each site so marked has only one or two Apple-related files. Apple II-related Electronic Mail servers ======================================== archive-server@plains.nodak.edu (Internet), FILESERV@PLAINS (BITNET) KERMSRV@cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu (Internet), KERMSRV@CUVMA (BITNET) LISTSERV@brownvm.brown.edu (Internet), LISTSERV@BROWNVM (BITNET) LISTSERV@utarlvm1.uta.edu (Internet), LISTSERV@UTARLVM1 (BITNET) ======================================================================== Q4: What is APPLE2-L? ? [Note: This answer needs some expanding.] APPLE2-L is an software archive of Apple II programs provided by a BITNET mail server (LISTSERV@BROWNVM.BITNET). Interactive BITNET messages are also supported. Send an electronic message to LISTSERV@brownvm.bitnet to get help information: help index apple2-l What you will receive in return is a file containing a set of help instructions and a file that has lines of the following format: * filename filetype GET PUT -fm lrecl nrecs date time Remarks * -------- -------- --- --- --- ----- ----- -------- -------- ------------------------------- APPLE2-L 88-00497 ALL OWN V 79 160 88/01/03 23:02:30 -> Applesoft Screen Editor APPLE2-L 88-00511 ALL OWN V 75 110 88/01/29 20:44:01 -> Deductions.EXEC APPLE2-L 88-00515 ALL OWN V 77 619 88/02/07 11:05:21 -> SDC.EXEC-- DOS 3.3 disk utilities and copier (similar to copy There are over 450 files in the Bitnet archive. Most are programs or updates to programs. A few may be email msgs. There also may well be a few duplicates - be sure to read through the entire listing before sending for a file. The important files in these lines are the filename (APPLE2-L), the filetype (88-00511), the number of records (nrecs - so you will know how big the file is), the date (so that you have an idea of the currency), and the comments, so you will have an inkling of an idea what the file is. All files are text files - the majority are in BinSCII format. To retrieve one of these files, you send an electronic message to LISTSERV@brownvm.bitnet containing lines of the following format: get apple2-l 88-00511 The file will be returned to you electronically. Some user difficulty should be expected if you attempt to retrieve a file larger than 64k, since the LISTSERV software apparently arbitrarily breaks the files up into this size. Check the subject line carefully to determine the order of the files. Remove all header and training info, including any white space, before attempting to reconstruct the file. Chris Chung administers APPLE2-L (Thanks Chris!) Users with anonymous FTP access can see the above FTP site chart for details. ? We need more info concerning the BITNET Apple II server for games. ======================================================================== Q5: Are there other electronic mail file servers? Yes! Much like APPLE2-L works in BITNET, there are electronic mail servers on Internet. I only know of the one at the following address: archive-server@plains.nodak.edu ? Anyone want to contribute info about others? The idea is that you send simple commands in the mail message. Start with the following message: help index appleII Note: The filenames are case sensitive on this particular file server. You must be aware, however, that if you request the 'send' of files, you must first be sending the files to a computer that has access to uudecode and (if you request multiple files) tar (the Unix tape archive utility). Note that use of these facilities are generally frowned upon if the item being retrieved is larger than 10,000 bytes. This is due to the fact that you are asking a number of machines to carry quite a load for you at no cost. Please do not abuse these privileges. ======================================================================== Q6: "I just spent X hours downloading a file and I can't decode it. Why not?" If you have a text file in your hands that has some lines resembling: FiLeStArTfIlEsTaRt ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789() GBINSCII AQhmAAAAA8)4MIAI02DA9ARMQEDtAQhmAIVZ gYITA6u7xADA0MjM3YTNBlDOENkQwYURzITM2UDN5gzNDJUQGVERyEDM1QzM4cjN CFUOFR0QxAjR0MjM3YTNBlDOENkQwAQRzITM2UDN5gzNDJUQGVERyEDM1QzM4cjN .. then you've got something encoded by BinSCII. You must decode *all* the parts using BinSCII before attempting to extract using ShrinkIt. On the other hand, if you have a binary file which resembles: NuFilei][![/#NuFX_<:c[[[ H`F-fGSCII~[ cRJ0)fNN^P)3'A2p6SF6X#GPd<9#'LC^08N7n\NB7Dd!eMN&eYX0Am=fXp d@PAsp7rh`I'NS0ALAfi2)2ysGEQ$k9CP%L9 ... then you have a NuFX file (note the key words NuFile and NuFX). You should be able to extract the files it contains using ShrinkIt. On the third hand, if you have a text file which resembles: begin 666 nonsense.bny M4W5N3U,@4F5L96%S92 T+C$@*%-$4U0V,"D@(S@Z(%1U92!/8W0@.2 Q,CHS M...3HT.2!