Copyright: ® Copyright 1993 REEVEsoft


MacSEE

MacSEE will allow you to copy files from a Macintosh disk to a DOS disk and back. It will also allow you to rename files, delete files, make and remove folders/subdirectories and more. It automatically detects all 3.5" 1.44 Mb and 2.88 Mb high density disk drives (MacSEE does not support the older 800K Macintosh floppy disks), Macintosh compatible hard disks, and CD-ROMs on your system with Macintosh disks in them (the disk containing Macintosh data MUST be in the drive before starting MacSEE).

Topics

MacSEE toolbar buttons

Navigating the Macintosh file system

Navigating the DOS file system

File translation types

What's new?

About MacSEE


Copying to the Macintosh
Copy a DOS file to a Macintosh disk

Clicking on the [image] button will transfer the files and directories currently selected from the DOS file list to the currently selected Macintosh disk and folder. If you have not yet selected a Macintosh disk (or volume) to transfer the file to you must first select one otherwise this button will be unavailable. The files/directories will be transferred based on the currently selected translation type.


Copying to the PC
Copy a Macintosh file to a DOS disk

Clicking on the [image] button will transfer the selected Macintosh files and folders to the currently selected DOS disk (and directory). The currently selected translation type will be used.


Deleting files, folders, and directories
Delete a file or a folder/directory

Clicking on the [image] button will delete the currently selected files and folders/directories. Deleting a folder/directory will also delete its contents. MacSEE will prompt you verifying the deletion of each file if the Confirm Deletes option is selected in the preferences dialog box.


Renaming files and folders
View/Change attributes

Clicking on the [image] button will allow you to see a file's name, size, creation date, and type (as MacSEE sees it). If the file is a Macintosh file the size will be broken into both the Data Fork and a Resource Fork. In addition to this MacSEE allows you to modify the creator and type fields of a Macintosh file. To rename a file just modify the name in the Name box and click OK. Likewise changing the creator and type fields of a Macintosh file is done in a similar manner. Click cancel if you're unsure of the changes you've made.


Creating a new folder/directory
Create a new folder/directory

Clicking on the [image] button will allow you to create a new Macintosh folder or a new DOS directory. If you are creating a Macintosh folder you must have already selected a Macintosh volume and you must have one of the items in the Macintosh directory selected. Likewise, if you wish to create a DOS directory you must have one of the items in the current DOS directory selected. Keep in mind that DOS directory names can only consist of 8 characters followed by a 3 character extender separated by a period, and can contain only alphanumeric characters. Macintosh folder names can consist of up to 31 characters.


Formatting/partitioning Macintosh disks
Format a Macintosh disk

Clicking on the [image] button will allow you to format Macintosh disks. This button is only available when at the volumes (topmost) level in the Macintosh file window. When clicked you will be greeted by the MacSEE format/partition dialog box where you can select a drive to format.

Formatting Macintosh floppy disks - Floppy disks can not be partitioned so when a floppy drive is selected all you can do is select a different volume label. When you're ready to format place a disk in the drive (if one is not already there) and click on format.

Formatting Macintosh hard disks - MacSEE does not really format a hard disk, instead is just lays out the partitioning information for it to be recognized on your system. Formatting a hard disk usually takes a long time which is why it's usually only done once (after that the only reason for formatting would be if the hard disk starting causing problems). Therefore, be sure your hard disk has been already formatted before using MacSEE to format it (it can be formatted with either Macintosh or DOS formatting software...the low level format does not matter which machine it's done on). When a hard disk is selected click on the Add partition button for as many hard disk partitions as you want. Usually you'll want no more than two. Then individually select each partition and click on the Modify button to select the size (in megabytes) of the partition and the volume label you want to assign to that partition. Click on format when you're satisfied with your choices.

Note: Macintosh hard disks are formatted without a driver. In order for the disk to properly mount on a Macintosh the Macintosh must have a driver loaded. This can be a driver that is loaded at startup or can be loaded from a Macintosh disk that already has a driver on it. Once a driver has been loaded then Macintosh disks formatted with MacSEE will be mounted properly.


Help
Clicking this button activates the help system you are currently using.


Exit
Clicking this button will end the MacSEE application.


