Archive-name: apple2/faq/part10
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: 2009/02/01
URL: http://home.swbell.net/rubywand/A2FAQs1START.html


The Csa2 (comp.sys.apple2) Usenet newsgroup Apple II FAQs and Resource
 files originate from the II Computing site, 1997-2009.

Csa2 FAQs-on-Ground ref: Csa2FLUTILS.txt  rev131 February 2009







File Utilities

 001- What are "binscii" files and how are they used?
 002- What are .SHK files and how do I use them?
 003- How do I get ShrinkIt or GS-ShrinkIt going on my Apple II?
 004- How do I deal with the $00 type Apple II files I get on my Mac?
 005- Can I work with .zip files on my Apple II?
 006- What are DSK, NIB, 2MG, HDV,... disk image files & how do I use them?
 007- Where can I get ShrinkIt, binscii, DSK2FILE, ASIMOV, etc.?
 008- I have downloaded  files in "gz" format? How do I use them?
 009- Which programs can change ProDOS filetype?
 010- What is Copy II Plus and where can I get it?
 011- How do I use Copy II Plus to create and convert IMG files?
 012- How do I set write protection for an emulator disk image?
 013- How can I create a disk image from a ShrinkIt .sdk file?
 014- How can I convert a .po image to/from a .dsk or .do image? 
 015- What do file name extensions mean and how do I access the files?
 016- How do I tell what kind of file this is?
 017- How can I create new .dsk, .nib, etc. disk images?
 018- How can I convert .dsk image  .nib image?
 019- How can I convert Diskcopy images to diskette or to other formats?
 020- How can I move files to/from .dsk and .2MG disk images?
 021- How can I unfork forked files on my Apple II?





From: Rubywand

001- What are "binscii" files and how are they used?

     The term "binscii" comes from combining "binary"
with "ASCII".  A file in binscii form has been changed so that it
can be transmitted as text to/from net servers and services which do not
handle pure binary transfers.

     Today, practically all servers can handle pure binary transfers; so,
binscii is no longer in popular use. However, quite a few old A2 files are
still in binscii form and binscii is used for files uploaded to
comp.binaries.apple2.

     To convert binscii'd files to their un-biniscii'd form, you can use a
program named "BINSCII" or, on a GS, the New Desk Accessory named
"GScii". These programs can, also, create binscii files.

Note: Binscii is in no way related to Binary II. Binscii changes the entire
file into Text. Binary II is just a small block of bytes tacked onto the
front of a file, mainly to identify the file's filetype.

----------------------------


002- What are ShrinkIt (.SHK) files and how do I use them?

    ShrinkIt files are the Apple II world's answer to .ZIP files in
PC-ville. An .SHK file is a file which contains one or more files which are
almost always in compressed form. Usually, they are produced by GS-ShrinkIt
(also called "GSHK" or "ShrinkIt-GS") or the Balloon
NDA, or by 8-bit ShrinkIt. Some .SHK files are produced by Macs; these may
not always be compatible with A2 ShrinkIt programs.

     An .SHK file can be unshrinked by ShrinkIt even if it shows up on the
Apple II with a TXT or BIN filetype and even if the name does not end with
".SHK" or ".shk". If a ShrinkIt file does not show up
as available for unshrinking, you can toggle an "All files"
option to see the file and then select it. If an .SHK file has a Binary II
header, ShrinkIt will automatically remove it and assign the correct
filetype. (Of course, this will usually be SHK.)

     Other kinds of ShrinkIt files include .SEA and .SDK.  An Apple II .SEA
file is a IIgs executable self-extracting archive-- i.e. you can click it
on the GS Finder and it will unShrink. There are also Mac .SEA files and
these are not GS-compatible.

     A ShrinkIt whole-disk archive is an .SHK file which is usually labeled
".SDK" to show that it is a Shrinked diskette. An .SDK file can
archive a 3.5" diskette (both sides) or 5.25" diskette (one
side). Most are archives of 5.25" DOS 3.3 diskettes produced by 8-bit
ShrinkIt.

     A whole-disk ShrinkIt archive retains all data bytes on a diskette,
including files, Catalog/Directory sectors, empty tracks, and DOS if
present. An .sdk file of a DOS 3.3 5.25" disk created by 8-bit
ShrinkIt also preserves volume number-- important for some games and
utilities which depend upon volume numbers to identify disks. (5.25"
whole-disk archives created by GS-ShrinkIt do not preserve volume number.)

     8-bit/IIe ShrinkIt can be used to fully unshrink any Apple II .SHK
file _except_ .SHK files which contain files with GS/OS resource forks and
.SEA files. For this reason, 8-bit ShrinkIt should not be used to unshrink
.SHK file archives containing GS programs unless you know that none of the
contained files has a resource fork.

     GS-ShrinkIt can handle nearly all kinds of Apple II .SHK and .SDK
files. It will not handle shrinked 5.25" DOS 3.3 .SDK files created by
8-bit ShrinkIt. In fact, most users automatically use 8-bit ShrinkIt to
create and unshrink .SDK files of old 5.25" wares. (Balloon does not
currently support whole-disk archives.)

     Naturally, things are somewhat more crowded on 64K Apple II's. On
these machines, the functions are separated. SHRINK creates .SHK files and
UNSHRINK unshrinks them.

     On a PC, the utility NuLib (v3.24) lets you view contents and unshrink
most kinds of .SHK files. (There is a handy option to unshrink and convert
Apple II text files to PC text format.) It will not unshrink IIgs files
with resource forks.

     Here is a simple one-line batch (text) file program for easily viewing
the contents of .shk files you download to a PC (just double-click on the
file name):

c:\nulib\nulib v %1 |more

The above is for NuLib.exe located in folder c:\nulib . Save the text as
nulibv.bat in c:\nulib and tell Windows to use c:\nulib\nulibv.bat as the
'application to perform action' for doing an Open. (You do this by
selecting View--Options in the My Computer window and editing the file type
info for .shk files.)

