Subject: AOL Binaries FAQ Part 2/2
Date: Mon, 24 Jul 1995 10:24:02 -0400
Posting-Frequency: every other Friday
swers:49165


----------------------------
4.00  Uploading Instructions
----------------------------


---------------------------------------
4.01  Should I compress the file first?
---------------------------------------

It depends on the file. GIFs, JPEGs, MPEGs, Macintosh system sounds,
and Windows wav sounds should NEVER be compressed. Ever. Those file
formats have built-in compression, so compression programs like
StuffIt and PKZip only rarely make them any smaller. Do NOT compress
GIFs and JPEGs!

If you're uploading an application or file that will benefit from
compression, use one of the standard compression formats. For
Windows, use zip. For Macintosh, use StuffIt.


-------------------------------------------
4.02  What should I use for a subject line?
-------------------------------------------

The alt.binaries.pictures FAQ goes into more detail on this subject.
According to that FAQ, the subject line MUST contain the following
information:

descriptive name
type of picture: JPEG or GIF (for pictures only)
number of total parts
the number of this particular part

The subject lines for all of the parts might look like this:

Celtic Greenman JPEG Part 0/3
Celtic Greenman JPEG Part 1/3
Celtic Greenman JPEG Part 2/3
Celtic Greenman JPEG Part 3/3

Part 0 is the file description, and does not contain any part of the
file.


----------------------------------------------------
4.03  What's a good newsgroup to practice uploading?
----------------------------------------------------

aol.test is a fine place to practice. It's a test newsgroup, so
essentially no one reads it. If you mess up, no one will care,
because no one will notice. aol.test is only carried on AOL, so you
won't be wasting Internet bandwidth by posting there.


----------------------------
4.04  Why uploads often fail
----------------------------

Each message you send can contain a maximum of about 24 kilobytes.
That's the limit of the America Online newsreader. When you encode
your files, you'll need to break them into sub-24K pieces. Then you
can copy and paste the pieces into separate messages. The
instructions below explain how to keep the segment size less than
24K. 


-------------------------------------------------------
4.05  uuencoding and splitting instructions (Macintosh)
-------------------------------------------------------

1.  Launch UULite 2.0 or higher, shareware by Jeff Strobel
(jstrobel@std.world.com). 
2.  Choose Encoding Preferences from the File menu. Do NOT Choose
America Online Compliant. That will produce erroneous settings.
Instead, set the Max # of lines to 380, and choose Output as Mac
Text.
3.  Choose Encode from the File menu, and select the file you want
uuencoded. UULite will prompt you to select a destination for the
uuencoded pieces. 
4.  Proceed to the exact posting instructions below.


-----------------------------------------------------
4.06  uuencoding and splitting instructions (Windows)
-----------------------------------------------------

1.  Launch WinCode, shareware by George Silva
(george.silva@wadsworth.org). 
2.  Choose Encode from the Options menu. You'll need to customize
some of the settings for AOL, as follows:

Bytes per File  - 27000
All In One File - off (unchecked)
File Type       - DOS
Code Type       - UUE

3.  Choose Encode from the File menu, and select the file to be
encoded. By default, WinCode outputs the uuencoded pieces to its
encode directory, but it's possible to change the output directory.
4.  Proceed to the exact posting instructions below.


--------------------------------------------------
4.07  Exact posting instructions (Mac and Windows)
--------------------------------------------------

1.  Open the appropriate newsgroup (I'm assuming you've already found
and subscribed to the appropriate newsgroup.)
2.  Click the Send New Message icon at the top of the window.
3.  Fill in the subject line, as described above. For part 0, write a
description for the file. Click Send to send part 0.
4. Click Send New Message again. Fill in the subject line. Now open
the first part of the uuencoded file, using the AOL File menu's Open
command. Select all of the data with the Edit menu's Select All
command, and choose Copy from the Edit menu. 
5  Switch back to the Untitled newsgroup window (it will be listed in
the Windows menu), and paste the data into the message window.
Finally, click the Send button.
6  Repeat steps 4-5 until all parts of the uuencoded file have been
posted.
7.  Click the Mark All Read icon. That way you'll easily be able to
find your message later. The message should appear later that day,
though it may sometimes take longer.



