1:mod:`binhex` --- Encode and decode binhex4 files
2=================================================
3
4.. module:: binhex
5   :synopsis: Encode and decode files in binhex4 format.
6
7**Source code:** :source:`Lib/binhex.py`
8
9--------------
10
11This module encodes and decodes files in binhex4 format, a format allowing
12representation of Macintosh files in ASCII. Only the data fork is handled.
13
14The :mod:`binhex` module defines the following functions:
15
16
17.. function:: binhex(input, output)
18
19   Convert a binary file with filename *input* to binhex file *output*. The
20   *output* parameter can either be a filename or a file-like object (any object
21   supporting a :meth:`write` and :meth:`close` method).
22
23
24.. function:: hexbin(input, output)
25
26   Decode a binhex file *input*. *input* may be a filename or a file-like object
27   supporting :meth:`read` and :meth:`close` methods. The resulting file is written
28   to a file named *output*, unless the argument is ``None`` in which case the
29   output filename is read from the binhex file.
30
31The following exception is also defined:
32
33
34.. exception:: Error
35
36   Exception raised when something can't be encoded using the binhex format (for
37   example, a filename is too long to fit in the filename field), or when input is
38   not properly encoded binhex data.
39
40
41.. seealso::
42
43   Module :mod:`binascii`
44      Support module containing ASCII-to-binary and binary-to-ASCII conversions.
45
46
47.. _binhex-notes:
48
49Notes
50-----
51
52There is an alternative, more powerful interface to the coder and decoder, see
53the source for details.
54
55If you code or decode textfiles on non-Macintosh platforms they will still use
56the old Macintosh newline convention (carriage-return as end of line).
57
58