     NuLib can also convert 5.25" .SDK files into .PO (ProDOS order)
disk images which can be used by Apple II emulators. This works for .SDK
files produced by 8-bit ShrinkIt but not for those produced by GS-ShrinkIt.

     The unshrinking process is very speedy and the size of a compressed
ShrinkIt file is, often, around half that of the original files it
contains. This makes .SHK files very handy for archiving your software.
And, since a ShrinkIt file also preserves filetype information of contained
files, ShrinkIt has become the preferred format for uploading and storing
Apple II files on the internet.

----------------------------


003- How do I get ShrinkIt or GS-ShrinkIt going on my Apple II?


Getting GS-ShrinkIt v1.1

     If you do not already have Balloon or an earlier version of
GS-ShrinkIt, there are several ways to get GS-ShrinkIt going once a file is
downloaded and transferred to your IIgs. Here are the two easiest ways:


A. The Self-Extracting (.sea) version

     A IIgs .sea file is a IIgs application which self-extracts the file
contents when executed from the usual Finder desktop display. Since the
file gshk.sea will, most likely, arrive as a Text type file, you will need
to change the file's filetype to $B3 (S16) before it can be executed.

     Several utilities can change ProDOS filetype. If you do not have one,
you can download tchange.bin and follow the directions* in tchange_info.txt
 to get it going on your Apple II.

     You can find GS-ShrinkIt in an .SEA file (e.g. gshk.sea) and
tchange.bin on several archive sites. (See Q&A 007 below.)


B. The Shrinked Disk (.sdk) version

     GSUTILS.sdk is a shrinked whole-disk file which can be unshrinked to
800k 3.5" diskette using 8-bit ShrinkIt (or GS-ShrinkIt).  If booted,
this diskette starts a bare-bones System 6.0.1 and launches GS-ShrinkIt.

     Besides GS-ShrinkIt, also on the disk (in .SHK files) are the ZLINK
shareware telecom utility and ASIMOV for converting .dsk files. Coolwriter
(for reading Text) is on the disk as a non-shrinked file. All of these can
be copied to hard disk or to other diskettes.

     GSUTILS.sdk is available on Ground in the useful.stuff/ folder
mentioned above. The 8-bit ShrinkIt in a self-extracting version can be
found in the same folder.



Getting SHRINK and UNSHRINK (for 64k Apples)

     SHRINK and UNSHRINK permit 64k Apple II users to work with .SHK files.
These files are usually maintained in non-shrinked form. You can find them
on several sites.  (See Q&A 007 below.)

     To get these utilities going on your Apple II, download SHRINK,
UNSHRINK, and SHRINK2PLUS.TXT (e.g. as separeate files or on a .dsk disk
image). Once the files are transferred to your Apple II, follow the
directions* in SHRINK2PLUS.TXT.


*Note: If you download an Apple II file to a PC and transfer to a Mac and
get filetype $00 ("Unknown"),  the process described in the
directions will not work when the $00 file is moved to your Apple II. One
solution is a Mac utility to set filetype to $04 (TXT). See ProTYPE info in
the next Q&A below.

----------------------------


Getting 8-bit ShrinkIt

From: Beverly Cadieux

     The easiest way to get the current (3.4) version of 8-bit ShrinkIt
going is via the self-extracting archive, SHRINK.EXE.

o- Download the file, (transfer to your Apple II if necessary,) and get
into AppleSoft BASIC (run BASIC.SYSTEM and get to the AppleSoft
"]" prompt).

o- Be sure to set the ProDOS PREFIX to the location of SHRINK.EXE on your
Apple II. For example, if it is in the main directory of volume HD1, you
would enter

PREFIX /HD1

o- Now, enter -SHRINK.EXE (that's a dash, then the file name):

-SHRINK.EXE

     Shrinkit will self-extract, along with a documentation file. (ShrinkIt
v3.4 consists of two files. One is a small start file which may be named
"Shrinkit.System", "ShrinkitST.sys", or something
similar. The other is the main program file which must be named
"Shrinkit".)

     You can find SHRINK.EXE in Ground's useful.stuff/ folder (See Q&A
007 below).

____________________________



From: Randy Shackelford

004- How do I deal with the $00 type Apple II files I get on my Mac?

     Some II users like to download Apple II files to a PC and transfer
them to a Mac for eventual transfer to Apple II ProDOS diskettes.
Unfortunately, under most circumstances, PC Exchange writes files onto
ProDOS disks as extended typeless ($00) files which are difficult to work
with on the Apple II.

     What you need is to get hold of a Mac application named
"ProTYPE". You drag 'n drop the files on ProTYPE, then copy 'em
to the floppy. The files will work then.

____________________________



From: Rubywand

005- Can I work with .zip files on my Apple II?

     The GS can unZIP .zip files via PMPunZip by Paul Parkhurst.

----------------------------


From: Supertimer

     Tony Marques wrote Angel, the fastest unzipping utility for the Apple
II. It can create .zip files, but only one file per archive.

----------------------------


From: Jim Pendarvis

     To zip a file using Angel, highlight the file to zip and press
OpenApple-Z. You'll get a file named ZIPDFILE.ZIP. If you then select
another file to zip, it will overwrite the first one. (Don't forget to set
your destination directory first. That is the hardest thing to remember
about using Angel.)

____________________________



From: Rubywand, Orgone Accumulator, Greg E. Nelson, Eric Shepherd, Roger Johnstone

006- What are DSK, PO, DO, HDV, NIB, and 2MG "disk image" files
     and how do I use them?

     A "disk image" is typically a file containing every data
byte on a diskette-- i.e. Catalog tracks, files, DOS (if present) etc.. One
kind of disk image, NIB, tries to preserve all disk information (e.g.
sector headers, sync bytes, etc.).

