Subject: Re: smtp mail failed
From: [email-masked] (Ken Weinert)

17 Oct 1998 05:26:54 -0700
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To: "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>

On Thu, 15 Oct 1998 16:52:02 -0400, Larry Hall wrote:

>At 10:17 AM 10/14/98 -0600, 139a80000-HallM(DR3132)37x10 wrote:
>>While I agree 100% with this view, there are some difficulties that are
>>particularly apparent with archive software.  If tar is unpacking a file,
>>(or packing it, for that matter) is it a binary file or a text file?
>>Somehow, tar/zip/whatever must find out whether to open the file in text
>>or binary mode, yet there seems to be no definitive way to tell which.
>>Do you try to see if the file has all characters < 0x100 and line breaks
>>every so often to call it a text file?  What about various meta-character
>>escapes (for extended character sets, bold/italic/underline, etc.).  What
>>if an executable file actually does contain '\n' every so often.  These
>>heuristics are bound to make mistakes, but what better way is there to
>>tell?

	There's also the model of the unix "file" command. This command
depends on reading the beginning of a file and matching what is found
against supplied patterns to determine what kind of file it is.

	Admittedly there are still files that aren't described and you
end up with the same problem, but it greatly narrows the possibilities.

- -- 
Ken Weinert   [email-masked]

A catseye among aggies, blinking in astonishment across the face of time.
 
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