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:mod:`binhex` --- Encode and decode binhex4 files
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.. 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. Only the data fork is handled.
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 ``None`` 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.