     Apple II emulators running on a PC, Mac, etc. treat disk image files
like diskettes. Disk image files are also a handy way to archive Apple II
disks on hard disk and to maintain wares on ftp and other download sites.


DSK's (.dsk, .do, .po and .hdv files)

     DSK (usually .dsk) files are disk image files used by popular Apple II
emulators like AppleWin to run A2 wares on the PC or Mac. Usually, they are
images of Apple 5.25" game, utility, etc. diskettes. A standard
5.25" DSK file is 143,360 bytes in length:

1 side x 35 Tracks/side x 16 Sectors/Trk x 256 Bytes/Sec = 143,360 Bytes.

DSK files of 800k 3.5" disks are much less common.


     Data in a DSK disk image file can be arranged in the sector order used
by DOS 3.3 or in the sector order used by ProDOS. The filename suffixes
relate chiefly to how data is arranged in the file:

.dsk- technically, this may be an image which has its data in DOS 3.3 or
ProDOS order. (The emulator program is supposed to check a .dsk file to
determine the ordering used.)  It has become standard practice to use the
.dsk suffix for only DOS 3.3 order files.

.do- an image which is in DOS 3.3 order. This suffix is seldom used today.
DOS 3.3 order image file names usually end with ".dsk".

.po- an image which is in ProDOS order. If an image is in ProDOS order, its
name should end with ".po" (not ".dsk") to avoid
confusion.

.hdv- typically an image 800k (819,200 bytes) or greater in size in ProDOS
order. The image is intended for use as a virtual hard disk by various
Apple II and IIgs emulators (e.g. Apple Oasis).  The IIgs program ASIMOV2
can create .hdv files (select "Raw image").  The file name should
end with ".hdv".

Note: data order does not relate to whether a disk image is a DOS 3.3 or
ProDOS disk. In fact, nearly all 5.25" disk image files (of both DOS
3.3 and ProDOS disks) are in DOS 3.3 order; and, DOS 3.3 order is the
default setting for image creation programs like DSK2FILE and ASIMOV and
the transfer/creation program ADT.


     On a PC, NuLib can create disk images from 8-bit ShrinkIt whole-disk
(.sdk) files (but not from .sdk files which were produced by GS-ShrinkIt). 
These images will be in ProDOS order. You can convert a .po disk image to a
DOS 3.3 order .dsk by using a disk copier like Disk Muncher on an emulator
to copy from the .po image to a .dsk image.

     On ftp sites, DSK files are usually in a ZIPped form to conserve
space. For example, on the Asimov site, narfgames.dsk.gz is a DSK file of
the narfgames disk which has been g-zip compressed. Other archive sites may
use standard ZIP compression and the file name might be
"narfgame.zip" or "narfgame_dsk.zip". On a PC, WinZIP
will uncompress g-zipped and ZIPped DSK files.

     A DSK file can be converted to actual diskette form on an Apple II
using DSK2FILE or (GS-only) ASIMOV.  If a 5.25" .dsk disk image file
is transferred to your Apple II using ADT (or ADTgs for IIgs), it is
automatically converted and written to 5.25" diskette. For more about
ADT and ADTgs see Telecom-1.

     Most 5.25" DSK (.dsk and .do) files are of a DOS 3.3 or some
related DOS disk. The target diskette should be INITed for DOS 3.3. (or, it
can be formatted using Copy II Plus, etc.) and you should use the default
DSK2FILE or ASIMOV "DOS 3.3 Order" setting. If a disk image file
has a .po suffix, use the DSK2FILE or ASIMOV "ProDOS Order"
setting.

Note: In most cases it is okay to use either a DOS 3.3 or ProDOS formatted
diskette as the target (and; the target disk does not need to be empty of
any files).  However, ProDOS formatting uses a default Volume Number of 1,
which is different from the DOS 3.3 default of 254. Since ProDOS stuff does
not care about Volume numbering and DOS 3.3 stuff may, the target disk
should generally be one INITed with the default Volume Number-- e.g. INIT
HELLO .


     Here is a quickie step-by-step guide for getting a 5.25" DSK disk
image file into useable form:

1. Download the file in binary mode from an ftp archive site via ftp:// ...

2. If file length is not 143,360, use WinZIP or equivalent to unZip it.

3. Transfer the DSK file to your GS via Mac diskette or a NULL modem
transfer. One way or another, the file needs to end up on a ProDOS diskette
or ProDOS hard disk volume on the GS.

4. If you are using DSK2FILE, jot down the complete path name of the DSK
file (e.g. /RAM5/NARFGAMES.DSK ) because DSK2FILE will ask you to type it
in.

5. Insert the formatted  5.25" target diskette into Drive 1 (Slot 6).
This diskette needs to be 16-sector formatted. Plain DOS 3.3 formatting
with the default Volume number is, generally, best and easiest. (You can
boot a DOS 3.3 or Prontodos disk and do an INIT HELLO to format a
5.25" diskette.)

6. Start DSK2FILE or ASIMOV. Normally, you will accept the defaults
(5.25", DOS 3.3 order). If you know the DSK is a ProDOS image in
ProDOS order-- like the file name ends with ".PO", select
"ProDOS Order". (ProDOS disk images are, fairly often, in DOS
order to make them more universally transferable.)

7. Select the "Image file ---> Diskette" option, follow
prompts, and you should end up with a good diskette. (If everything seemed
to go well but the disk does not work, try repeating the process using the
other "Order" option.)


     DSK2FILE and ASIMOV can, also, create disk image (.dsk or .po) files.
Similarly, using ADT to transfer a 5.25" disk automatically creates a
.dsk disk image on the PC. The source disk can be for a game, etc. so long
as the diskette is not copy protected.

Note: DOS 3.3 products which depend upon Volume numbering to identify
diskettes will normally not work in disk image form on an Apple II emulator
because Volume number information is embedded in non-data parts of a disk
and is not included in a standard .dsk disk image file.


