Edit File: binhex.txt
:mod:`binhex` --- Encode and decode binhex4 files ================================================= .. module:: binhex :synopsis: Encode and decode files in binhex4 format. This module encodes and decodes files in binhex4 format, a format allowing representation of Macintosh files in ASCII. On the Macintosh, both forks of a file and the finder information are encoded (or decoded), on other platforms only the data fork is handled. .. note:: In Python 3.x, special Macintosh support has been removed. The :mod:`binhex` module defines the following functions: .. function:: binhex(input, output) Convert a binary file with filename *input* to binhex file *output*. The *output* parameter can either be a filename or a file-like object (any object supporting a :meth:`write` and :meth:`close` method). .. function:: hexbin(input[, output]) Decode a binhex file *input*. *input* may be a filename or a file-like object supporting :meth:`read` and :meth:`close` methods. The resulting file is written to a file named *output*, unless the argument is omitted in which case the output filename is read from the binhex file. The following exception is also defined: .. exception:: Error Exception raised when something can't be encoded using the binhex format (for example, a filename is too long to fit in the filename field), or when input is not properly encoded binhex data. .. seealso:: Module :mod:`binascii` Support module containing ASCII-to-binary and binary-to-ASCII conversions. .. _binhex-notes: Notes ----- There is an alternative, more powerful interface to the coder and decoder, see the source for details. If you code or decode textfiles on non-Macintosh platforms they will still use the old Macintosh newline convention (carriage-return as end of line). As of this writing, :func:`hexbin` appears to not work in all cases.