Are files downloaded from the FTP Server automatically decoded?
Not all transmitted files are encoded, so sometimes decoding is not necessary. If decoding is necessary, most of the FTP clients for the Macintosh are capable of decoding automatically. The behavior in this matter is entirely dependent on the FTP client. Here are the rules the FTP server uses to determine what type of encoding is necessary: If the transfer mode is “text” (ASCII) and the target file is a text file, then it is encoded in the text format. If the transfer mode is “text” (ASCII) and the target file is not a text file, then it is encoded in the Binhex format. If the transfer mode is “binary” (Image), then just the data fork of the file is transferred with no encoding. If the transfer mode is “binary” (Image) and a “MACB E” command has been issued, then the file is encoded in MacBinary format. Fetch (3.0.2 and greater) has been modified to be AppleShare IP friendly. It will automatically take care of all encoding/decoding needs if left in the “Automatic” mode.