NIB (.nib)

     Some copy protected diskettes can be converted to another kind of disk
image called "NIB". Saltine's Super Transcopy (SST) incorporates
bit copy routines to attempt to produce a nibblized disk image of a
5.25" diskette.

     On your Apple II, SST reads the disk bytes from half a disk and stores
that data on a whole normal disk. Then it does the same for the second
half. These two disks can be converted to .dsk disk images and moved to a
PC or Mac. There, the .dsk images are merged into a NIB image using SST
running on an emulator.

     If successful, you have a .nib file which can be used like a diskette
on popular Apple II emulators. (For one or two older emulators, .nib files
are the only useable images.)

     The standard length of a .nib file is 232,960 bytes-- much larger than
a DSK. However, since .nib files include sector address header and other
non-data 'embedded' diskette information, they can be used to image many
protected disks.

     Naturally, a .nib file preserves DOS 3.3 volume numbering. This allows
programs which use volume numbers to identify their disks to run on
emulators. Many disks with no copy protection are in .nib form instead of
.dsk because the game, etc. which uses the disks needs to check volume
numbering.


2MG (.2mg; sometimes .2img)

     Today, more and more IIgs software is being converted to 2MG disk
image format used on XGS and other IIgs emulators. These are .dsk or .nib
images with a prefix (usually 64 bytes) which includes information about
size, format, sector ordering, volume number, locked/unlocked, etc..

     2MG files may also have a Comment and/or extra file information added
following the disk image data. The format can accommodate disk images
ranging from 5.25" diskette up through hard disk. For 2MG format
details, see http://apple2.org.za/gswv/a2zine/Docs/DiskImage_2MG_Info.txt .

     The usual length of an 800k .2MG image (with no Comment or extra data)
is 819,264 bytes*.

     You can use ASIMOV2 to convert .2MG files back to diskette form as
well as for creating .2MG files from 800k diskettes. The utility
Imgutnew.exe can be used to convert most available Diskcopy images to 2MG
format on PC.

*See ...  Size Note: Transferring to 3.5" disk (at bottom of this page)


____________________________



From: Rubywand

007- Where can I get ShrinkIt, Shrink (64k), Unshrink (64k),
     GS-ShrinkIt, binscii, GScii, BISCIT, TCHANGE, DSK2FILE, ASIMOV,
     PMPunZip, Angel, FileManager, 2qwk!, GZPK, Disk Muncher, Copy II Plus,
     NuLib, Balloon, DskIn & DskOut, Saltine's Super Transcopy (SST),
     FishWings, UnforkIt, XTRAX, StuffIt Expander, Diskcopy, Clone,
     Imgutnew.exe, DiskDup+, ProTYPE, MECC Copy, BlockWarden, BlockWork,
     ProDOSifier, DISK2FDI, CiderPress, ProDOS File Navigator, FID
     and Apple Commander?

     For links, see Csa21MAIN4: Get It- Links to popular software packages.

----------------------------


008- I have downloaded a bunch of files for the Apple II
     lately that are in a format called GZ.  I understand it
     is some variation of Zip but I don't have a translator for
     it on my GS. Does anyone know where I can find one?

     5.25" disk image files downloaded from Asimov, mod files, and
some others are, often, in GZ g-zipped format and usually have the .gz file
name extension (like narfgame.dsk.gz). If you download the files to a PC,
you can use WinZIP to unzip the file.

Note: Due to the use of an extra period, names of g-zip compressed files--
names such as "narfgame.dsk.gz"-- do not always survive
downloading to PC's. Some setups may remove the ".gz" from the
name when saving the file. In order to be correctly recognized by WinZIP,
the file's name should be repaired so that it ends with ".gz".

     Usually, once unzipped, an Asimov GZ image file will end up as a
143,360 byte DSK file with a name ending with ".dsk". The file
may be used as a virtual diskette on an emulator like AppleWin; or, it may
be transferred to a real Apple II via NULL modem and converted to
Apple-readable diskette form using DSK2FILE or (GS-only) ASIMOV. (Or, it
may be NULL modem transferred directly to 5.25" diskette via a version
of ADT.)

     If you download a GZ file directly to your Apple you can use a program
named "GZPK" v2 to convert it from gzip form to a zip format
which can be unzipped via PMPUnzip 2.0 or Angel. A GZ file from the Asimov
site should end up as a DSK file.

----------------------------


From: lachlan_arnott and Byron Desnoyers Winmill

     On a Mac, you can use MacGzip to unZIP g-zipped (.gz) DSK files into
uncompressed form. Another choice (for doing the same job as WinZIP on a
PC) is Aladdin's StuffIt Expander and the DropStuff Expander Pack.  These
utilities can be found on many Macintosh related ftp sites. (See Q&A
007.)

____________________________



From: Slick

009- Which programs can change ProDOS filetype?

     I prefer More Info or Disk Witch, myself. I'll go through a list of
stuff on my hard drive to manipulate filetypes:

DAs:
Alter (NDA)
Conchshell (CDA)
Disk Witch (CDA)
File Manager (NDA)
File Info2 (NDA)
File Info Edit (NDA)
Super Info II (NDA)
Utilities CDA (CDA), not very good

Finder Extras:
More Info

GS/OS Applications
Instant Access
File Passage

ProDOS 8
FAZ II (File Attribute Zap II)

----------------------------


From: Boris Guenter

File-A-Trix by Karl Bunker should do the job. Best of all, the latest (and
last) version 1.1.1 of this program is freeware.

Since I had a few troubles with the latest version, I suggest trying both
versions 1.1 and 1.1.1.

----------------------------


From: Tony Ward

I also prefer File-A-Trix. It performs a wide variety of functions
including copy, move, delete, rename, catalog, make new folder, set file
attributes (lock, unlock, filetype, auxtype), find file, format (floppy
only), view text, Teach and AWP files. Best of all, it's a CDA that works
from GS/OS and ProDOS 8, although there are some restrictions under P8
(i.e. no HFS disk access, no viewing forked Teach files, etc.)

