Re: [MacPerl] can't open file with strange characters

[Rich Morin <rdm@cfcl.com>]

At 22:52 -0700 6/11/98, Michael Stearns wrote:
>I am saving some web documents as "source" from Netscape and running
>them through a macperl script that I have.
>
>Some of the documents return a "cannot open" error.
>
>I notice, when I open these documents with simple text, that they have
>square-boxe characters in place of where the line breaks should be.
>
>Can anyone explain what the square boxes are doing there and what I need
>to do to be able to open the files with macperl?

Well, the "square boxes" are probably representations of line feed
characters.  Files created on Unix machines use line feeds, rather
than carriage returns to terminate lines.  Files created under DOS
and Windows use the sequence line-feed/carriage-return.  And, to make
things even more confusing, machines may send files over the Internet
in any of the three forms.  (Aren't standards wonderful? :-)

Nonetheless, you should be able to open the files; you should merely
get peculiar results when you try to read them.  Hmmm.  It's possible
that the files are being held open by Netscape, in which case Mac OS
might not give you access to them.  Try making sure that no other app
(e.g., Netscape or SimpleText) has the files open when you ask MacPerl
to open them.

The line termination issues are covered pretty thoroughly in the book
"MacPerl: Power and Ease", which is available in HTML format on the
MacPerl Pages (http://www.ptf.com/macperl).

Yours, Rich Morin

Rich Morin, Canta Forda Computer Laboratory | Prime Time Freeware - quality
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