%1%0@,3DY, HT and more lines like that, followed by an: end then you have a uuencoded file. This is going to be tougher to decode. See the Apple II archives for a uudecode program that works on any Apple II. On another hand, if you have a text file which resembles: (This file must be converted with BinHex 4.0) then you have a BinHex file. This is going to be much tougher to decode. The GSCII+ NDA by Derek Taubert decodes BinHex files on an Apple IIGS. You can also use a variety of macintosh programs to do the decoding. There is also a Unix implementation of BinHex called mcvert. On one more hand, if you have a text file which resembles: CALL-151 E00:38 A5 FF D0 32 D8 20 8E FD AD 30 BF 8D 6A 0E 20 00 BF C7 6D 0E 0D 80 02 E18:D0 1D 20 00 BF C5 69 0E B0 15 AD 81 02 29 0F AA E8 8E 80 02 A9 2F 8D 81 and more lines like that, followed by a bunch of lines that look like: F00G A90885A420732090242039FB2058FCA200BD9220F00620EDFDE8D0F5200CFDA9 then you have an Executioner file. This file is a little to hard to describe how to decode at this point in the FAQ - check the last few questions and answers for how to decode this type of file. ? Are there other formats that should be mentioned here? ======================================================================== Q7: What is a .Z, .bsq or .shk file? (some common filename extensions) Filename extensions are simply the addition of more characters to the end of a filename (thus the extension). An example could be FRED.SHK. 'FRED' is the base filename. '.SHK' is a filename extension that happens to indicate that the file is probably a NuFX archive and you will need to run ShrinkIt to determine/extract its contents. Sometimes you will find multiple filename extensions. Simply take the filename extensions apart one at a time and you should be able to reconstruct the original file. The following is a table of some of the filename extensions that you may encounter during your trips to Apple II ftp sites: Extension What does it usually mean --------- ---------------------------------------------------- .SHK The file is usually a NuFX archive created by ShrinkIt. Use ShrinkIt to extract the files. .SDK The file is usually a NuFX disk archive create by ShrinkIt. Use ShrinkIt to extract the disk image. .QQ The file is usually a Huffman encoded file created by BLU or possibly SQZ (If I remember correctly). .BSQ This is usually a BinSCII'ized ShrinkIt file. or Use BinSCII to extract a NuFX archive, then use .BSC ShrinkIt to extract the files. .BXY This is usually a NuFX file wrapped in a Binary II header. .BNY This is usually a BLU archive file. ShrinkIt can be used to extract its contents. These were previously referred to as Bunny files. .BQY This is a BLU wrapped ShrinkIt archive. Use or ShrinkIt to extract the files (it will automatically .BNX go past the BLU header to extract the NuFX archived files). Note: This filename extension is found on GEnie. .EXE The file is usually the output of Executioner. To extract the file, simply 'EXEC' it from Basic Note: You may need to use DOS 3.3... it depends on the file you are extracting (sometimes they will contain a note which will tell you). .HQX This is a BinHex encoded file. Use GSCii+ or a Macintosh program to decode it. .SIT This is a StuffIt archive created by StuffIt on a MacIntosh. GS ShrinkIt may be able to decode it (newer StuffIt Deluxe files will not decode with ShrinkIt). .CPT This is a Compactor Pro archive created by Compactor Pro on a MacIntosh - you will not be able to decode it on any Apple II. .SEA This is a self-extracting archive - simply executing it on a MacIntosh will extract its files. .ARC This is an archive that is usually from an Intel-based (8086 or later) PC archive. Use either GS ShrinkIt or DeArc2E. .ZOO This is another archive that is usually from an Intel based PC archive. You may be able to use GS ShrinkIt ? program (anyone know for sure?) .ZIP This is another archive that is usually from an Intel based PC archive. An UnZip programs exists that can be used with a shell such as Orca, APW or GNO. Also, Agate 0.69 or newer can unzip files during transfer. .LZH This is another archive that is usually from an Intel based PC archive. I know of no programs to extract files from a .LZH archive on an Apple II. .LHA This is quite a common format on the Amiga for MOD.