----------------------------


From: Gareth Jones

I use either File-A-Trix, Change-A-File 4.20, or Deliverance (part of the
Salvation Utilities).

----------------------------


From: Rubywand

     Some programs which can be used to change filetype are ...

Jeff Hartkoph's File Manager- a GS NDA which lets you change Type, Auxtype,
Date, and Access attributes. It is handy for modifying several files in
quick succession.

Paul Parkhurst's PMPunZip- a GS application which includes an option for
changing Type, Auxtype, and Access attributes. (In the File menu click on
Modify File Attributes.)

Glen Bredon's ProSel (ProDOS 8 utilities)

Roger Wagner's Filetype Changer- a vintage BASIC utility which lets you
change just the Type. A BRUN-able .BIN version is on Ground. (This is good
enough for getting the GS-ShrinkIt .SEA file's filetype set correctly so
that it can self-extract.)

----------------------------


From: Beverly Cadieux

     And a biggie - AppleWorks v5.1-> File Activities, Change File Type.

----------------------------


From: Jay Edwards

     TimeOut FileMaster does a great job and never argues about it.  Best
of all, it likes so many versions of AppleWorks.

____________________________



From: Rubywand

010- What is Copy II Plus and where can I get it?

     Copy II Plus is the best general purpose utility for copying disks and
managing files on DOS 3.3 and ProDOS diskettes. Most of the Copy II Plus
functions also work with disk images (e.g. .dsk files) on emulators;
however, COPY DISK and FORMAT are important functions which do not work
correctly with emulators. Good versions which handle both DOS 3.3 and
ProDOS files are 7.x - 8.x.

Note: Versions 9.x require at least an enhanced IIe and have a few notable
bugs. Version 9.0's Catalog Sort option can mess up your directory. Neither
version 9.0 nor 9.1 works correctly with the /RAM5 RAM disk.  The best
added capability of Version 9.x is being able to compare files.

     No version of Copy II Plus will copy files which include a resource
part, usually called a "resource fork". In some cases the copy
may seem to be successful; but, it will be a mess. Only some, relatively
new, IIgs files include a resource fork. No DOS 3.3 files or files intended
for access under ProDOS 8 have resource forks.

     The most versatile releases of the utility are, probably, Versions 7.1
and 7.2. They include the capability for creating disk images. The images
are not compatible with popular emulators; but, they are a handy way to
archive DOS 3.3 disks on a hard disk.

     For places to get Copy II Plus in ShrinkIt shrinked disk and emulator
disk image files, refer to Q&A 007 above.

____________________________



From: tturner, Rubywand, Greg Buchner, Labelas Enoreth

011- How do I use Copy II Plus to create and convert IMG files?

     First, to the best of my knowledge, only versions 6.x and 7.x of Copy
II Plus can create a disk image file (called an "IMG" file). The
feature was gone by version 8, for sure.

     To create an IMG file you COPY--> DISK to an over-size target
volume. Versions 6 and 7 will create a type "IMG" file instead of
complaining about a "size mismatch" (which is what other versions
of Copy II Plus do). It is fairly common to end the name of the new IMG
file with ".img".

     Doing the opposite lets you convert an IMG file back to diskette. That
is, you select the COPY --> DISK option and pick the large volume with
the IMG file as Source and a blank unformatted 5.25" diskette in the
Slot 6, Drive 1 drive as Destination. You pick an IMG file on the Source
volume and it is transferred to the diskette.

     Copy II Plus IMG files are not compatible with DSK2FILE or ASIMOV and
will not work on emulators such as AppleWin. Also, not all files ending
with ".img" are Copy II Plus disk image files. I have seen
".img" (and ".image") used for Diskcopy disk image
files.

____________________________



From: Rubywand

012- I'm using an Apple II emulator to play games. The game directions
     say the boot disk must have a write protect tab. How do I set
     write protection for a disk image?

     Under Windows on a PC, you can right-click on the file name, select
Properties, and adjust the "Read-only" attribute. Checking
"Read-only" turns ON write protection; unchecking it turns write
protection OFF.

----------------------------


From: Jon Bettencourt

     On a Mac, you select the file, go up to File --> Get Info..., and
click on "Locked."


____________________________



From: Rubywand

013- How can I create a disk image from a ShrinkIt .sdk file?

     NuLib v3.24 can be used to make .po disk images from ShrinkIt
5.25" whole-disk archives-- e.g. .sdk files.

Note: NuLib v3.24 can create 5.25" disk images only for .sdk files
created by 8-bit ShrinkIt (not ones created by GS-ShrinkIt).  Since most
.sdk files were created by 8-bit ShrinkIt, there is usually no problem.

     For instance, suppose you have downloaded a whole-disk archive (.sdk
file) of a 5.25" disk of modem utilities named "modem1.sdk"
and wish to convert it into a disk image. For this example, it is assumed
that you have downloaded NuLib v3.24 and unZIPed it and, now, have all of
your Nulib stuff (nulib.exe, docs, etc.) in C:\nulib on your PC:


o- After downloading to the PC, check the file name of the .sdk file you
want to convert. The name should have from 1 to 8 characters followed by
".sdk". If it doesn't, rename the file so that it does. The file
modem1.sdk follows the above rule; so, there is no need to rename it.

o- Move or copy modem1.sdk to the C:\nulib folder.

o- Since you are probably in Windows95 (or later) open an MS-DOS window.

o- In the DOS window, go to the nulib folder ...

C:\WINDOWS>cd\

C:\>cd nulib

o- Enter the xd command to create the disk image from modem1.sdk:

C:\nulib>nulib xd modem1.sdk

You should get a message saying the 'NEW DISK' image is being extracted
ending with "...done".

o- Exit the MS-DOS window-- e.g. click on the "X" in the corner.

o- Open the C:\nulib folder. Probably, your new disk image will be named
"new.dis". Rename the new file to "modem1.po". It
should show up with a size of 140k in the usual Windows listing. (If it
shows size 0, go to "View" for the window and click
"Refresh".)

