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Last modification date: Sept 16, 1999

Last version: MacGzip 1.1.3

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Here you are the last version of MacGzip. If you don't like it; you can take the source code and make a better one :)


MacGzip Q&A:

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MacGzip doesnt work! Can you help me?


Sure, I can help you. But when something 'doesnt works' there are hundreds of things which can be wrong. Please, give me enough information, so I could figure how to help you.
You should tell me:

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I don't like the interface / I'd like batch processing

The interface in 1.x version has changed; anyway, the easiest (and faster) way to use MacGzip is using the Drag&Drop mode.

Read the Finder Help Balloon of MacGzip to find out about modifier keys.

About Batch processing, remember; although File menus are disabled while MacGzip is working, you still can drop files on it.

If you still don't like it, these are some alternatives to MacGzip:

(1) It takes to MacGzip 0.2.2 about 33 seconds (on a Mac IIfx) to expand a 3.4 Mb (expanded size) file. Stuffit expander needs 75 seconds to expand the same file (Stuffit expander seems to finish in 45 seconds, the rest of the time it must be dumping the file to disk.)

(2) Leonard Rosenthol, from Aladdin Systems, Inc., said to this: "That's probably when it (Stuffit Expander) is scanning the resultant file to see if it is a BinHex or UUencoded file that needs to be processed."

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What should I put in the 'gzip suffix' preference?

	For all operating systems, ".gz", ".z", ".Z", ".taz", ".tgz",
	"-gz", "-z" and "_z" are accepted suffixes, in addition to the
	value of the --suffix option. (".tgz" is a useful convention for tar.z)

The --suffix option is the 'Use custom suffix' preference; so you should not check it if you are using the standard gzip 1.2.4.
Anyway; if you want to expand frequently one member .zip files or VMS .gz;1 files, you should check also the 'only when decompressing' box.
If your UNIX host has an older gzip (which creates compressed files with .z) you should put '.z' in this field of macgzip preferences; but the best option would be to update your UNIX gzip to the last version (currently -9/10/95- is 1.2.4).

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What is the meaning of 'ASCII' compression/decompression?

	-a --ascii
	Ascii text mode: convert end-of-lines using local  con-
	ventions.  This  option  is supported only on some non-
	Unix systems.

let's have the ASCII file 'pc.txt' on an DOS machine

we can make: 

	gzip -c pc.txt > pc.gz
	gzip -ca pc.txt > pca.gz
then, we put this files in our mac and: 
	gzip 'uncompress' 'binary' of pc.gz gives us a file with EOL=CR LF (bad)
	gzip 'uncompress' 'binary' of pca.gz gives us a file with EOL=LF (bad)
	gzip 'uncompress' 'ascii' of pc.gz gives us a file with EOL=CR CR (bad)
	gzip 'uncompress' 'ascii' of pca.gz gives us a file with EOL=CR (good!)

Anyway, you can use always binary decompression, but then you will need a newline-converter like Drop Text 1.5.

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My Mac-dhqx-application does not recognize gunziped files.

A file with .hqx suffix IS A TEXT FILE; so it should be uncompressed in ASCII mode. This not only will put 'Macintosh end-of-lines' (which shouldn't make any difference to your debinhexer), but also will set the type of the resulting file to 'TEXT'.

Anyway; if you have gunziped your foo.hqx in binary mode; you can use 'StuffIt Expander', since (in Drag&Drop mode) it accepts any kind of file.

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What is the meaning of 'binary' in the mode pop-up menu?


Binary means that you get a file which is exactly the same file (byte by byte) which was compressed; you should use this option for any non-text file (If you want to keep the resources and all the Macintosh information, you should use MacBinary; Internet Config can select the mode automatically for you)

If you don't know anything about Mac info and resources, please, follow this link.

If you uncompress a binary file (like a file.tar.gz or a file.tif.gz) in ASCII mode; you will loose the file.

If you uncompress a text file (like a file.hqx.gz or a text.gz) in binary mode; you can recover the file in several ways. (for example, by using Drop Text 1.5.)

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MacGzip reports a CRC/format error!

This error appears when the file is corrupted or, most frequently, when the file has been incorrectly transferred

Gziped files ARE PURE BINARIES. (raw data, binary, not MacBinary nor ASCII) When you download a gif file; you set your communications software in binary mode; do the same with gziped files.

Here you can find some hints

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Can I use MacGzip to unzip .zip files with more than one file zipped in it?

