Tower of Babel simplifies the transfer of plain text files between different system platforms. It converts line break characters as well as high (>127) and low (<32) ASCII characters (diacritical and graphic characters).
Currently supported platforms include:
Macintosh
DOS (Codepages 437 and 850) and Windows
UNIX (ISO Latin Nr.1 encoding)
Atari ST
DEC
and all systems that use similar ASCII encodings (NeXT, Amiga, etc.). Text files from any platform can be converted to each of the other platforms.
In addition, Tower of Babel can
• display information about files and folders
• modify the type and creator information of Macintosh files
• assign color labels
• delete resource forks
• modify file names (lower case, UPPER CASE, or Capitalized)
• truncate file names (8+3 DOS style)
• strip potentially bad characters (like :,?,*,etc.) from file names
• translate file names using a dictionary of user preferences
"Why do I need it ?"
Although almost all modern operating systems (and DOS :-) share the same scheme for representing text (the famous ASCII code), there is no firm agreement on how to encode line breaks:
UNIX, NeXT, and Amiga systems represent line breaks by a line-feed character (ASCII code 10), Macintosh systems use a carriage-return character (ASCII code 13), and DOS systems (as well as a couple of other systems) use a pair of line-feed and carriage-return characters.
Apple's File Exchange tool provides a way to convert text files from one encoding to another, but it's awkward to use, especially if you have a whole bunch of files to convert.
Tower of Babel may be exactly what you need (at least, it was exactly what I needed).
Note that Tower of Babel is meant only for plain, unformatted text files. For transferring formatted text files, consult the manual of your text processing software.
"How do I use it ?"
• Select the files you want to convert. All selected files will be displayed in the lower box on the left.
• Check the appropriate options on the right
• Click the Convert button to start the process
Balloon Help is available for most items.
All buttons in the dialog have equivalent commands in the File menu.
• Eject (E), Desktop (D)
The familiar buttons you find in all file dialogs.
• Add (O), Add All (A)
Adds files to the list of selected files (the lower list). You may also add files by dropping them on Tower of Babel's icon.
• All Files, Text Files, others…
Influences the appearance of the upper file list: if All Files is selected, all types of files will be displayed (including graphic files, applications, even invisible files).
If Text Files is selected, only plain text files will be displayed.
If you select others…, a dialog pops up where you can select files by a number of criteria, like name, size, modification date, etc. For a description see The Filter Dialog, below.
If you add non-text files to your list, make sure not to check any option in the Text Conversion section. It is usually no good idea to modify the contents of non-text files.
• Remove (R), Remove All (L)
Removes files from the lower list. Select files by clicking or arrow key navigation. Holding the shift key while clicking extends the selection.
• Convert (K)
Starts the conversion process for the selected files in the lower list. Before starting, make sure your settings on the right are correct. You may interrupt the conversion process at any time by clicking the Stop button, or skip files by clicking the Skip File button.
• Quit (Q)
Quits Tower of Babel immediately. All settings will be remembered the next time you use the program.
Text Conversion
• From
Select the original format of the files.
- Unknown: select this option if you are not sure which format to choose; line breaks will be converted correctly, high-ASCII characters won't
- Atari ST
- DEC multinational: for DEC systems
- DOS (437): Codepage 437
- DOS (850): Codepage 850; if you are not quite sure which Codepage to choose, take this one
- Macintosh
- UNIX (ISO Latin Nr. 1): select this option also for NeXT and Amiga text files
If your text files don't contain diacritical or graphic characters, it's perfectly safe to select Unknown.
If you are working system that is not included in the list, send me a printout of the ASCII table file (included in the Fonts folder).
• To
Select the destination format.
• Line Breaks
Check this option if you want to convert the line breaks in your text.
• Low ASCII
Check this option if you want to convert low-ASCII characters (i.e. characters whose ASCII codes are smaller than 32, also called control characters). You will probably rarely need it.