If the new modem1.po has some size other than 140k-- like size is shown as
75k, etc.-- it means that modem1.sdk was probably created by GS-ShrinkIt
and can not be converted to a disk image using NuLib. (You might as well
scrap the bad modem1.po .)

Most likely, though, the conversion will work and modem1.po will be a good
disk image.

----------------------------


014- How can I convert a .po image to/from a .dsk or .do image? 

     Most emulator programs have no problem using .po, .do, or .dsk disk
images. So, the usual reason for wishing to change ordering is to go from
.po (ProDOS order) to .dsk (typically, DOS 3.3 order)  to permit
transferring the image to your Apple II via ADT. In a few cases, it may be
useful to go from DOS 3.3 order to ProDOS order, too.

     Since a disk copy done on an emulator (like AppleWin)  adjusts
ordering to match the target, doing a disk copy from, for example, a .po
image to a .dsk image (in DOS 3.3 order) is a simple way to do a
conversion*. A good emulator choice for Windows users is AppleWin. A good
disk copier program is Disk Muncher-- it is included on the TNILUTIL.DSK
available from Ground and GSWV.

     An easy way to check ordering of a bootable .po or .do disk image is
to boot it under AppleWin. If it boots correctly, the ordering is as
claimed-- .do = DOS 3.3 order and .po = ProDOS order. For a bootable .dsk
image, you can change the suffix to ".do" or ".po" and
boot it to check that it is really in the order you expect.

*Note: AppleWin, evidently, checks the ordering of a .dsk image used as a
target for copying. It does not check actual ordering of .po or .do images.
So, for example, if the target image has the ".po" suffix, the
copy to the image will be in ProDOS order. Some emulators may work
differently.

____________________________



From: David Kopper, Dan DeMaggio, Boris Guenter, Nathan Mates,
      Phil Abro, Rubywand, Labelas Enoreth, Tony Turner

015- What do the different popular file name extensions, like ".BSC",
     mean; and, how do I access the files?

     File name extensions tell you what sort of file you are dealing with
so that you will know which program(s) to use to unpack, unShrink, display,
etc. the file. Many programs which create such files do not automatically
add an extension-- for example, most of the disk images on the Golden
Orchard CD are Diskcopy files with no name extension. Many other programs
which create files suggest a default extension as part of the name--
GS-ShrinkIt generally suggests ".SHK"-- but, the user can change
this and 

save under any legal name desired. (One popular change is using
".SDK" for ShrinkIt whole-disk archive files.)

     Some extensions indicate a filetype recognized by Apple II ProDOS;
but, often, the extension is just for user information or to help some
utility recognize the file as one it can deal with. For such files the
actual ProDOS filetype is usually TXT, BIN, or SHK.


        What is it?  (What program do I use?)
        ------------------------------------------------------------
 .2MG   also .2IMG- XGS IIgs disk image file usually 800k or
        larger (GS ASIMOV2; PC Imgutnew.exe)
 .AAF   Apple Archive Format [TEXT] for source code (aaf.unpacker)
 .ACU   NuFX Applelink archive (ShrinkIt*)
 .ALU   usually a multi-file, non-compressed A2 archive (ALU)
 .APF   GS super-res "Apple Preferred" packed graphics format
        (Platinum Paint, Convert 3200, etc.)
 .ARC   PC Archive (GS-ShrinkIt* or DeArc2E or PC Arc program)
 .BMP   Windows Bit-Mapped graphics format (GS Convert 3200;
        many PC viewers)
 .BNX   NuFX with BLU header. (ShrinkIt*)
 .BNY   BLU archive. (ShrinkIt*)
 .BQY   NuFX with BLU header. (ShrinkIt*)
 .BSC   BinScii file. [TEXT]  (BinScii or GScii)
 .BSE   A GSHK* .SEA file with a Binary II header (ShrinkIt*)
 .BSQ   BinScii'd NuFX file. [TEXT]  (BinScii plus ShrinkIt* on
        the result)
 .BXY   NuFX archive with a Binary II header. (ShrinkIt*)
 .CPT   Compactor Pro archive (Compactor Pro on a Mac only)
 .DIMG  Diskcopy disk image file usually produced by a 
        Mac (GS Clone or Diskcopy; Mac Diskcopy; PC Imgutnew.exe)
 .DO    a .DSK file specified as having data in "DOS 3.3 Order"
        i.e. uses DOS 3.3 sector ordering (A2 DSK2FILE and GS ASIMOV)
 .DSK   standard emulator disk image-- length is 143360 bytes for
        5.25" disk images (A2 DSK2FILE and GS ASIMOV)
 .EXE   A2 Executioner file [TEXT]. (On A2; some files may EXEC
        properly under only DOS 3.3.)
 .GIF   Graphics Interchange Format: Compressed picture (IIGIF for
        //e; Super Convert, ... on GS; PC, etc.: many viewers
        and editors)
 .GZ    GZip PC archive format often used for storing A2 emulator
        disk images (GS GZPK v2 plus PMPUnZIP or Angel; PC WinZIP)
 .HDV   Raw (DSK) ProDOS ordered disk image file 800K or greater in
        size; used by emus as a virtual hard disk (ASIMOV2 on IIgs)
 .HQX   Mac BinHex file. [TEXT] (BinHex on Mac or GScii)
 .HTM   HTML [TEXT] with embedded Text commands (Web
        browsers, web editors, etc.)
 .IMAGE Diskcopy images (see .DIMG)
 .IMG   Type IMG or "user #7" Copy II Plus disk image file (A2
        Copy II Plus v6.x or v7.x)
        .IMG is sometimes used for Diskcopy images (see .DIMG)
 .JPG   PC JPEG hi-res, hi-color graphics format (GS JPEG.VIEWER,
        etc. B/W only or PC, Unix viewers)
 .LBR   a multi-file, non-compressed A2 archive (Librarian)
 .LHA   LHA Archive (PC/Amiga LZH program)
 .LZH   LZH Archive (PC/Amiga LZH program)
 .NIB   emulator disk image (typical length: 232960) for protected
        5.25" software (A2 Saltine's Super Transcopy)
 .PCX   PC graphics format (GS Convert 3200; PC many viewers)
 .PD    compressed GS multi-palette graphics file w/o
        palettes (GS SuperPac)
 .PNG   PC PING hi-res, hi-color graphics format (PC viewer)
 .PO    a .DSK file specified as having data in "ProDOS Order"
        i.e. uses ProDOS sector ordering (A2 DSK2FILE and GS ASIMOV)
 .PS    compressed GS multi-palette graphics file with
        palettes (GS SuperPac)
 .QQ    BLU archive.  (ShrinkIt*)
 .SDK   ShrinkIt disk image, usually NuFX-compressed (ShrinkIt*)
 .SEA   Self-extracting A2 ShrinkIt* or Mac ShrinkIt archive
        (depending upon kind, run on Apple IIgs or Mac)
 .SHK   usually an A2 NuFX-compressed archive; non-A2-compatible
        Mac .SHK archives also exist (GS ShrinkIt* / Mac unshrinker
        utility / PC Nulib-- does not extract GS resource forks)
 .SIT   Mac StuffIt archive. (Stuffit on Mac or GS ShrinkIt)
        GS-ShrinkIt will not decode StuffIt Deluxe files.
 .TAR   Unix Tape Archive (Unix tar with -xvf option, GS EXE tar)
 .TGZ   Gzipped .TAR file
 .uu    Unix uuencode file [TEXT] (//e uudecode, Unix uudecode)
 .uue   Unix uuencode file [TEXT] (//e uudecode, Unix uudecode)
 .TIFF  Graphics format (GS SHR Convert)
 .TXT   [TEXT] An ASCII text file (Text editors,
        word processors, etc.)
 .UU    Unix uuencode file [TEXT] (A2 uudecode or Unix uudecode)
 .UUE   Unix uuencode file [TEXT] (A2 uudecode or Unix uudecode)
 .Z     Compressed file (GS-ShrinkIt or Unix uncompress)
 .ZIP   PC Zip Archive (GS PMPUnZIP or UNZIP [GS Shell EXE]
        or PC WinZIP, PKUNZIP, Unix unzip)
 .ZOO   PC Zoo Archive (GS-ShrinkIt??? or PC ZOO program)