* type files that are becoming popular on the GS. Unfortunately, I cannot find any source code for extracting these files at all. .uu The file is a uuencoded file, which is a standard Unix and MS-DOS method of turning a binary file into a format which can be sent through the mail or Usenet groups. Use the program uudecode (or one of its many variants) to convert the ASCII text back into a binary format. .GIF The file is in the Compuserve defined Graphics Interface Format. This is a binary file which contains a compressed graphical image. After you have retrieved this binary file, you can use programs like SuperConvert, SHRConvert, Graphics Exchange, or IIgif to display the file. .JPEG This is a new graphic file format, intended to maintain .JPG a higher percentage of a 24 bit raster image. Currently there are no tools native to the Apple II environment to display or convert these files. .TIFF This is an older graphic file format which I do not believe is being supported in the Apple II environment. .Z The file was compressed with the Unix compress command (LZW compression). Use your host's uncompress command to extract the file. Alternatives include using GSHK (GS ShrinkIt) to uncompress or the APW/ORCA UNCOMPRESS utility (available in archives). Some ftp sites give the user the ability to uncompress during retrieval. Check the site's README/help type files for details. .tar The file is a Tape ARchive created under Unix. Use the Unix tar command to extract the files (tar xvf filename). Some ftp sites give the user the ability to untar during retrieval. Check the site's README/help type files for details. .tar.Z The file is a combination of the previous two items. You would need to uncompress the file, then use tar to extract the members. I have found ShrinkIt archives as BinSCII files in a tar archive that was compressed. Seems strange, but you may find a XXX.BSQ.tar.Z file somewhere. Good luck in your file decoding! ======================================================================== Q8: What is BinSCII? This is a program which takes an Apple file and converts it into a text file which contains a series of letters and numbers. BinSCII can also convert from a text file (or many text files) back into a copy of the original file. The main reason for using BinSCII is that electronic mail and newsgroups like comp.binaries.apple2 were only designed to transfer text files. When a file is converted into text with BinSCII, it will become larger, but it may also be split up into a series of small text files. This prevents extremely long electronic mail messages or newsgroup articles, since each can be posted separately. BinSCII segments are often posted in groups of three (the first three in the first article and so on...). This grouping works well because each article is not too large (which some hosts won't handle) and not too small (which makes anyone saving all the parts happy). The main thing to know about BinSCII files is that BinSCII is pretty smart. The program will look for the BinSCII header which is the word 'filestart' twice with funny caps (looks like this: FiLeStArTfIlEsTaRt). The line delimiter (carriage return or new line) does not matter to BinSCII - the program is written to skip over any combination without problems. It also does not matter what order the segments are in, or if they are in several files. You also do not need to remove electronic mail or newsgroup headers, or leading spaces. For example: you could save five BinSCII segments in one file and five more in another file. The only detail is that you must decode every segment of a file for the decoded file to work. Using that last example, you would have to run BOTH files through BinSCII before attempting to use it. If you did not run all the segments through BinSCII, your resulting file will not be complete, and will not work as you expect. BinSCII 1.0.3 does not notify you if you are missing any segments. The current version of BinSCII is 1.0.3. The user interface isn't very pretty, but it's being worked on. Version 2.0 will change the encoding format drastically, making BinSCII portable to other systems. Encoded files will be interchangeable between any two implementations of BinSCII (for example: encode a file under Unix and decode the file on a Macintosh). When version 2.0 is available, a portable implementation in C source will be distributed. BinSCII was written by David Whitney , of Zlink fame. BinSCII II is being designed now by David and Todd Whitesel of the ftp archive site tybalt.caltech.edu fame. Sub-Subject: Where can I get a copy of BinSCII? BinSCII 1.0.3 is available via ftp from tybalt.caltech.edu (or most of the ftp sites listed previously). BinSCII is occasionally posted to comp.binaries.apple2. One more place to find BinSCII is on the APPLE2-L listserver (file APPLE2-L 89-01123). Todd Whitesel has re-encoded version 1.0.3 in a self-saving method similar to Executioner but more reliable. Grab that version (on tybalt) first and then you can easily decode future updates (which will be posted in both Executioner and BinSCII 1.0 formats). To get the specially-encoded BinSCII by ftp type the following commands (assuming you have ftp access to Internet): ftp [131.215.139.100] (or ftp tybalt.caltech.edu) anonymous user@node.place.domain (I would be dave@mystie.webo.dg.com) cd pub/apple2 get binscii.exe get binscii.txt If the above doesn't work (try the ftp without the [] also) then