Note that the encoding of these characters varies quite a bit between different platforms. Tower of Babel will do its best to replace them by identical or at least by similar characters, according to the setting in the menu:
- Re-map: replaces high-ASCII characters by similar characters, if possible. Most encodings contain diacritical characters, but not all contain the same graphic symbols.
- Hex Code: replaces high-ASCII characters by their ASCII codes (in a notation familiar to C-programmers); for example, "ä" becomes "\0x8a". You may later use a text editor to replace these codes by something more meaningful.
If you have selected Unknown, only the Hex Code option is available.
Tower of Babel comes with a set of fonts for non-Mac files. If you view files using these fonts, you will get an impression how high-ASCII characters would look on a different system. There is no font for Atari files, but the DOS fonts do a good job as well.
File Info
• Type
Check this option if you want to modify the file type. Use this option with care, and only if you know what you are doing! For example, the file you are reading now was created as a 'TEXT' file and later converted to a 'ttro' (TeachText read only) file.
To copy the type information from some other file, select the file and choose Set Type from the Special menu.
• Creator
Check this option if you want to modify the file creator. The file creator determines the application that is launched if you double-click a document file. If you change the creator you will usually check the Delete Resource Fork option, too.
To copy the creator information from some other file, select the file and choose Set Creator from the Special menu.
• Label
Check this option if you want to assign color labels to the selected files. For example, color labels are useful to distinguish files from different platforms.
Select "None" (the topmost item in the menu) to remove color labels.
• Delete Resource Fork
Check this option if you want to delete the resource forks of all selected files. Many text processing applications use the resource fork of documents to store additional information (like user preferences). If you transfer a Macintosh file to another platform, this information is probably useless, and may be deleted.
• Keep Original File
If this option is checked, copies of the files will be created, leaving the original files intact. If it isn't checked, the original files will be modified in place.
File Name
• Case
Check this option if you want to change the case of file names; for example "letter to mary" becomes "LETTER TO MARY" when UPPERCASE is selected, or "Letter To Mary" when Capitals is selected.
• Truncate (8+3)
Check this option if you want to truncate file names to DOS style. DOS file names consist of 8+3 characters, delimited by a dot (e.g. READ_ME.TXT).
• Remove Bad Chars
Check this option if you want to remove special characters from file names. Most file system reserve some characters for special use. For example ":" characters are not allowed in Macintosh file names. Similarly, other operating systems reserve characters like "?" or "*". If the Remove Bad Chars option is checked, all those characters are replaced by underscores ("_").
• Use Dictionary
If this option is checked, a dictionary is used to translate file names. Suppose you have a file named "Letter to Mary" and want to transfer it to a DOS system where such file names are illegal. Obviously you have to rename it to, say, "mary.txt".
You can do this manually if you have checked the Ask User option, or automatically by checking the Use Dictionary option.
For more information on dictionaries, see Dictionary Info, below.
• Ask User
If this option is checked, Tower of Babel lets you rename files manually. It also gives you extra control, because you can skip files during the conversion process.
If this option isn't checked, files will be renamed automatically, according to the settings in the File Name section.
After having selected files and having set all options appropriately, click the Convert button (or choose Convert from the File menu, or press C).
If you have checked the Ask User option, the process will halt at each file, giving you the opportunity to edit its name, to skip the file, or to stop the whole process.
File: shows the file that is currently processed.
New Name: shows the new file name. If Keep Orig File is checked, a copy of the original will be created; if not, the original file will be renamed.
If you enter a file name that is already in use, Tower of Babel will beep and prompt you again.
The speaker icon turns sound on and off.
The number of remaining files is shown at the right of the progress bar.
Click the OK button to accept the new file name; click Revert to revert to the name that was first proposed.
Click Skip File to skip the file (leaving in intact); click the Stop button to halt the whole process (leaving all remaining files intact, including the current).