* Note: GS-ShrinkIt (= GSHK) can handle all ShrinkIt files except
        .SDK (shrunken disk) files of 5.25" DOS 3.3 disks created by
        8-bit ShrinkIt. 8-bit ShrinkIt does not work for GS
        files having a resource fork or GS .SEA files.


----------------------------


From: Apple's ftp site ...

Most files are in one of a few common formats, and many are a combination.

 .sit    StuffIt 1.5.1 archives
 .hqx    BinHex 4.0 file
 .bin    Binary file
 .image  Diskcopy 4.2 image file
 .txt    plain ASCII text file
 .bsc    Apple II BinSCII file
 .shk    Apple II ShrinkIt file

     Most of the Macintosh files are BinHexed StuffIt files.  This means
you need to transfer the file, then read the license agreement which is
prepended to it (with any text processor), use BinHex or any utility which
can read BinHex 4.0 files to decode the BinHex to a StuffIt archive, then
use UnStuffIt or the StuffIt Expander (or a similar utility) to decompress
the .sit file into the final file.

     In some cases the final file is a .image file. These are exact
duplicates of floppy disks (with verified checksums). Use Diskcopy to
convert these files into floppy disks for installation. Some Apple System
Software is in this format.

     Most of the Apple II files are either straight text or BinSCII'd
ShrinkIt files. This means you need to transfer the file, then use BinSCII
to convert the .bsc file to a ShrinkIt file, then use ShrinkIt to create
the final file or disk.

Note: Apple calls their BinSCII'd .SHK files ".bsc" instead of
".bsq". It is fairly common for uploaders and ftp sites to tag
any BinSCII'd file as ".bsc". The rationale is that, once a user
un-BinSCII's a file, he or she will find an .SHK, .ZIP, etc. file and know
how to continue.

____________________________



From: David Kopper

016- How do I tell what kind of file this is?

Here is a simple guide to help you identify a file. You should always go by
filename extension first, but not everybody uses those. In Unix, you can
use the 'head' command to look at the first couple of lines of a file. If
it turns out to be a binary file, you may be in for a surprise. You may
want to use the Unix 'file' command to find out if it is a text file or not
first. Once you have identified the file, check the earlier info on
filename extensions for how to deal with it.

If there are lines in the file that look like this (there can be other text
before it--search for 'FiLeStArT'):

FiLeStArTfIlEsTaRt
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789()
GBINSCII        AQhmAAAAA8)4MIAI02DA9ARMQEDtAQhmAIVZ
gYITA6u7xADA0MjM3YTNBlDOENkQwYURzITM2UDN5gzNDJUQGVERyEDM1QzM4cjN
CFUOFR0QxAjR0MjM3YTNBlDOENkQwAQRzITM2UDN5gzNDJUQGVERyEDM1QzM4cjN
...

then you've got something encoded by BinSCII. You must decode _all_ the
parts using BinSCII. Then, if the resulting file is in some compressed
form, you would use an appropriate utility to uncompress it. (For example,
you would use 8-bit ShrinkIt to uncompress a whole-disk .sdk archive file.)

