StuffIt Expander(TM) 5.1.2 Read Me

NEW in this version of StuffIt Expander:
* ZIP / GZIP (.zip / .gz) Expansion
* UU (.uu) Expansion
* Increased Speed and Performance
* New Advanced Internet Preference Settings
* True Standalone Application: Does Not Require Extra Apple Extensions

Thank You!
We at Aladdin Systems would like to thank you for using StuffIt Expander and for your continued support.

Licensing Information
StuffIt Expander is copyrighted freeware software. You should not run the software until you have read the document called "License Agreement". By running the software you signify that you agree to the terms of the License Agreement.

What is Freeware?
Freeware is copyrighted software which never costs anything to use. Like shareware, it may be given out to friends or posted on bulletin boards and online services. But, unlike shareware, you can use it and pay nothing! Please share this software with every Mac user you know, but PLEASE give away the installer only, not the individual files (i.e. StuffIt Expander).

Note: commercial distribution of this software, or inclusion of this software in a commercial offering, is not permitted without prior permission from Aladdin Systems, Inc. Contact dev.sales@aladdinsys.com for commercial licensing information.

"Read Us First!" Folder
Once the software is installed, you may want to refer to the files in the "Read Us First!" folder in your "StuffIt Expander folder" on your hard disk. This folder contains the following files:

StuffIt Expander Read Me [this file]
License Agreement
What was installed (and where)

"Updates & Special Offers" Folder
Aladdin prides itself on offering our customers the best support possible. For Update information, or special pricing and information on other Aladdin products, please refer to the "Updates & Special Offers" folder in your "StuffIt Expander folder" on your hard disk. This folder contains the following files:

Aladdin Product Overview
Aladdin Order Form
Important Update Information!

Electronic Registration
Double click the "Register StuffIt Expander" icon in the StuffIt Expander Folder. It will connect to the Aladdin Registration Web site and allows you to register via your Web browser. Or visit our web site directly at:

<http://www.aladdinsys.com/register/freeware.html>

We have also included a registration form which you can mail or fax to Aladdin Systems. Registered users are entitled to technical support, upgrade notices, and special offers on Aladdin products. Do it now!

Requirements
StuffIt Expander 5.1.2 requires System 7.1.1 or higher or Mac OS 8.x.

Note: if you are running a System prior to 7.1.1, you should obtain StuffIt Expander version 4.0.1. To download version 4.0.1 and obtain up-to-date product and technical information, please visit our Web site at:

<http://www.aladdinsys.com>

StuffIt Expander is Apple event aware and 32-bit clean. Expander is also compatible with Power Macintosh, AV, '040 cache, and virtual memory. Expander has an intelligent background processing scheme that makes it perfect for expanding groups of files so you can continue to do other things with your computer.

What's New
* StuffIt 5.1 is up to twice as fast as the previous version, and is the quickest, surest, and easiest, way to access any file downloaded from the internet.

* New Support for Internet Config and the Internet control panel ensures that all downloaded files can be handled by StuffIt Expander automatically.

* We've added Support for Zip and UU code to StuffIt Expander. Expander can access virtually any file found on the internet. The list of built-in file types supported by StuffIt expander is now:
- StuffIt (.sit, .sea)
Note: There are over 15 different varients of StuffIt (from 1.5.1 to 5.0), including encrypted variations, all are supported by StuffIt Expander.
- Private File (.pf)
Aladdin's e-mail encryption product.
- Disk Images (.img, .smi)
Expander can mount images created by Shrinkwrap or Apple Disk Copy.
- BinHex (.hqx)
All versions.
- MacBinary (.bin)
All versions.
- UU (.uu, .uue)
The equivalent of .hqx on the PC.
- Zip/GZip (.zip, .gz, .tgz)
Zip is a popular Windows format. Expander supports encrypted Zip files as well.

* Although NOT required for accessing the most popular archive file types listed above, StuffIt Expander can also decompress/decode the following additional file types if the StuffIt Engine is present (The engine is available as part of the StuffIt Deluxe and DropStuff products, and is used by many 3rd party applications to add compression and decompression to their products. For more info visit our web site.)
- Arc (.arc)
- AppleLink Package (.pkg)
- Compact Pro (.cpt)
- LHa (.lha, .lzh)
- MIME/Base 64 (.mime)
- TAR (.tar)
- Unix Compress (.z, .taz)

* For any file format that StuffIt Expander can't handle by itself (we can't think of any you are likely to run into), we will now look for any "helper" application on hard disk to do the decoding of rare file formats for us. StuffIt Expander remains your one-stop shop for decompression.

* StuffIt Expander is tested to run on any MacOS from System 7.1.1 through 8.5.1. Additionally, StuffIt Expander is available for Windows. To download, visit:

<http://www.aladdinsys.com/expander/index.html>

* Expander now uses memory even more efficiently than before. It's minimum memory requirement is only 384K, with 512 being preferred.

* Expander now has text encoding conversion built-in, so it doesn't require ANY extensions or external files.

* StuffIt Expander is now much smaller than before, making it easier and faster to download.