something is really wrong. binscii.txt is a tutorial that Todd wrote about BinSCII and the binscii.exe file itself. The tutorial sort of assumes that the .exe file is appended to it when it talks about the .exe file -- this is because he usually mails them to people with the tutorial and the .exe appended after it. Sub-Subject: Is there a Unix version of BinSCII? SciiBin is a C implementation of a BinSCII decoder. It works well under most Unix or Unix-like operating systems, AOS/VS and MSDOS. Note: SciiBin can only decode a BinSCII file! It cannot encode a binary file into BinSCII format. SciiBin version 1.10 was written by Marcel J.E. Mol. Version 1.20 had several corrections by Dave Whitney. The current version is 1.30 by Bruce Kahn. This version corrected a fair number of bugs and was a port to AOS/VS (where byte pointers are different than word pointers) and MSDOS (under Microsoft C v5.1). Sub-Subject: Is there a Unix BinSCII encoder? Yes! Bsc is a program (written by Neil Parker at Oregon) to generate BinSCII files on a Unix system (works quite nicely). bsc.aaf (in "Apple archive format") is in the various comp.sources.apple2 archive sites as well as on tybalt in the directory /pub/apple2/source. If you don't have the tools to disassemble an AAF file, just use an editor to break it up (it is only a few files, and emacs/vi does a quick job of removing the line marker characters). It does not appear to be on the BITNET APPLE2-L archive. ======================================================================== Q9: What is ShrinkIt? This is an Apple II program which takes one or more Apple II ProDOS files or disks and 'archives' them into a single NuFX archive. ShrinkIt typically shrinks the members of the NuFX archive with variations of the LZW (Lev-Zimpel-Welch) compression algorithm. ShrinkIt has many options, such as whole disk compression, disk formatting, displaying text files, etc. ShrinkIt also has the ability to extract BLU archive members - more on BLU in a couple of questions. The current revision number of ShrinkIt is 3.3. It runs on Apple IIe, IIc, IIc+, and IIgs computers. A special desktop IIgs version is named GShk and is at version 1.0.4. GShk can do all that ShrinkIt can do and more. Some of the additions are the ability to unarchive different archive types (Unix compress, PC Arc, Mac StuffIt) and the ability to create/extract Apple Single files. This is becoming more significant as resources are being used more frequently in IIgs software. GShk requires System Disk 5.0 (or later). For specialized extractions, more than 1 megabyte of memory may be required. ShrinkIt+ and UnShrinkIt+ are programs for the Apple II+ that allow an Apple II+ user to create NuFX archives and extract ? from them. Can Apple IIs which can run ProDOS use these? Autounshrink is a NuFX extractor that attempts to recover from errors within an NuFX file. I believe it also has the capability to speak what it is doing through an Echo II. ? What models can run this version? ShrinkIt, GShk, ShrinkIt+, UnShrinkIt+ and Autounshrink were written by Andy Nicholas of Finder 6.0 and GBBS Zmodem code fame. Sub-Subject: Is there a Unix version of ShrinkIt? Nulib is at v3.13 and is a very close to complete C implementation of GS ShrinkIt 1.0.4 (the only possible exception is the new code dealing with files under LZW/2 GSHK compression). Nulib works very well under most Unix or Unix-like operating systems, as well as Apple IIgs Orca/C. Nulib was written by Andy McFadden . Sub-Subject: What is BLU? BLU is the predecessor of ShrinkIt. The goal of BLU was to take one or more Apple II ProDOS files and 'archive' them into a single Apple II file, maintaining the ProDOS file type information. It could perform a Huffman compression on the individual pieces if the user so desired. The resulting files were named Bunny files (.BNY). BLU files that were compressed were .QQ files, with a Binary II header they were .BQY files. There is little current use of BLU. The reader is most likely to encounter files in its format on various archive sites. Note that since ShrinkIt can unbundle the members of these files, there is seldom any need to use BLU itself, unless it is a requirement of the archive in question. BLU was written by Floyd Zink, Jr. <7xxxx.yyy@compuserve.com>, of the Apple II text file browser Tex fame. The Binary II format is by Gary Little of Point to Point fame and now working as an Apple employee. ======================================================================== Q10: What is Executioner? Executioner was the standard program previous to BinSCII for converting Apple II files into text to be mailed/posted. It is no longer considered the standard for most transferals of Apple II binary files. Executioner was like BinSCII in that it translated an Apple II file into text to be send via email or 7 bit wide transfer