ascii or binary

[greg]

Hello,

I'm searching to know if a local file is ascii or binary.
I couldn't find it in the manual, is there a way to know that ?

thanks,

--
greg

[frizzle]

Re: ascii or binary


greg wrote:[color=blue]
> Hello,
>
> I'm searching to know if a local file is ascii or binary.
> I couldn't find it in the manual, is there a way to know that ?
>
> thanks,
>
> --
> greg[/color]

AFAIK it depends on what kind of file it is. Not sure, but ascii are
txt, csv, html etc, binary are images, mp3's etc.
Correct me if i'm wrong.

[ZeldorBlat]

Re: ascii or binary


greg wrote:[color=blue]
> Hello,
>
> I'm searching to know if a local file is ascii or binary.
> I couldn't find it in the manual, is there a way to know that ?
>
> thanks,
>
> --
> greg[/color]

<http://www.php.net/mb_detect_encod ing>

[greg]

Re: ascii or binary

>[color=blue]
> <http://www.php.net/mb_detect_encod ing>
>[/color]
excuse my ignorance, but do you mean that if this function returns "ascii",
it's ascii ... if not it's binary ?
I'm not really sure to get your tip.

--
greg

[greg]

Re: ascii or binary

[color=blue]
> AFAIK it depends on what kind of file it is. Not sure, but ascii are
> txt, csv, html etc, binary are images, mp3's etc.
> Correct me if i'm wrong.
>[/color]

surely, but this means I must think of all the possible file extension
decide whether it's ascii or binary.
it seems to be limited, but thx anyway.

--
greg

[Bent Stigsen]

Re: ascii or binary

greg wrote:[color=blue][color=green]
>>AFAIK it depends on what kind of file it is. Not sure, but ascii are
>>txt, csv, html etc, binary are images, mp3's etc.
>>Correct me if i'm wrong.
>>[/color]
>
> surely, but this means I must think of all the possible file extension
> decide whether it's ascii or binary.
> it seems to be limited, but thx anyway.[/color]

In a sense he is right, it is not really straightforward to make the
distinction, if you strictly mean the ascii character set.

Binary just means that it consists of binary patterns or sequence of
bits, varied in length and meaning. The content of a binary file only
makes sense to an application which knows what the sequence of bits
means. When a file is viewed in a text-editor, then the data is
(possibly mistakenly) chopped up in 8-bits (or whatever), and the
corresponding symbol of that value is displayed, which may or may not
make any sense at all. Strictly speaking, the only difference between
ascii and non-ascii would be whether or not each chunk of bits is
*intended* to correspond to a specific symbol in the Ascii character
table.

If you by ascii generally mean plain readable/printable text, not
necessarilly limited to ascii, then there is tools that could help you.

http://dk2.php.net/mime_content_type

http://pecl.php.net/package/fileinfo

If you are on a linux/unix, check:

http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=file

You could just ignore the subtype, and only distinguish on mediatype
between text and everything else.

/Bent

[greg]

Re: ascii or binary

> In a sense he is right, it is not really straightforward to make the[color=blue]
> distinction, if you strictly mean the ascii character set.
>
> Binary just means that it consists of binary patterns or sequence of bits,
> varied in length and meaning. The content of a binary file only makes
> sense to an application which knows what the sequence of bits means. When
> a file is viewed in a text-editor, then the data is (possibly mistakenly)
> chopped up in 8-bits (or whatever), and the corresponding symbol of that
> value is displayed, which may or may not make any sense at all. Strictly
> speaking, the only difference between ascii and non-ascii would be whether
> or not each chunk of bits is *intended* to correspond to a specific symbol
> in the Ascii character table.
>
> If you by ascii generally mean plain readable/printable text, not
> necessarilly limited to ascii, then there is tools that could help you.
>
> http://dk2.php.net/mime_content_type
> http://pecl.php.net/package/fileinfo
>
> If you are on a linux/unix, check:
> http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=file
>
> You could just ignore the subtype, and only distinguish on mediatype
> between text and everything else.
>
> /Bent[/color]

Thank you for these explanations.
In fact, I should have told why I want know make the difference between
ascii and binary files.
I have a list of files to send via FTP from a local machien to a remote
server.
the ftp_put function needs an argument that can be FTP_ASCII or FTP_BINARY.
I don't know how to choose dynamicaly this argument as the must upload
various file types.

tia,

--
greg

[Kimmo Laine]

