tgz compression screwed up my Eudora backups

Phil St. Romain · 10-13-2003, 09:55 AM

I like Pathfinder's rapid decompression and mounting of disk images, so I decided to compress some backed up Eudora folders as well. Pathfinder did so quickly and saved the files in tgz format. Problem is, when you decompress the file, Eudora no longer reads it. I can open the file in TextEdit and the info is all there, but Eudora doesn't see it as a mailbox, signature, etc. I guess some kind of meta-data has been lost, but I don't know how to restore it. I even tried copy-pasting the material into a new Eudora mailbox, but Eudora still can't read it.

Anyone have any ideas on how to get these files back in Eudora format? I really do need to search through them from time to time.

houchin · 10-13-2003, 10:34 AM

Did you check the file type and creator codes for those files? Eudora is a carbon app, and may still use a lot of the old-style file stuff.

Also, check the line breaks. It's possible that the files got converted to unix style line breaks. Eudora wants Mac line breaks.

I would think that your problems are along the lines of a Windows to Mac conversion. Here's the instructions Eudora gives for doing that:

http://www.eudora.com/techsupport/kb/1644hq.html

E5o · 10-13-2003, 10:38 AM

Well, first off, I feel your pain. I've been had by the tar-format å couple of times in the past. The thing is, the tar-format does not preserve resourcefork or meta-data. So unless PathFinder uses a "Mac"-compatible version of tar, there's not much hope I'm afraid.

For future compression you may want to check out a couple of "mac"-compatible tar versions.

hfstar is one, available through Fink I assume

xtar is another. http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/unix_open_source/

They both preserve meta-data and resourceforks, which is what you need.

Good luck

peace

E5o

Phil St. Romain · 10-13-2003, 02:32 PM

Thanks for the help. It's a meta data issue, all right. I was able to restore a needed file by changing creator type and File type, which I obtained using the freeware MuchoFileInfo. With this info, Pathfinder can restore the files I need to examine.

There's a lesson to be learned here about compressing files created with Carbon apps, I guess.

mervTormel · 10-13-2003, 03:19 PM

the lesson is to test your assumptions and dependencies on a small testbed of data.

Phil St. Romain · 10-13-2003, 03:32 PM

Aye Cap

AHunter3 · 10-13-2003, 05:36 PM

houchin :

Quote:


	Did you check the file type and creator codes for those files? Eudora is a carbon app, and may still use a lot of the old-style file stuff.

Well....you can take the "In" and "Out" files used by a Netscape Navigator email user and drop then into the Eudora folder and launch Eudora and it immediately recognizes and indexes the mailboxes (which use the same format, btw) and they immediately appear in your Mailbox menu. Speaking from experience here. So I doubt that creator codes are a factor here.

File TYPE codes might be. File type has to be TEXT. Or possibly blank. Not "????" or some other string.

More likely, it's Unix versus Mac hard return formatting. Eudora uses conventional Mac, which is CR. If you move Eudora mailbox files to Windows you have to convert to CR/LF, I believe. If ".tgz" compression/decompression imposes Unix returns, that would be line feed only, and I bet Eudora doesn't like that at all.

Try opening the files in BBEdit and doing a Replace All of \n with \r

(Save As under a different name just in case)

AHunter3 · 10-13-2003, 05:38 PM

Sorry, ignore me. Somehow I thought I'd read the whole thread. Obviously not.

Phil St. Romain · 10-13-2003, 06:51 PM

Ha. Aye aye, Cap. Lots of all kinds of help on this one.

fxt · 10-13-2003, 07:00 PM

> So unless PathFinder uses a "Mac" compatible version of tar,

in its general preferences pane, Path Finder has an option to use hfstar instead of tar.

fxt

10-13-2003, 09:55 AM	#1
Phil St. Romain Site Admin Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Wichita, KS Posts: 2,350	tgz compression screwed up my Eudora backups I like Pathfinder's rapid decompression and mounting of disk images, so I decided to compress some backed up Eudora folders as well. Pathfinder did so quickly and saved the files in tgz format. Problem is, when you decompress the file, Eudora no longer reads it. I can open the file in TextEdit and the info is all there, but Eudora doesn't see it as a mailbox, signature, etc. I guess some kind of meta-data has been lost, but I don't know how to restore it. I even tried copy-pasting the material into a new Eudora mailbox, but Eudora still can't read it. Anyone have any ideas on how to get these files back in Eudora format? I really do need to search through them from time to time.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes	Rate This Thread
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode	Rate This Thread:

10-13-2003, 10:34 AM	#2
houchin Major Leaguer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Northern Virginai Posts: 294	Did you check the file type and creator codes for those files? Eudora is a carbon app, and may still use a lot of the old-style file stuff. Also, check the line breaks. It's possible that the files got converted to unix style line breaks. Eudora wants Mac line breaks. I would think that your problems are along the lines of a Windows to Mac conversion. Here's the instructions Eudora gives for doing that: http://www.eudora.com/techsupport/kb/1644hq.html

10-13-2003, 10:38 AM	#3
E5o Prospect Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Norway Posts: 20	Well, first off, I feel your pain. I've been had by the tar-format å couple of times in the past. The thing is, the tar-format does not preserve resourcefork or meta-data. So unless PathFinder uses a "Mac"-compatible version of tar, there's not much hope I'm afraid. For future compression you may want to check out a couple of "mac"-compatible tar versions. hfstar is one, available through Fink I assume xtar is another. http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/unix_open_source/ They both preserve meta-data and resourceforks, which is what you need. Good luck peace E5o

10-13-2003, 02:32 PM	#4
Phil St. Romain Site Admin Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Wichita, KS Posts: 2,350	Thanks for the help. It's a meta data issue, all right. I was able to restore a needed file by changing creator type and File type, which I obtained using the freeware MuchoFileInfo. With this info, Pathfinder can restore the files I need to examine. There's a lesson to be learned here about compressing files created with Carbon apps, I guess.

10-13-2003, 03:19 PM	#5
mervTormel League Commissioner Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 5,536	the lesson is to test your assumptions and dependencies on a small testbed of data.

10-13-2003, 03:32 PM	#6
Phil St. Romain Site Admin Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Wichita, KS Posts: 2,350	Aye Cap

10-13-2003, 05:38 PM	#8
AHunter3 Hall of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New York City Posts: 3,003	Sorry, ignore me. Somehow I thought I'd read the whole thread. Obviously not.

10-13-2003, 06:51 PM	#9
Phil St. Romain Site Admin Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Wichita, KS Posts: 2,350	Ha. Aye aye, Cap. Lots of all kinds of help on this one.

10-13-2003, 07:00 PM	#10
fxt Triple-A Player Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: los alamos Posts: 96	> So unless PathFinder uses a "Mac" compatible version of tar, in its general preferences pane, Path Finder has an option to use hfstar instead of tar. fxt