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
dsPAsp7rh`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,s4F5L96%S92 T+C$s\%-$4U0V,"Ds(SsZ(%1U92!/8W0s.2 Q,CHS
M...3HT.2!%1%0s,3DY, HT

then you have a uuencoded file.


On another hand, if you have a text file which begins with

(This file must be converted with BinHex 4.0)
:$&4)48C28N0&,P009!"6593K8dP8)3%!!!#Ls!!!!!!Qie009#%!!3!!SPKb6'&
e!3!!!!!!!!!#!!P8D'8J4QpbBf9P)IN33)(4$N#"d4K!JG%S!!!!!`!'VfJ!"VP

then you have a BinHex file. 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
E10:00 BF C7 6D 0E 0D 80 02 D0 1D 20 00 BF C5 69 0E

and more lines like that, followed by a bunch of lines that look like:

A90885A420732090242039FB2058FCA200BD9220F00620EDFDE8D0F5200CFDA9
008DF2038DF3038DF4036CFCFFE6A4A5A4C96F90CFA9008DFCBFA9018DFDBFA0
A90885A420732090242039FB2058FCA200BD9220F00620EDFDE8D0F5200CFDA9

then you have an Executioner file.


___________________________



From: Rubywand

017- How can I create 'blank' .dsk, .nib, etc. disk images?

     The simplest way to get a new .dsk or .nib is to copy an existing one
and delete the files. Under Windows, you can just Right-click drag-and-drop
a file in the same folder to get a copy. If you want a DOS 3.3 formatted
image, pick a DOS 3.3 image to copy. If you want a ProDOS formatted image,
pick a ProDOS image to copy. You can use a utility like Copy II Plus v7.4
to delete the files.

     If you want a DOS 3.3 image, it's a good idea to boot DOS 3.3 and INIT
HELLO the new image. This guarantees that the new image is correctly
formatted. Doing an INIT also allows you to pick the version of DOS 3.3
that the new image will boot-- i.e., it will be the version of the DOS 3.3
(e.g. regular DOS 3.3, ProtoDOS, EsDOS, ...) which does the INIT. And, the
INIT command allows you to set Volume Number on a .nib (which may be
important if the image is supposed to work with a game, etc. which looks fo

r a particular Volume Number).

     DOS 3.3's INIT works fine as a way to format images; but, the routines
used by many utilities are not reliable. In general, you should be wary of
using utilities like Copy II Plus and Apple's ProDOS Utilities to handle
formatting of images on an emulator.

     Another way to obtain fresh disk image files is to download 'blank'
.dsk and .nib images from the Apple II archives which offer them.

     However you create or obtain a 'blank' disk image of the sort you
want, once you have one, you can save future bother by making multiple
copies of it-- e.g. via multiple drag-and-drop copies-- and naming the
copies something like "D33blank1.dsk", "PDblank1.dsk",
"D33blank1.nib", etc..

----------------------------


018- How can I convert .dsk image  .nib image?

     You can use a whole-disk copier such as Disk Muncher to copy from one
to the other. For .nib --> .dsk, the .nib must not be a copy protected
image.

     For a .dsk --> .nib copy on an emulator using most whole-disk
copiers, one result will be to set the Volume Number of the .nib to the
default assigned to the .dsk. For example, converting a normal .dsk image
this way will result in a .nib with VN set to 254.

     If you want to 'convert' from .dsk to .nib without changing the VN of
the .nib, use a copier that transfers just the contents. The old Apple
program, COPYA, will do this if the program is modified to eliminate
formatting of the target disk. Change the Line which does the INIT (usually
Line 250) to ...

250 FT= 1


----------------------------


019- How can I convert Diskcopy images to diskette or to other formats?

     Diskcopy is a Mac disk image format with names ending in
".dimg", ".img", ".image", or with no suffix.
(Sometimes, incorrectly, ".dsk" is used.)  The typical length of
a Diskcopy file used for an Apple II 800k image is 838,484 bytes*. On a
Mac, you can use the Mac Diskcopy utility to convert diskettes to images or
images to diskettes.

     On a IIgs, you can use Clone or Diskcopy to convert a Diskcopy image
to diskette. (It may be necessary to set filetype to $E0 and auxtype to
$0005 in order for the file to be recognized as a Diskcopy image.)

     Clone is more user-friendly. Both utilities work fine for converting
Diskcopy images (such as those on the Golden Orchard CD)  to 3.5"
diskette. If the Diskcopy file was created under a version greater than
4.2, you will probably need to do any conversions on a Mac which can run a
later version of Diskcopy.

     On a PC, the XGS utility Imgutnew.exe can be used to convert most
available Diskcopy images of Apple II software to 2MG image format. The
Diskcopy image name may need to be changed (spaces removed, etc.) to fit PC
DOS format in order for Imgutnew.exe to work.

*See ...  Size Note: Transferring to 3.5" disk (at bottom of this page)

___________________________



From: Charlie Danemark and Andy McFadden

020- How can I move .shk and other kinds of files to/from .dsk
     and .2MG disk images?

     If you are using Windows 95 ('98, 'Me) you can use FishWings or
CiderPress to import .shk and other kinds of files onto .2MG or .dsk disk
images formatted for ProDOS. You can also export files from disk image to
your PC.

___________________________



From: Rubywand

021- How can I unfork forked files on my Apple II?

     You can do it 'by hand' using a block editor to change filetype, etc.
information in a directory block; or, you can use UnforkIt. UnforkIt is a
BASIC program by Ivan Drucker which splits a forked file into two files,
neither of which is forked.


___________________________




Size Note: Transferring to 3.5" disk

     Although 2MG, Diskcopy, and some other 800k image formats have file
sizes greater than 800k, on a ProDOS diskette they will often occupy a good
deal less space. You will often be able to transfer such files (e.g. via a
NULL modem connection) to an Apple II 800k diskette so long as you employ a
protocol which does not pre-send size information, such as X-modem.
--- SBBSecho 2.12-Win32