20.005 How do I NULL-modem Text files without getting garbage?
Description
This article is from the Apple II Csa2 FAQ, by Jeff Hurlburt with numerous contributions by others.
20.005 How do I NULL-modem Text files without getting garbage?
The main problem in A2-PC Text file transfers is that Text files created
by the PC use a CR and an LF to end a line whereas Apple II-created Text
files use just a CR. So; PC files show up on Apple II displays with annoying
"#" or inverse "?" symbols; and, Apple II files show up on PC displays with
long, un-terminated lines interspersed with block symbols.
For PC-to-A2 Text file transfers, Z-modem, X-modem, etc. usually work fine
if you have some way to deal with the extra Control characters, mainly line
feeds. On the GS, Appleworks 5 does a good job of automatically cleaning out
such garbage; and, Text editors like ShadowWrite and CoolWriter have options to
quickly strip out offending line-feed Control characters. Some telecom
programs, including Spectrum, have Text editors which can strip out Control
characters and perform other manipulations to clea
n up a file.
An alternative is to do a plain ASCII Text transfer. (The PC telecom
program should be told not to add line feeds or "line enders".) Depending
upon your A2 telecom program, the result may be saved from your Capture Buffer,
captured directly to an on-disk Text file, or selected and saved from the
Scrollback buffer.
Similarly, for A2-to-PC Text transfers, you can use Z-modem or some other
block transfer protocol if you have a PC utility which can convert Apple II
text to text PC's like. For example, one way to send several Text files is to
put them in a .SHK file, Z-modem them to the PC, and use Nulib (v3.24) to
unshrink the files in PC Text format.
Otherwise, you are probably better off doing a Text transfer. Set your A2
telecom program to "send LF's". If there is a "Prompting" option it should be
OFF. Do an "ASCII Text", "Plain Text", etc. Send. The PC telecom program should
be set to Receive Text if this option is available. If it is not, you will be
able to select and save the text from the PC program's display or save the text
from some capture buffer.
Some programs with a "Receive Text" option may expect some end-of-send
signal which the sending program does not supply. Pressing CTRL-X on the Apple
II or ESC on the PC often seems to work okay for terminating the Send. For
example, Telemate will ask if you wish to abort the transfer-- you answer
"Y"es-- but, the file will still be saved on the PC.
Other programs may expect you to click something to signal the end of a
transfer. If you are using HyperTerm to receive text on your PC, you select
"Stop" in the Transfer--Capture menu to end the transfer.
----------------------------
By: Edhel Iaur, Esq.
Appleworks 5.x seems to do a pretty good job of cleaning up text files
from the net. (e.g. it automatically clears out the annoying LF's which show up
in most text file viewers.) There is, also, a standard Awks macro which will
get rid of end-of-every-line CR's.
By: Rubywand
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