Definitions for teachers by teachers

.HQX

BinHex is an especially common format for Macintosh files. In this format Macintosh binary files are temporarily encoded as ASCII files for transmission over the Internet. The Internet was originally designed for transferring text messages (7-bit files) from one computer to another. Binary files are 8 bits wide. An 8-bit file transmitted over the Internet can lose one eighth of its data. BinHex encoding puts the 8-bit wide file into a 7-bit text format. Also, Macintosh files have a resource fork and a data fork; the resource fork is normally lost when a file is converted to a 7-bit format. BinHex preserves the resource fork, as well as the data fork, in Macintosh files. The BinHex format is not a compression format. It makes the file larger, and a file encoded in BinHex format will take longer to transmit. BinHex also converts the file back into its original format after transmission. The filename extension for BinHex files is .hqx.

What this means to you: If you are sending an email with a file attachment, BinHex will make sure that the file will be properly transferred to the receiving computer. You must also be sure that the original file was created using a program that is the same or compatible with the programs on the receiving computer. This is often a problem when sending email between a Mac and a PC.

For more information see BinHex Info.

by Margie Adkins

.HQX (BIN/HEX) COMPRESSION

A Macintosh format for representing a binary file using only printable characters. The file is converted to lines of letters, numbers and punctuation. Because BinHex files are simply text they can be sent through most electronic mail systems and stored on most computers. However the conversion to text makes the file larger, so it takes longer to transmit a file in BinHex format than if the file was represented some other way.

by Brian Weinert

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