No, you can't

This is from 'gzip.doc' in 'GNU docs' folder: 

	Files created by zip can be uncompressed  by  gzip  only  if
	they  have  a  single member compressed with the 'deflation'
	method. This feature is only intended to help conversion  of
	tar.zip  files  to  the  tar.gz format. To extract zip files
	with several members, use unzip instead of gunzip.

On a Mac, you can use ZipIt

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Can I use MacGzip to create Unix compress .Z files?

No, you can't

And if you put a .Z in 'custom suffix' preference all you'll have is gzip files with .Z suffix (which compress won't be able to expand...)

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What is Internet Config?

From "Internet Config 1.0 Press Release": 
Internet Config: Solving Preference Proliferation
-------------------------------------------------
We all use many different programs to access the Internet and each of these
programs has its own preference dialog, wherein you set things like your
Email address, your FTP helper application and your preferred program to
open ".jpg" files.  Keeping these preferences in synch in all your Internet
applications is becoming increasingly difficult.  Worse yet, many simple
applications do not even have a mechanism for setting these preferences and
so you are stuck with the author's default preferences.

The Internet Configuration system is a solution to this problem.  Internet
Config is an application that allows you to set these preferences once.
Internet Config stores these preferences is a shared database and any "IC
Aware" application will automatically get its preferences from this
database.
You can get IC at http://www.stairways.com/ic/

MacGzip uses the Ostrich approach for Internet Config Prefs. This means that IC settings are read just at MacGzip startup, if you change them after, 'changes wont apply till nex time etc etc'

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"Warning! can't read internet preferences. Make sure IC is installed"


IC stands for Internet Config. To avoid this message you can


Note: since version 1.1, "IC" has been replaced by "Internet Config" in that alert box.

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I have System 6.x. There is a gzip for me?


Yes, you can use a command line interface gzip. It is not supported, and isn't easy to use it; but anyway, here you are:



In short, you can start typing -h at the command line and save the output to a file for future reference; then, to expand a file you can use "-d <file>" where <file> is the name of the file you want to expand. (or full name, including path, if the file is not at the same folder as gzip application).(don't forget to use -a for text files!)
After that, you probably will need a file typer.

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Netscape says: "Warning: unrecognized encoding: 'x-gzip'"


It seems there is a problem with Netscape, please, read the "Configuring Network Software" document

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Can I have customized MacGzip's for different tasks?


Yes, lets say you want to make a "MacGunzip" which always expands files, but you want to keep "normal" MacGzip around.

Simply, make a copy of MacGzip and rename it to MacGunzip, edit the resource "STR 20" and change it, for instace, to "MacGunzip Preferences". Run the copy, set the preferences to "Always expand files" and you are done.

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Should I use (Mac)Gzip in order to exchange files with Windows users?


Usually gzip is used mostly by technical people; so, maybe your windows user won't have gzip for DOS nor gzip for Win 95/NT; probably they'll have WinZip, which understands gzip files.

Anyway, they will feel more comfortable if you use .zip files, which can be created on the Mac using ZipIt.

But Windows users should install StuffIt Expander for Windows, so they will be able to read the usual .sit files.

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What's new in MacGzip:

Changes 1.1.2 -> 1.1.3

Changes 1.1.1 -> 1.1.2 Changes 1.1 -> 1.1.1 Changes 1.0 -> 1.1 Changes 1.0b0 -> 1.0 Changes 1.0b0 -> 1.0b1

What's next in MacGzip:

I think MacGzip is finished as is. Posible enhancements (other than bug fixes) could be using the threads manager or custom high level events. I don't think I could find time to learn all this stuff (at least this year).
A nice feature could be to use MacBinary II+ folder tree encoding; but this is not an easy task in MacGzip, since it must encode/decode the files in a transparent way to gzip.

A note about versions: The version numbers in MacGzip refer to the version of Macintosh code (windows, menus, etc). gzip algorithm is always the same (version 1.2.4). If something doesn't work in MacGzip, you should e-mail me, not Jean-loup Gailly (unless you can reproduce the bug in a Unix box).

Known bugs and caveats

Bugs? Are you sure?

Contacting SPDsoft

The fastest way is by e-mail. You can use any of the adresses at the bottom of this page. Make sure your 'Reply Adress' is correct!

You can use also the s-mail adress: 

    José A. Gutiérrez
    Centro Politécnico Superior
        Universidad de Zaragoza
        (Dpto. Lenguajes y Sistemas Informáticos)

        María de Luna, 3    50015 ZARAGOZA, SPAIN

Other stuff

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