methods. Only the 4 bit mode was safe to use (other modes used characters that got translated incorrectly between machines on the network). Presently, Executioner is typically only used to distribute BinSCII. Some older files in the various archives may also be encoded with this program. To translate an Executioner text file to an Apple II file required that you delete the mail headers/trailers, translated the newlines into carriage returns, download the file to your Apple II and from Applesoft Basic, type the command 'EXEC ' where is the name of the file you downloaded. Note: After the last line of the Executioner text, there needs to be a blank line. This blank line indicates the end of the text that gets translated back into an Apple II file. Executioner was written by Glen Bredon, of ProCMD and ProSEL fame. [The frequently asked questions (with answers) is continued in the next posting.] [Last edited on March 20, 1992] Dave Kopper Internet: dave@mystie.webo.dg.com or: dave%dgc.mceo.dg.com@relay.cs.net Apple II Forever! GEnie: D.Kopper [Last edited on March 20, 1992] This is the second part of the frequently asked questions (and answers) article. Table of Contents: Q11: What is Kermit? Q12: What is FTP? Q13: What is BITFTP? Q14: What is the current system disk? Q15: What are technotes? Q16: What Apple II magazines are currently being published? Q17: What is APDA? Q18: What programming resources are there? ======================================================================== Q11: What is Kermit? Kermit itself is a file transfer protocol invented by Frank DeCruz of Columbia University. Typically in this group when one talks about Kermit, they are talking about a program which supports the Kermit protocol. There is at least one commercial program which supports Kermit - ProTerm. But many folks are using Ted Medin's Kermit-65 (currently 3.87), a freely distributable version of a telecommunication program which supports Kermit, xmodem, vt100 emulation, and many Apple II configurations. Kermit-65 was written by Ted Medin The latest official version of Kermit-65, v3.87, is available from Columbia University via electronic mail or ftp. Send electronic mail to KERMSERV@CUVMA.BITNET, and a one line message of HELP will get you started. For FTP users, the site is watsun.cc.columbia.edu (128.59.39.2) and the Apple II files reside in the kermit/a directory. Get apppro.bns and apple.doc and run apppro.bns through BinSCII to get a ProDOS version easily (a configuration program is included to select your driver). Kermit-65 v3.87 is available at the ftp site apple2.archive.umich.edu as /apple2/8bit/comm/kermit3.87.bsq (with the accompanying /apple2/8bit/docs/kermit3.87.txt documentation file) . A very nice (and large!) PostScript formatted document is also available for Kermit-65. It can also be found at Columbia's archives. ======================================================================== Q12: What is FTP? FTP is a program available to many schools and certain businesses which are connected to Internet. This program permits file transfers over a high speed international network. Note: FTP with remote hosts is a privilege! The remote sites can stop their FTP service if so they desire. Please try to restrict your FTP usage to off-peak hours. Some basic directions to get you started with FTP follow: Enter the FTP program (type FTP; if you get an FTP command prompt then you're in the FTP program). Type: open ; This command will establish ; a connection to a remote site. where is the name or address of the remote FTP site from which you are trying to retrieve files. You will be prompted for a username. Type: anonymous ; The username anonymous is ; recognized by many FTP sites ; as a guest account. You will be prompted for a password. Type: your electronic mail address ; The password is usually your ; Internet return mail address. ; In my case it is ; dave@mystie.webo.dg.com Now you are logged onto the remote host. Some commands you might want to use after you log on follow: dir ; Show me a listing of the files ; in the current directory dir []; Put a copy of a listing of the ; files that are in directory ; into a file on my machine for ; later perusal. cd ; Change the current directory ; to . pub is typically ; where the public's files are ; stored. type binary ; Change the way a file is sent ; from the default of ASCII ; (7 bits) to binary (8 bits). ; There are sometimes other ; modes, such as tenex. ; Be carefull with transfering text ; files in binary mode... you may ; find an EBCDIC file instead of ; an ASCII file (depending on the ; type of computer the ftp server ; happens to be). get []; Retrieve a file (named ; ) from the ; remote host to your local ; host. If you supply a second ; argument, then the remote ; file is stored as that local ; filename. put ; Send a file to the remote ; host. mget