Re: ascii or binary

"greg" <greg@no-spam.org> wrote in message
news:44166b72$0 $7933$636a55ce@ news.free.fr...[color=blue][color=green]
>> In a sense he is right, it is not really straightforward to make the
>> distinction, if you strictly mean the ascii character set.
>>
>> Binary just means that it consists of binary patterns or sequence of
>> bits, varied in length and meaning. The content of a binary file only
>> makes sense to an application which knows what the sequence of bits
>> means. When a file is viewed in a text-editor, then the data is (possibly
>> mistakenly) chopped up in 8-bits (or whatever), and the corresponding
>> symbol of that value is displayed, which may or may not make any sense at
>> all. Strictly speaking, the only difference between ascii and non-ascii
>> would be whether or not each chunk of bits is *intended* to correspond to
>> a specific symbol in the Ascii character table.
>>
>> If you by ascii generally mean plain readable/printable text, not
>> necessarilly limited to ascii, then there is tools that could help you.
>>
>> http://dk2.php.net/mime_content_type
>> http://pecl.php.net/package/fileinfo
>>
>> If you are on a linux/unix, check:
>> http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=file
>>
>> You could just ignore the subtype, and only distinguish on mediatype
>> between text and everything else.
>>
>> /Bent[/color]
>
> Thank you for these explanations.
> In fact, I should have told why I want know make the difference between
> ascii and binary files.
> I have a list of files to send via FTP from a local machien to a remote
> server.
> the ftp_put function needs an argument that can be FTP_ASCII or
> FTP_BINARY.
> I don't know how to choose dynamicaly this argument as the must upload
> various file types.[/color]


I suppose you could just send binary always.

--
"En ole paha ihminen, mutta omenat ovat elinkeinoni." -Perttu Sirviö
spam@outolempi. net | Gedoon-S @ IRCnet | rot13(xvzzb@bhg byrzcv.arg)

[Bent Stigsen]

Re: ascii or binary

greg wrote:
[snip][color=blue]
> Thank you for these explanations.
> In fact, I should have told why I want know make the difference between
> ascii and binary files.
> I have a list of files to send via FTP from a local machien to a remote
> server.
> the ftp_put function needs an argument that can be FTP_ASCII or FTP_BINARY.
> I don't know how to choose dynamicaly this argument as the must upload
> various file types.[/color]

The only purpose of ascii transfer is to translate line-endings
(CR,LF,CRLF) between differing systems, but many text-editors can
handle any type, so always using binary as Kimmo suggest is a good
option, since this leaves files intact, whereas using ascii by mistake
could render a file useless.

Although I would think that to use ascii-transfer if and only if file
has an extension of ".txt" should be safe.

/Bent

[Jerry Stuckle]

Re: ascii or binary

Kimmo Laine wrote:[color=blue]
> "greg" <greg@no-spam.org> wrote in message
> news:44166b72$0 $7933$636a55ce@ news.free.fr...
>[color=green][color=darkred]
>>>In a sense he is right, it is not really straightforward to make the
>>>distinctio n, if you strictly mean the ascii character set.
>>>
>>>Binary just means that it consists of binary patterns or sequence of
>>>bits, varied in length and meaning. The content of a binary file only
>>>makes sense to an application which knows what the sequence of bits
>>>means. When a file is viewed in a text-editor, then the data is (possibly
>>>mistakenly ) chopped up in 8-bits (or whatever), and the corresponding
>>>symbol of that value is displayed, which may or may not make any sense at
>>>all. Strictly speaking, the only difference between ascii and non-ascii
>>>would be whether or not each chunk of bits is *intended* to correspond to
>>>a specific symbol in the Ascii character table.
>>>
>>>If you by ascii generally mean plain readable/printable text, not
>>>necessaril ly limited to ascii, then there is tools that could help you.
>>>
>>>http://dk2.php.net/mime_content_type
>>>http://pecl.php.net/package/fileinfo
>>>
>>>If you are on a linux/unix, check:
>>>http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=file
>>>
>>>You could just ignore the subtype, and only distinguish on mediatype
>>>between text and everything else.
>>>
>>>/Bent[/color]
>>
>>Thank you for these explanations.
>>In fact, I should have told why I want know make the difference between
>>ascii and binary files.
>>I have a list of files to send via FTP from a local machien to a remote
>>server.
>>the ftp_put function needs an argument that can be FTP_ASCII or
>>FTP_BINARY.
>>I don't know how to choose dynamicaly this argument as the must upload
>>various file types.[/color]
>
>
>
> I suppose you could just send binary always.
>[/color]

No, that will screw up the file if you're going between different OS's
such as Windows and Unix. There's a reason why there are different
transfer modes!

