Binhex 4.0 Converter
Found 2 file extension associations related to BinHex 4.0 and 2 file formats developed specifically for use with BinHex 4.0. Platform, operating system: Apple macOS / Mac OS X. Go to: BinHex 4.0 description. Developer: Yves Lempereur. Lempereur released BinHex 5.0, almost identical to 4.0 with the exception that it used MacBinary to combine the forks before running the 8-to-6 encoding, but it saw little use, as he expected. However, on the Internet, e-mail was still the primary method of moving files. How to Convert Mac-Specific Files To Work on Windows 10. Casey 05 February 2016. Users switching from OS X to Windows may be wondering what files they can bring with them,. (This file must be converted with BinHex 4.0) You only have to open the file in a word processor to ascertain that the file you received is indeed a BinHex file. Please note that this comment line is not mandatory, according to the specs, but that all utilities we already used put this line at the beginning of the file. One of the recent Mail.dll email component updates brings the ability to process BinHex encoded email attachments. BinHex is short for “binary-to-hexadecimal”. It is a binary to 7bit ASCII text encoding, that was used on the Mac OS for sending binary files through email.
General Info
BinHex encoding converts an 8-bit file into a 7-bit format, similar to uuencoding. BinHex format preserves file attributes, as well as Macintosh resource forks, and includes CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) error-checking. This encoding method works on any type of file, including formatted word processing and spreadsheet files, graphics files, and even executable files (i.e. programs or applications). The encoded file can also be passed from computer to computer in its encoded form. The encoding will remain intact and it will be equally meaningless on all the machines until it is unencoded. To be usable or readable it must be converted back to its original format and be run on a compatible computer.
Note: This is not to be confused with MacBinaryencoding, which is an 8-bit format.
(By the way, the MIME type Base64 is a 6-bit format! Isn't math fun?)
What it looks like
Here is a sample of what BinHex actually looks like:Note that all lines other than the header and the last line are exactly 64 characters long (not counting the newline characters). If you receive a file in email containing lines of varying lengths, then someone's mail system may have damaged the file and you'll probably need to have it resent.
The line '(This file must be converted with BinHex 4.0)' is an integral part of the file format; in fact, if it is missing or even altered in any way, the file may not get recognized as binhex by a decoder program (not a problem for StuffIt Expander, though). Note also that this does not mean you need a program called 'BinHex 4.0' to decode a BinHex file; there are several utilities which can do the trick, the most popular of which are listed on this very page (the page you are reading right now).
Here is some C source code to un-HQX in Unix, the readme from macutil, Pascal source code of DeHQX 2.0 by Peter Lewis (a great set of code and a good 'standard' to follow), and some notes from Yves himself.
BinHex versus MIME
Uh-oh, flamebait! Dare I even attempt to tackle this issue? Actually, there is more than one issue here: we've got email attachments, archive file formats, available source code, level of complexity, and varying implementations regardless of platform. Hmm, I'll leave this alone for now; eventually I'll fill this space up with comparison tables, URLs, and scary stuff like that! In the meantime, the fact is that BinHex is ubiquitous and won't be disappearing anytime soon, so whether it is 'preferred' or not is, for the most part, a moot point.
Binhex 4.0 Converter Vs
Also, Microsoft has chosen to use the BinHex format as a wrapper for Macintosh ActiveX controls. Apple has specified that Sherlock plug-in updates be posted on web sites in BinHex.
See also TidBITS: Macintosh Internet File Format Primer.
Macintosh Utilities
- StuffIt Expander 4.5 (free decompression utility from Aladdin Systems)
- DropStuff w/Expander Enhancer (shareware compression utility from Aladdin Systems)
- StuffIt Lite 3.6 (shareware compression utility from Aladdin Systems)
- StuffIt Deluxe 4.5 (commercial compression utility from Aladdin Systems)
- MindExpander 1.0 (free decompression utility from MindVision)
- BinHex 4.0 (do NOT use 5.0 -- that is an 8-bit binary format)
- DeHQX 2.0.1 by Peter Lewis
- SITcomm 1.0.1 (telecom program [discontinued] from Aladdin Systems)
- ZipIt 1.3.8 (shareware compression utility from Tom Brown)
- Eudora (Internet email program from Qualcomm)
DOS/Windows Utilities
- Aladdin Expander for Windows by Aladdin Systems
- DropStuff for Windows (shareware compression utility from Aladdin Systems)
- MindExpander 1.0 (free decompression utility from MindVision)
- Eudora (Internet email program from Qualcomm)
- PC BinHex 1.3 -- University of Minnesota 1992-1993
Written by the Distributed Computing Services department and placed in the public domain.This Utility encodes binary files into a plain text format and decodes the resulting files into their original state. This program is compatible with the Macintosh version of BINHEX and with POPMail(tm) (the DOS counterpart to POPMail is Minuet ).
For further information, see the following issues of theComputer & Information Services Newsletter:March 1993 issue, article: E-mail Enclosures, Part 1
April 1993 issue, article: E-mail Attachments Part 2 - Using Pine
January 1994 issue, article: Sending Files Micros & Pine (#3 in series)
Unix Utilities
SunOS/Sparc2
(Info provided by John Gianni, http://www.cadence.com)
Many Sparc un-binhexing utilities exist. I think most, if not all, are listed on archie servers (telnet archie.sura.net; login as 'qarchie'; run the command, 'prog binhex'; type 'mail yourLogin' to get the report; type 'quit' to exit).
hexbin hexbin.man
binhex binhex.man
xbin xbin.man
rdbinhex (script to automate unbinhexing and conversion to UNIX)
Amiga Utilities
Open Hxmx File
MacTools v2.01b1 will decode BinHex files on the Amiga platform. On Genie, this file can be found in the Amiga RT library, file #19368. (It's probably also on Aminet...)Info provided by Mike Webb (page devoted to the Amiga, Texas Instruments TI-85 calculators, and music...for now - also soon to be the home of a new online Amiga magazine).
Open Hckx File
Apple ][ Utilities
From Harold.H on Genie:
No BinHex utils that I know of that have been released. I've been trying to find time to write one though :)
Wait... GSCII+ (a IIgs desk accs) handles BinHex, but it's not exactly stable
| This page was mentioned in a Macworld magazine column, Parcel Post--Internet-Style (April 1996 issue, page 122, sidebar 'Web Worthy'). :-) |
Binhex Decoder
Please choose a menu item before pressing the Go button.
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Hqx File
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