In Unix, how do I use the MacUtils to encode or decode a document in MacBinary or BinHex?

Using the MacUtils, a suite of freeware utilities, allows you to create and decode MacBinary and BinHex files from the Unix command line prompt.

To decode a BinHexed file, enter at the Unix prompt:

hexbin [options] file.hqx

Replace file.hqx with the file you wish to decode and [options] with one or more of the following options:

`-3`	Decode the BinHex file. Put the data fork in a file with the extension `.data` , the resource fork in a file with the extension `.rsrc` , and Finder information in a file with the extension `.info` . With the exception of the file extension, the names of all three files will be identical (e.g., `file.data` , `file.rsrc` , and `file.info` ).
`-f`	Identical in behavior to `-3` , except that it will not create empty fork files. So, if a file doesn't have a resource fork, `hexbin` will not create a `.rsrc` file.
`-r`	With this option selected, `hexbin` will only decode resource forks. Thus, if a file has a data fork, the program will ignore it.
`-d`	With this option selected, `hexbin` will only decode data forks. Thus, if a file has a resource fork, the program will ignore it.
`-u` or `-U`	With this option selected, `hexbin` will decode only the data fork of a file and will exchange all carriage return characters with line feeds. This option should only be used with text files. Using the `-u` option creates a file with the extension `.text` while using the `-U` option creates a file with no extension.
`-b`	This option tells `hexbin` to convert the file into MacBinary format, saving it into a file with the `.bin` extension. This is the default, so if you don't specify any options, this is the action `hexbin` performs.
`-s`	Identical to `-b` , except that instead of saving the MacBinary output to a file, it sends it to standard output. This option is best used in conjunction with a pipe.
`-l` or `-v`	Lists files that are being extracted. The two options are similar, except that `-v` gives more information.
`-i`	Works the same as `-l` , except no extraction is actually performed.
`-n [name]`	Replace `[name]` with the name you wish to give the decoded file.

To decode a MacBinary file, enter at the Unix prompt:

macunpack [options] file.bin

Replace file.bin with the file you wish to decode. The options for macunpack are identical to those for hexbin.

To create a BinHex file, enter at the Unix prompt:

binhex [options] file > file.hqx

Replace file and file.hqx with, respectively, the file you wish to encode and the name you wish to give the resulting BinHexed file. This command has the following options:

`-r`	With this option selected, `binhex` encodes `file` as a resource fork.
`-d`	With this option selected, `binhex` encodes `file` as a data fork.
`-u` or `-U`	This option is similar to `-d` except it should only be used to encode text files. It exchanges line feeds for carriage returns.
`-c [creator]`	Replace `[creator]` with the file creator code you wish to assign to the document. If you do not specify a file creator, the resulting BinHexed file's creator will be `MACA` with the `-d` and `-u` options and `RSED` with the `-r` option.
`-t [type]`	Replace `[type]` with the file type code you wish to assign to the document. If you do not specify a file type, the resulting BinHexed file's type will be `TEXT` with the `-d` and `-u` options and `RSRC` with the `-r` option.
`-l`	Writes information about the file being encoded
`-i`	Works like `-l` , except no actual encoding is performed

If you wish to encode the forks of a previously decoded file back into a BinHexed Mac OS file, replace file in the example above with the Finder information file (the file with the .info extension). You do not use the -r , -d , or -u options when you do this.

Creating a MacBinary file is a very similar process. The only difference is that you pipe the output of the binhex command into hexbin rather than redirecting it to a file. So, at the Unix prompt, enter:

binhex [options] file | hexbin

This will create a MacBinary file with the same name as file except it will have a .bin extension.

At Indiana University, to get support for personal or departmental Linux or Unix systems, see At IU, how do I get support for Linux or Unix?

Also see:

In Mac OS and Mac OS X, what are file types and creators?

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Last modified on August 22, 2008.

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