This is part 2 of the AOL Binaries FAQ. Part 1 explained how to
download files from newsgroups, and convert those files from text
back into binaries. Part 2 explains how to decompress and open the
resulting binaries.


-------------------------------
5.00  File conversion software
-------------------------------



For a more complete discussion of file formats, see the
alt.binaries.pictures FAQ by Jim Howard (deej@cadence.com), posted to
alt.binaries.pictures and available via FTP at rtfm.mit.edu in the
directory pub/usenet/ .

To retrieve the three-part alt.binaries.pictures FAQ via email, send
email to mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu. Type anything in the
subject line. In the body of the message, type the following three
lines:

      send usenet/news.answers/pictures-faq/part1 
      send usenet/news.answers/pictures-faq/part2
      send usenet/news.answers/pictures-faq/part3


--------------------------------------
5.01  Where can I find these programs?
--------------------------------------

All of the programs mentioned in this section are shareware or
freeware, and are available on AOL. Use keyword "file search". When
the file search window appears, type in the program's name, and click
the List Matching Files button.


-------------------------------------------------
5.02  How do I open uuencoded and binhexed files?
-------------------------------------------------

This was covered in part 1 of the FAQ. Go back and read it. 


------------------------------------------
5.03  How do I open GIF and JPEG pictures?
------------------------------------------

If you're using AOL 2.0 for Windows or 2.5 for Macintosh, you can
open GIFs and JPEGs with the AOL software. Launch AOL, choose Open
from the File menu, and select the file you want to open.

There are many freeware and shareware graphics viewers with more
features than the AOL software. For Macintosh, use GraphicConverter,
JPEGview, or GIFConverter. If you get "end of file" messages when
using GIFConverter to open GIFs and JPEGs, use GraphicConverter
instead.

Note for Macintosh users: doubleclicking the picture file may not
work. You may need to launch the viewer, then choose Open from its
File menu to open the file. You can also use drag and drop file
opening, if you're familiar with that.

For Windows, use PrintVue or Paint Shop Pro. For DOS, use CompuShow. 

--------------------------------
5.04  How do I open MPEG movies?
--------------------------------

Macintosh: Sparkle
Windows: VTMotion, MPEGXing


------------------------------
5.05  How do I open GL Movies?
------------------------------

Macintosh: GLViewer
DOS: GRASPRT


-------------------------------
5.06  How do I open AVI movies?
-------------------------------

Macintosh: VFW*
Windows: Video for Windows

*Microsoft's Video for Windows utility for Macintosh converts AVI
movies to QuickTime movies which can be used with any QuickTime
player.

-------------------------------------------
5.07  How do I open Macintosh system beeps (.snds)?
-------------------------------------------

Note: Mac users with System 7.0 or higher can simply doubleclick the
sound. The Mac programs listed below are for editing and conversion.

Macintosh: Brian's Sound Tool, SoundEffects, SoundBuilder
Windows: MACTOWAV, SOX


-------------------------------
5.08  How do I open MOD sounds?
-------------------------------

Macintosh: SoundTracker, Sound-Trecker, Player Pro
Windows: MOD4WIN, ULTIMOD
DOS: SOX, Music Master, WAVVIEW


-------------------------------
5.09  How do I open WAV sounds?
-------------------------------

Macintosh: SoundBuilder, Brian's Sound Tool
Windows: WAVMSTR, WAVTEST
DOS: SOX, many others


-------------------------------------
5.10  How do I decompress .zip files?
-------------------------------------

Macintosh: ZipIt, StuffIt Expander with DropStuff w/Expander Enhancer
Windows: WinZip, many others
DOS: PKZip, many others