Description
StuffIt Expander is designed to be the simplest, most efficient way to expand compressed and/or encoded files that you may have received from the Internet, an online information service, bulletin board system, over a network, or from a co-worker. StuffIt Expander handles the four most common compression and encoding formats: StuffIt and Zip archives (.sit, .sea, and .zip) , BinHex (.hqx) , MacBinary (.bin), and UUencode (.uu). ShrinkWrap disk image files and Private File security-encrypted (.pf) files are also accessible via StuffIt Expander.

StuffIt Expander expands files which have been encoded into BinHex 4.0 (.hqx) format, such as those commonly found on the Internet. Multipart BinHex files, such as those appearing in Internet newsgroup postings (e.g. comp.binaries.mac), are fully supported. StuffIt Expander will also ignore any additional (email) headers that may be present in BinHex files. An example of when you would use this feature is when you download a Macintosh file to your PC and move the file to your Macintosh.

StuffIt Expander will also expand files which have been encoded into MacBinary (.bin) format (including the new MacBinary III standard ). This encoding method is commonly used by the online services that are not Internet based. Be aware that MacBinary files may not have the .bin extension as part of the file name, but don't worry because StuffIt Expander can handle these files.

StuffIt Expander will expand files which have been compressed into ZIP (.zip) as well as encoded into UUencode (.uu) formats. This encoding method is commonly used by IBM/PC compatible online services (file name.zip.uu). The Macintosh community is most familiar with (file name.sit.hqx) while the PC community is most familiar with (file name.zip.uu). StuffIt Expander now allows free access to both platforms' most commonly used file formats.

StuffIt Expander also supports the Internet control panel (Mac OS 8.5 and later) and Internet Config users. The Internet control panel and Internet Config maintain a list of helper applications to use for processing files after downloading from the Internet. By choosing "Preferences..." from the "Edit" menu of StuffIt Expander, users can now access the "Internet File Mapping" preferences and set all available file types to StuffIt Expander. This allows all file types downloaded from the Internet to be expanded by StuffIt Expander, saving you time and clearing up the confusion from a "What application would you like to use to access this file:" dialog.

You can also configure StuffIt Expander to perform periodic checks on the contents of a specified folder (called a "Watch Folder"), and to expand any new files that it finds. In this way you can set StuffIt Expander to expand groups of files in the background while others are being downloaded.

If you have also installed StuffIt Deluxe or DropStuff (separate products) you will then be able to use StuffIt Expander to expand virtually any file you find on the Internet. These include: Compact pro files (.cpt), encrypted ZIP, ARC (.arc), gzip (.gz), Unix Compress (.Z), MIME/Base64, LHA (.lha), and Tar (.tar). You will also be able to expand files which were compressed with StuffIt SpaceSaver and join files that were segmented with another StuffIt product. StuffIt Expander cannot expand segmented ZIP files.

About Archives
An archive is a single file which acts like a container, holding one or more files or folders. Usually the files in an archive are compressed, so they take up less room on a diskette or hard drive, and take less time to transmit over networks and modems. Unless the archive is "self-extracting" (.sea), you need a separate utility to access the files in an archive. StuffIt Expander lets you decompress the contents of archives. All archives created by any version of StuffIt are supported, including files created with other members of the StuffIt family, including StuffIt Deluxe, StuffIt Lite, or DropStuff.

Installation
Hopefully, you're reading this document after the complete software package was installed by the StuffIt Expander 5.1 Installer. If not, you should obtain the "StuffIt Expander 5.1 Installer" and reinstall the software. Refer to the "What was installed (and where)" document for details on where the software was installed. This document is located in the Read Us First! folder in your StuffIt Expander Folder.

Using StuffIt Expander
Under System 7.1.1 or higher including Mac OS 8, your files can be expanded by dragging their icons onto the StuffIt Expander icon. You may also drag a folder or disk icon over StuffIt Expander, and it will expand any compressed or encoded files within the folder or disk.
1. In the Finder, select one or more icons that you want expanded.
2. Drag them onto the StuffIt Expander icon until it is highlighted.
3. Let go of the mouse button.
StuffIt Expander will open and you'll see a progress dialog. Each archive gets expanded into a new folder, located in the same folder as the archive.

When everything is expanded, StuffIt Expander automatically quits.

Setting up a "Watch Folder":
1. Double click the StuffIt Expander icon.
2. Choose "Preferences..." from the File menu.
3. Select the "Watch Folder" icon from the list on the left.
4. Check the "Check for files to expand in" checkbox to enable the feature.
5. Select the folder you want watched.
6. Type the number of minutes you want StuffIt Expander to wait before checking the Watch Folder again.
7. Click "OK."
8. Leave StuffIt Expander running, and do other things (such as downloading new files).

Special Topics for StuffIt Expander

Shortcuts
If you hold down the Option key when dropping files on the icon, or when choosing Expand from the File menu, you can choose preferences which will apply only that one time to file expansion, after which StuffIt Expander will go back to using your previously set preferences.