--
=============== ===
Remove the "x" from my email address
Jerry Stuckle
JDS Computer Training Corp.
jstucklex@attgl obal.net
=============== ===

[Jerry Stuckle]

Re: ascii or binary

Bent Stigsen wrote:[color=blue]
> greg wrote:
> [snip]
>[color=green]
>> Thank you for these explanations.
>> In fact, I should have told why I want know make the difference
>> between ascii and binary files.
>> I have a list of files to send via FTP from a local machien to a
>> remote server.
>> the ftp_put function needs an argument that can be FTP_ASCII or
>> FTP_BINARY.
>> I don't know how to choose dynamicaly this argument as the must upload
>> various file types.[/color]
>
>
> The only purpose of ascii transfer is to translate line-endings
> (CR,LF,CRLF) between differing systems, but many text-editors can handle
> any type, so always using binary as Kimmo suggest is a good option,
> since this leaves files intact, whereas using ascii by mistake could
> render a file useless.
>
> Although I would think that to use ascii-transfer if and only if file
> has an extension of ".txt" should be safe.
>
> /Bent[/color]

Transferring a text file from Windows to Unix will cause problems in VIM
and many other Unix editors. And not all Windows editors support
Unix-style nl characters.

Better to determine if it's a text file, and only if unknown default to
binary.

Alternatively, scan the file for non-char values.


--
=============== ===
Remove the "x" from my email address
Jerry Stuckle
JDS Computer Training Corp.
jstucklex@attgl obal.net
=============== ===

[greg]

Re: ascii or binary

>[color=blue]
> Transferring a text file from Windows to Unix will cause problems in VIM
> and many other Unix editors. And not all Windows editors support
> Unix-style nl characters.
>
> Better to determine if it's a text file, and only if unknown default to
> binary.
>
> Alternatively, scan the file for non-char values.
>
>[/color]

Ok, I'm gonna use this solution.
Thank you all for your help.

--
greg

[Bent Stigsen]

Re: ascii or binary

Jerry Stuckle wrote:[color=blue]
> Bent Stigsen wrote:[/color]
[snip][color=blue][color=green]
>> The only purpose of ascii transfer is to translate line-endings
>> (CR,LF,CRLF) between differing systems, but many text-editors can
>> handle any type, so always using binary as Kimmo suggest is a good
>> option, since this leaves files intact, whereas using ascii by mistake
>> could render a file useless.
>>
>> Although I would think that to use ascii-transfer if and only if file
>> has an extension of ".txt" should be safe.
>>
>> /Bent[/color]
>
> Transferring a text file from Windows to Unix will cause problems in VIM
> and many other Unix editors. And not all Windows editors support
> Unix-style nl characters.[/color]

Those bastards. Well, they just have to change. Other transfer
protocols or portable storage devices makes it impossible to control
anyway, so (using a bad analogy) insisting on proper conversion when
using ftp is like waving a hand to stop a hurricane.

If the destination is a web-folder or accessed in an alternative way
by different clients, it doesn't matter in the slightest, or in worst
case even a bad idea.
[color=blue]
> Better to determine if it's a text file, and only if unknown default to
> binary.[/color]

I understand that it was designed that way, so that things was neat
and tidy in both camps, but the battle of the line-endings is already
lost to chaos, nothing short of a revolution is going to change that.

/Bent

[snip]

[Erwin Moller]

Re: ascii or binary

ZeldorBlat wrote:
[color=blue]
>
> greg wrote:[color=green]
>> Hello,
>>
>> I'm searching to know if a local file is ascii or binary.
>> I couldn't find it in the manual, is there a way to know that ?
>>
>> thanks,
>>
>> --
>> greg[/color]
>
> <http://www.php.net/mb_detect_encod ing>[/color]

Hi,

You made me curious. :-)

How can that function diffentiate between encodings?
How is that done?

I mean: The string contains a set of numbers behind the scene that have a
certain corresponding character depending on the characterset used.

Now it looks the other way around: It's like the string also contains
information on what encoding is used for it.
It that true?

I must be missing something completely.

Can anybody explain how this function works?

TIA

Regards,
Erwin Moller