----------------------------------
5.11  How do I decompress .arc files?
----------------------------------

Macintosh: StuffIt Expander with DropStuff w/Expander Enhancer,
ArcMac
Windows: WinZip, many others


-------------------------------------
5.12  How do I decompress .sit files?
-------------------------------------

Macintosh: StuffIt Lite, StuffIt Expander, AOL 2.1 or higher
DOS: UNSIT


------------------------------------
5.13  How do I decompress .gz and .z files?
------------------------------------

Macintosh: StuffIt Expander with DropStuff w/Expander Enhancer
Windows: WinZip, GZIP


-----------------------------------
5.14  How do I decompress .Z files?
-----------------------------------

Macintosh: StuffIt Expander with DropStuff w/Expander Enhancer,
MacCompress
Windows: Compress, WinZip, GZIP



--------------------
6.00  Other AOL FAQs
--------------------



------------------------
6.01  Where to find them
------------------------

All of these FAQ are available at my FTP site. FTP to usit.net and
look in the directory pub/lesjones . These FAQs are also posted to
the news.answers newsgroup.

To find the FAQs on AOL, use keyword "file search". When the file
search window appears, type "aol faq" (without the quotes) and click
the List Matching Files button. That should locate all of these FAQs.
(Except that the AOL FAQ for Macintosh won't appear on the PC side.)


---------------------------
6.02  AOL FAQ for Macintosh
---------------------------

The AOL FAQ for Macintosh is a comprehensive, 200-page guide to AOL
which many people prefer to the Official America Online Tour Guide.
The FAQ is a standalone DOCMaker application with rich text, color
graphics, and a hypertext table of contents. It covers all of AOL's
services, including the Internet services.

I'm a Mac person at heart, but I'm trying to get up to speed with
Windows. It's still too early to predict a release date for the
Windows version.


-----------------------------
6.03  AOL FAQ for Non-Members
-----------------------------

The AOL FAQ for non-Members answers questions often asked by non-AOL
members. It is posted monthly to alt.online-service.america-online,
comp.sys.mac.comm, and comp.os.ms-windows.apps.comm. The FAQ will
soon be available on news.answers, alt.answers, comp.answers, and via
FTP from rtfm.mit.edu.


-------------------------------
6.04  AOL Usenet Newsgroups FAQ
-------------------------------

Answers to FAQs about Usenet newsgroups, and the AOL newsreader
software. Posted monthly to alt.online-services.america-online and
news.newusers.questions. Coming soon to news.answers, alt.answers,
and the rtfm.mit.edu FTP site.


---------------------------
6.05  Contacting the author
---------------------------

Due to limitations of AOL's newsreader, I post the FAQ from my
address at U.S. Internet, but my preferred address is macfaq@aol.com.
Please use that address for corrections and suggestions.


---------------------------------------
6.06  Copyright Notice and Restrictions
---------------------------------------

This publication is copyright 1995 by Leslie Jones of Softwords. All
rights reserved.

Unmodified copies of this publication may be distributed
electronically.

Distribution on physical media, including but not limited to paper,
floppy disk, and CD-ROM, is prohibited without written permission
from the author, Leslie Jones. This restriction does not prohibit
individuals from making single copies for friends or for personal
use.

Permission is granted to nonprofit user groups to distribute
unmodified copies of this publication with their shareware
collections. Permission is also granted to the moderators and
archivists of the sumex-aim archives at Stanford University to
include unmodified copies of this publication on the Info-Mac CD-ROM.

Every attempt has been made to provide accurate information, but
Leslie Jones, Softwords, and the contributors accept no
responsibility for actions resulting from the use of this
information. The person using this information assumes all liability.
THE INFORMATION IN THIS PUBLICATION IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITH NO
WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.

--         |  macfaq@aol.com   | AOL, Good Times and ZTerm FAQs |
Les Jones  | lesjones@usit.net |  ftp://usit.net/pub/lesjones/  |

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