[sk8ndude]

Hello,

I've had my Mac for a few days (coming over from the PC world) and have been downloading some needed software. The files come down as .hqx files and the dialog says that stuffit will extract them.

My question is, why was the hqx file 17.2 Megs, and what came out of it was only 12.6 Megs? Did stuffit need the extra space or was their some decompression software downlaoded with the file. Can someone explain all this to me.

Thanks,

John

[MacMerc.com]

I believe that the .hqx extension denotes a file that has been BinHex encoded for transfer over the internet. It isn't a compression format itself, it's just a necessary step toward ensuring that the file transfers successfully.

-Rick


------------------
==================
Rick Yaeger:
Macintosh
Mercenary
[email protected]
www.macmerc.com
==================

[mjpaci]

Mac files have 2 forks: a data fork and a resource fork. Neither Unix nor NT really know how to deal with this properly. So, what you get is .hqx files which are the resource and data forks squashed into one file with a bit of error checking stuff thrown in. When Stuffit works on the file it puts it back together properly (data and resource forks) and does error checking.

--Mike

[Cipher13]

The really simple reason is its RE ENCODING a file, with a less efficient algorithm
The other thing (DR forks) plays a part but not much.

Cipher13

[mjpaci]

Cipher:

The reason we have .hqx files is BECAUSE there are Data and Resource forks on Mac files. So, I would say it is an INTEGRAL part. All it does it take the resource fork and tack in onto the back of the data fork and add error checking info. So, yes, it is re-encoding, but it is nice to know why it's done.

==Mike

[Cipher13]

I never said that isn't why they're used - I'm talking about why they're bigger.
That was the original issue.
Its integral to why we have them - not as much why they're bigger as what I said.

Cipher13