If you hold down the Command key when choosing "Expand..." from the File menu, you will be able to select a folder (or entire disk) to expand, instead of a single file. Normally, you would just drop a folder or disk onto StuffIt Expander to accomplish this.

If you hold down the Shift key when choosing expand from the File menu, and a Watch Folder has been defined, the Watch Folder is scanned for new files to expand.

Scripting
AppleScript can be used to control StuffIt Expander from other applications. For example, with HyperCard use the "open <document> using "StuffIt Expander"" command. With Frontier, use a "required.OpenDocument('SITx', document)".

Users of AppleScript and Frontier have more sophisticated control over StuffIt Expander via the "Expand" event. Use the AppleScript Script Editor's "Open Dictionary" command, and "open" StuffIt Expander to view the information on the Expand event.

Caveats
StuffIt Expander will not expand StuffIt archives created using 2.0 Optimizers. You will need either the StuffIt Deluxe or the StuffIt Lite application, and the 2.0 optimizer used to compress the archive.

Troubleshooting/Known Issues
When DropStuff with Expander Enhancer is installed, StuffIt Expander's joining feature may not work as you would expect under certain circumstances. Specifically, if the "Delete segments after joining" preference is selected, and you run out of disk space during a join operation, the first segment will be deleted even though the joining is not complete. The easy way to avoid this is to make sure you have enough disk space before performing a join, or alternatively deselecting the "Delete segments after joining" preference.

If StuffIt Expander does not highlight when you drag a file onto it, try rebuilding your desktop by restarting your computer while holding down the Option and Command keys until you see a dialog asking if you wish to rebuild the Desktop database appears. Click "OK" when asked if you want to rebuild your desktop.

Visit our web site for the latest FAQs!
We hope that you won't have any problems with StuffIt Expander, but if you do, you can contact Aladdin Systems. We have a consistently updated set of FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) about every Aladdin product on our web page. Bookmark this page:

<http://www.aladdinsys.com/faqs/prodfaqs.html>

Cool, huh?

Aladdin Expander(TM) (Windows)
For those of you using Windows machines as well, Aladdin Expander 2.0 for Windows expands files from the most popular archiving and compression formats found online, including StuffIt (.sit) and ZIP (.zip). Aladdin Expander will also expand files in uuencoded (.uue), BinHex (.hqx), and MacBinary (.bin) formats, such as those commonly found on the Internet. Other archive formats supported include ARC (.arc), Arj (.arj), and gzip (.gz). Aladdin Expander will also expand self-extracting archives created by StuffIt, ZIP, and Arj. Expander 2.0 is the only Windows decompression tool that can expand StuffIt-compressed files, the standard compression utility on the Macintosh. So, if you encounter a file in the .sit format, with Expander 2.0 you can access it! You can download Aladdin Expander for Windows FREE at:

<http://www.aladdinsys.com/expander/index.html>

How to Contact Aladdin

If you would like information about our other award-winning products (like StuffIt Deluxe, Spring Cleaning, Aladdin FlashBack, Private File, Aladdin Desktop Magician, ShrinkWrap, or InstallerMaker), just ask us. For the quickest way to learn more about Aladdin's products, visit our Web site listed below.

MAIL:
Aladdin Systems, Inc.
165 Westridge Drive
Watsonville, CA 95076
USA

PHONE: (831) 761-6200
FAX: (831) 761-6206

INTERNET: http://www.aladdinsys.com

ELECTRONIC MAIL: service@aladdinsys.com (Customer Service & Sales)
support@aladdinsys.com (Technical Assistance)
info@aladdinsys.com (General Information)

We will be able to respond to your message sooner if you include an informative SUBJECT header (such as "StuffIt Expander 5.1 Tech Support"). Thanks.

===========================================================================

Special Note to Developers, Product Managers, and Network Administrators

This installer was created using StuffIt InstallerMaker(TM). StuffIt InstallerMaker provides many advanced features while being very easy to use. To try StuffIt InstallerMaker for free, download it from our web site:

<http://www.aladdinsys.com/developers/installermaker/index.html>

By using InstallerMaker for this installer, we not only saved media space and download time due to Aladdin's advanced compression technology, but also provided our users a way to easily customize installation. If you are interested in making installation easier for your users while saving distribution costs, contact our licensing department at:

ELECTRONIC MAIL: dev.sales@aladdinsys.com

MAIL:
Aladdin Systems, Inc.
Installer Licensing
165 Westridge Dr.
Watsonville, CA 95076
USA

PHONE: (831) 761-6200
FAX: (831) 761-6206

Copyright © 1996-1999 Aladdin Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
StuffIt, StuffIt Deluxe, StuffIt Engine, StuffIt SpaceSaver, StuffIt InstallerMaker, Private File, Aladdin FlashBack, CyberFinder, Aladdin Desktop Magician, Spring Cleaning, ShrinkWrap, and the Aladdin Logo are trademarks of Aladdin Systems, Inc. All other product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Now our lawyers are happy.

Original file name: StuffIt Expander(TM) Read Me - converted on Friday, 10 September 1999, 23:15