Translation Types
File Translation Types

The are many different types of files such as word processing documents, spreadsheets, database, programs/applications . . . etc. It would be nice if MacSEE allowed you to transfer these files from a Macintosh into some format usable on a PC and vice versa. This is why file translation is necessary. MacSEE supports several different file formats such as Postscript, EPS, TIFF, MacPaint-PCX, Text, and more. Some of these file translations involve minimal changes to the data file and some involve complex breakdowns and reconstructions so that the resulting file makes sense to the other computer.

Macintoshes also have a very different file structure from that of a PC. PCs have just one chunk of data associated with a file, but Macintoshes have two chunks of data (known as a data fork and a resource fork). Sometimes it is desirable to transfer a Macintosh file to another system that has a file system more like a PC, and then transfer it back without any loss of information. Macintosh users have adopted two such formats for this purpose known as MacBinary and BinHex. MacSEE supports both of these translation types and you can select among them in the preferences menu.

Assuming that you've clicked on the preferences button to get to the Set Preferences dialog box you can select a translation by simply clicking on the desired translation from among the four translations available. MacBinary II and BinHex translations are for MacBinary and BinHex (HQX) files. Auto-detect and Manual are used when the transferred file is going to be used, edited, and or modified (and possibly transferred back) on the other platform (e.g. you have a TIFF picture on a Macintosh disk and you want to transfer it so that it can be modified and used on the PC). Auto-detect attempts to automatically detect the type of file being transferred and select the appropriate translation type, and Manual allows you to select the type of translation to be used.

When MacSEE automatically detects the type of translation to be used the Macintosh file's creator and type fields and the DOS file's extension will be set appropriately. Sometimes this information may be incorrect (particularly in the case of DOS extensions) which is why is may be desirable to choose Manual at times. The four manual translation modes are:

Data Fork - Transfers to and from the Macintosh file's data fork verbatim.

Resource Fork - Transfers to and from the Macintosh file's resource fork verbatim.

Text - Transfer to the data fork, but make the needed adjustment of convert between a Macs carriage return character to the PC's linefeed/carriage return sequence. This translation ignores the resource fork.

MacPaint/PCX - Transfers MacPaint files from a Mac into PCX format on the PC and vice versa. This translation only affects the data fork on the Macintosh and leaves the resource fork empty.


Navigating the Macintosh file system

The Macintosh file system is somewhat different from the DOS file system. For starters each Macintosh disk has a name and is referred to as a volume (while a DOS disk is not required to have a name [which is also referred to as a label]). When MacSEE is started it will search your system for Macintosh volumes on hard drives and for any 3.5" disk drives attached to your computer. All volumes found are listed. A Macintosh disk in a 3.5" disk drive will not have a volume name reported because the disk in the drive may be changed.

Initially the list of available MacSEE volumes will appear in the Macintosh file system window and you will be able to double click on a volume name with the mouse to open that volume and see what files/folders and contained within it. The volume list is considered the topmost level of the file hierarchy that comprises the Macintosh file system.

Once inside a volume you can select a file or a folder by clicking on it, or you can double click on a folder to go into that folder and see what it contains. Double clicking on the <..> item will take you to the previous (parent) folder and eventually back to the topmost list of Macintosh volumes.


Navigating the DOS file system

When MacSEE is started, the DOS file window will show the current DOS directory above it and a listing of all files/directories in the current DOS directory along with all other DOS compatible drives. If you wish to go into another DOS directory, change to a different DOS drive, or go to the previous (parent) directory (designated by [..]) simply double click on the desired item. If you want to select a DOS file or directory just single click on it and the DOS file or directory will be highlighted.


About MacSEE

MacSEE 4.0

© Copyright 1993,1994 REEVEsoft

by Alan D. Reeve

P.O. Box 1884

Clemson, SC  29633

(803) 654-7378

CompuServe ID: 71521,2200

Internet: reevesoft@delphi.com


HQX
HQX is usually appended to BinHex files so that they can be identified by their filename.


What's New

This revision of MacSEE adds:

Support for tagged (multi-file) transfers and deletes

Eliminates the need for WinASPI drivers when using ASPI hard disks

The Macintosh Resource Inspector

The ability to change Mac hard disks/CD-ROMs and mount them without restarting MacSEE

Formatting/Partitioning of Macintosh compatible hard disks

The ability to manually change the creator and type files of a Macintosh file

A 'Set Preferences' dialog box with several additional options

A new, 3 dimensional look


About Button
Click this button to see information about the company that created MacSEE


Set Preferences
Preferences

Pressing the [image] button accesses the MacSEE Set Preferences dialog box. These preferences can be categorized into two categories: General preferences and Translation preferences.