Use the Return or Enter key as shortcuts for OK; pressing Escape or Command-. is equivalent to Stop.
If the Ask User option is not checked, the OK and Revert buttons are missing, but Skip File and Stop are still available.
The Preference Menu
Use this menu to switch quickly between settings. If you once have set up a list of your most preferred settings, you can quickly switch between them, without having to set all options manually. A preference set stores
- the Text Conversion, File Info and File Name options
- the settings in the File Filter Dialog
- the current dictionary
The list of preferences appears at the bottom of the menu.
For example, it could be useful to create preference sets for the "DOS to Mac" conversion, and one for the "Mac to DOS" conversion.
• Add… Adds the current settings to the list of preferences.
• Save Permanently saves changes to the current set
• Rename… Renames the current set
• Delete Deletes the current set from the list.
The Special Menu
• Set Type
Fills in the Type edit field with the type information of the currently selected file.
• Set Creator
Fills in the Creator edit field with the creator information of the currently selected file.
• Info about…
Displays information about the selected file or folder. Some of the displayed information may be familiar to you from Finder windows. Others may sound like Babylonian to you — don't worry: you needn't know about it unless you are interested in it.
- File: the name of the file or folder
- Kind: there are several kinds of files, like documents, application programs, system extensions, aliases, etc.
- Where: the location of the file or folder on your disk
- Type: the file type (e.g. TEXT for plain text files, APPL for applications, etc.)
- Creator: the signature of the application that created the file
- Data Fork: the size of the data fork (in Bytes)
- Resource Fork: the size of the resource fork (in Bytes)
note that either fork may be empty
- Created: date and time of creation
- Modified: date and time of last modification
- Label: a color label assigned by the user
- Locked: checked if the file is locked; if you try to modify a locked file Tower of Babel will complain about it
- Alias: checked if the file is an alias, i.e. a reference to another file
- Invisible: checked if the file is not visible from the Finder
- Has Bundle: this file (usually an application) contains additional information for the desktop database
- Name Locked: checked if the name of this file should not be modified; Tower of Babel is able to bypass this lock, but the Finder may be a bit slow in noticing the change
- Stationery: this file works like a stationery pad: if you open it, a new copy will be created
- Has Custom Icon: this file has been assigned a custom icon by the user
- Has Been Inited: checked if the Finder has already taken notice of the file
- Shared Application: this application can be used by multiple users simultaneously
- No INITs: this file contains no INIT resources; almost never checked (to be honest, I don't know what this flag is good for)
- New Name: the modified file name (according to the File Name options)
- Dictionary: the dictionary file that is used to translate file names (see below); if the dictionary file is not accessible, Tower of Babel will notify you at startup
- Entries: the number of entries in the dictionary
• Dictionary Info
Shows the contents of the dictionary that is used to translate file names.
Note that the file names on the left are all uppercase since string matching is not case sensitive. That means that "LETTER TO MARY" matches "letter to mary" as well as "Letter To Mary".
Entries are sorted by length, because more specific entries should be preferred over more general ones (for example, "From Peter To *" is more specific than "From * To *")
Note also that translation works in both directions. That's why the entries on the right appear on the left, too.
You can't edit the dictionary within Tower of Babel, but you can use any text processing program (like SimpleText) to edit dictionary files. Have a look at Standard Dictionary to get some advice for creating your own dictionaries.
To load another dictionary, select the file in the upper file list and choose Load Dictionary.
• Load Dictionary
Loads a dictionary file. It Tower of Babel has any problems reading the file, you will be notified. Verify that the file was loaded correctly by choosing Dictionary Info.
Note that the format for dictionary files has changed from version 1.0 of Tower of Babel. If you want to use an old dictionary, you have use Dictionary Updater, first.
Have a look at Standard Dictionary to get some advice for modifying and creating dictionaries.
The Filter Dialog
If you select others… in the pop up menu to the right of the upper file list, a dialog appears where you can establish certain criteria for displaying files. Only files that match these criteria will be shown in the upper list. The dialog is quite similar to the "Find File" dialog in System 7.5.
Click OK button to accept the dialog settings.
Click Revert to revert to the previous settings.
Click Cancel to dismiss the dialog without making any changes.
More Choices adds a new criterion. You can specify that files must match all criteria by selecting and in the leftmost menu. Or you can specify that files must match at least one criterion by selecting or.
Note that and binds stronger than or (that means, "a or b and c" will be interpreted as "a or (b and c)").
Fewer Choices removes the last criterion.
Use the second menu in a row to select a criterion:
name: display files whose names match (resp. don't match) a given pattern. Some characters have a special meaning within a pattern:
? matches any character
* matche any sequence of characters (even an empty one)
\ causes the following character to be taken literally; for example,
\? matches a question mark (and nothing else), \* matches an asterisk
(and nothing else), \\ matches a backslash
: colons are not allowed in Macintosh file names; they are replaced by hyphens
Note that these conventions are the same for dictionary entries.
size: display files whose size if less than (or greater than) a given value
label: display files that carry (resp. don't carry) a given color label
date created: display files that were created at (or before, after, etc.) a given date. Be aware that the "within x months" settings are not exactly accurate.
date modified: display files that were modified at (before, after, etc.) a given date.
file type: display files with a certain type
creator: display files that were created by a given application
lock attribute: display files that are (resp. are not) locked. Note that you cannot modify the contents of locked files.
visibility: display files that are (resp. are not) visible. It is usually no good idea to modify invisible files.
"What do I need to run it ?"
Tower of Babel runs on every Macintosh with System 7.0 or later versions. It runs native (fast!) on PowerMacs.
In order to read DOS-formatted disks, you need a SuperDrive disk drive (most modern Macs have it), and a system extension like PC Exchange.
You can read UNIX tar files and gzip files with suntar, which as available as freeware (I think). Also, many UNIX systems are able to handle DOS-formatted disks (with the Mtools tool set).
Version 1.1 of Tower of Babel fixes a bug that caused it to crash with System 7.0.
"What does it cost ?"
Tower of Babel is postcard-ware. If you use it, please send me a postcard from where you live.
You may freely distribute unmodified copies of Tower of Babel, but not as part of a commercial application.
"The file "xxx" doesn't seem to be a plain text file …"
You have selected a file that is not a plain text file (i.e. its type is not 'TEXT'), but you have checked a Text Conversion option (Line Breaks, Low ASCII, or High ASCII). It is no good idea to modify the contents of non-text files unless you know it is a plain text file with a different type information.
Click Modify to modify the file anyway, click Skip File to skip it, click Stop to stop the process.
If you check don't ask me again this warning message won't appear for subsequent files. Also, this message won't appear if Keep Original File is checked.
The dictionary file was not found (maybe you deleted it). To get things straight again, select a dictionary file and choose Load Dictionary from the Special menu.
Usually, Tower of Babel finds the dictionary file even if you have moved or renamed it.
a line in the dictionary file contains only one entry and is therefore useless. This can happen if you forget to separate file names by a tab. Click OK to ignore the line, click Cancel to dismiss the whole dictionary.
A file system error (disk full, file locked, etc.) occured. If you click Skip File, the conversion will continue with the next file, if you click Stop it will be stopped.
The file couldn't be renamed, or its type/creator information couldn't be modified. If the Keep Original File option is checked, the resulting file has a strange name, like "Temp File xxx,xxx,xxx". Continue continues the conversion with the next file, Stop stops it.
Note that Continue is not equivalent to Skip File, because the file is already modified (it just carries the old name).
"Please communicate this malfunction to the author …"
…do what the text says. You should hardly ever encounter this error. It indicates a loophole in the mapping tables used for high and low ASCII characters. You can keep on working with Tower of Babel, but some low or high ASCII characters might not be mapped correctly.