General Preferences

Confirm Deletes - Selecting this button will cause MacSEE to prompt you when deleting a file. If you are deleting more than 1 file MacSEE will prompt you for each file. When not selected MacSEE will just do the delete which can be dangerous as accidentally pressing this button means whatever files are selected will be gone!

Confirm Formats - Selecting this button will cause MacSEE to prompt you whenever you're about to format a disk. Formatting a disk erases any data currently stored on the disk so it's usually a good idea to have this option turned on.

Automatic file naming - The Macintosh file naming conventions are much more flexible than DOS's. When transferring files for a Macintosh to a PC MacSEE attempts to generate a DOS compatible file name. When this option is turned on MacSEE will use this name without asking if you'd prefer something else. When off MacSEE will allow you to change this name to something more desirable.

Overwrite duplicates - When transferring multiple files to a DOS disk it is possible that Macintosh files will be converted to have the same DOS name. If this option is on then MacSEE will overwrite (deleting) the file that is currently there in favor of placing the new file on the disk. When this option is turned off MacSEE uses an incremental naming approach of turning the last character of the filename to a 1, 2, 3...allowing them all to coexist peacefully on the disk.

Translation Preferences

A translation type is used to determine how you want MacSEE to transfer your data. MacSEE offers four basic translation types:

MacBinary II - This translation type is used to keep both the data and resource forks of a Macintosh file together so that if copied back to a Macintosh disk the file will be intact. Use this method when transferring files via modem. Also, when downloading Macintosh files on a PC generally they'll be in MacBinary II format so you can use this translation mode to copy those over to a Macintosh diskette.

BinHex - Similar to MacBinary II, but this translation was created for those that only have 7-bit text transfer options available.

Auto-Detect - When this is enabled MacSEE will attempt to determine the type of file being transferred and to translate it accordingly. Use this when you're not sure what type of file your transferring, but you want to use the file (e.g. moving a TIFF picture from a Macintosh disk to your PC) on the other platform.

Manual - Sometimes MacSEE does not correctly guess the correct translation type to be used. Use this to override what MacSEE would pick. When using this mode you must manually pick among the translations listed to the right of this option from the combo-box.


Rescan for Macintosh volumes

Clicking the [image] button will cause MacSEE to rescan for Macintosh volumes. This button is only available when you are at the volume (topmost) level in the Macintosh file window, and is useful (for example) if you insert a new Macintosh compatible hard disk or CD-ROM while MacSEE is running. Previous versions of MacSEE only looked for Macintosh compatible volumes at startup, but now you no longer need to terminate MacSEE when you change disks.

Note: This is not useful with regard to Macintosh compatible floppy disks as MacSEE only needs to see a 3.5" drive to recognize these devices.


Resource Inspector

Macintosh files keep much of their data in the resource fork. This includes sounds, pictures, fonts, and even actual program code. MacSEE now allows you to inspect this portion of a Macintosh file and extract its pieces. This offers MacSEE much flexibility!

Clicking on the C:\WORK\MACSEEW\INSPECT.BMP button will give you access to the resources contained in a Macintosh file. This button is only available when a single Macintosh file is selected. After searching the resource fork of the selected Macintosh file MacSEE will display a list of resources in the following format:

Resource Name (Resource Type-# of this resource type)

If the resource is named then its resource name will be 'Unnamed'.

When you've picked a resource to copy over to your PC just click the Get Resource button, supply a filename, and the resources contents will be transferred.


MacSEE Command Buttons

 Copy a DOS file to a Macintosh disk

 Copy a Macintosh file to a DOS disk

 Delete a file or a folder/directory

 View/Change attributes (i.e. name, types, ...)

 Create a new folder/directory

 Resource Inspector

 Rescan for Macintosh volumes

 Format/partition a Macintosh disk

 Set Preferences

 This HELP System

 About MacSEE

 Exit MacSEE


Creator and Type Fields
A Macintosh file has two additional pieces of information to tell the Macintosh where the file came from and what type of data is contained within the file. These are known as its creator and type. They both consist of four characters. MacSEE will set these appropriately when using MacBinary II, BinHex, and Automatic translations. You can alter these manually, however be careful as if these are not set correctly the Macintosh will not be able to identify the file type.