			SJHb64 Version 1.60
                       
        A Base 64 Utility for Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and Windows NT

			 1996, SJHDesign

                      http://www.sjhdesign.com


        
        What Does it do?
        ________________

        SJHB64 is a small but powerful utility that will decode base64 
        encoded data contained in E-Mail files, USENET posts or any 
        other text file. It can also encode binary data like digital images,
        documents, spreadsheets, video, sound and such in base64 format
        with a MIME compliant header suitable for e-mailing or posting
        to USENET newsgroups.  SJHB64 is specifically designed to make
        these operations easier by solving the common encoding and decoding
        problems that frustrate even experienced users.

        

        What's New in Version 1.6?
        __________________________

        Quite honestly, we were surprised by the reaction to SJHB64 1.2.
        We got hundreds of messages from all over, the overwhelming majority
        complementary. We also got many suggestions about useful features to 
        add to the program(version 1.2 was admittedly a little spare) and
        in an odd sort of marketplace democracy, we tried to add the features 
        that our users asked for the most. These new features are :

        a)Encoding - SJHB64 now does MIME\base64 encoding

        b)Default Directories - the program allows you to choose two sets
        of default directories-input and output directories for encoding
        and input and output directories for decoding and keeps track of
        them for you.

        c)'Recognizes' 25 common file types - this comes in handy when you
        want to decode a file that has no MIME header information. Most
        decoders will take a non-MIME compliant file, decode it and write
        a generically named file with no extension or prompt you to
        supply the missing data if you happen to remember it. If, however,
        your non-MIME compliant file contains encoded data in one of the
        'recognized' types, SJHB64 will automatically add the proper
        extension for you, header or no header. For a full list of 
        'recognized' file types, see the help file. 
        Note: SJHB64 version 1.1, which recognized 8 commonly used
        encoded binary types, was the first program to use this approach
        of 'recognizing' encoded binary types in headerless base64 files 
        and helping the user determine exactly what they were decoding 
        instead of just blindly decoding data and leaving it to the user 
        to figure out what type of data it was. The makers of quite a few 
        shareware decoders and newsreaders admired this little innovation 
        so much that they incorporated it into their software(with varying
        degrees of success) in the time since SJHB64 v 1.1 was released in 
        March 1996.

        d)Auto-Decode - allows the program to decode base64 files without
        any intervention on the users part other than choosing the file to 
        decode. The program writes the decoded file either to the same 
        directory as the encoded one or to a directory that the user chooses
        in advance(see Default Directories above). 

        e)Auto-Close - this feature closes the program after it's finished
        decoding a file. This is useful for those who use the Windows 
        ASSOCIATE command to launch SJHB64 by clicking on a base64 file with
        a default extension(like .b64). This also saves the user having to 
        close the program when using as a decoding extension for a Newsreader
        or Web Browser.
 
	f)Batch Encoding and Decoding - you can now drag a bunch of files
	from the Win 3X File Manager or Win95 Explorer, drop them on SJHB64
	and decode or encode them all in one shot. If the Auto decode feature
	described above is enabled, you don't have to do anything-they're all
	decoded to your default directory. You can even combine files for 
        encoding and decoding in the same batch and SJHB64 is smart enough to
	figure out which ones to encode and which ones to decode!         


	Installing and Using the Program
	_________________

	This is the easy part. To install SJHB64 1.6, just copy the files
        SJHB6416.EXE  and SJHB64.HLP to the same directory. You're done!
        Using SJHb64 is also quite simple-
        

	-Start the program by clicking on SJHB6416.EXE in File
	 Manager or Explorer. You can of course put SJHB6416.EXE 
         on your Win95 Start Menu or in Program Manager.

        -To decode files, either drag them from Explorer or File Manager 
         and drop them on SJHB64 or choose the DECODE FILE option from
         the FILE menu, which loads a standard Windows file open dialog.
         You can also autoload files by dragging them to SJHB6416.EXE
         in File Manager or Explorer-the program will start up and
         decode the file you dropped on it.

        -Once SJHb64 loads the file, a progress gauge appears and the
         program pops up a Save As dialog with the name and extension 
         of each Base64 encoded binary it finds in your MIME compliant
         file, unless you've chosen the AUTO-DECODE option. If the file 
         you loaded is not MIME compliant and it's header does not include 
         the original filename of the Base64 encoded binary, SJHb64 figures 
         out what type of binary it is and pops up the Save As dialog with 
         the name of the loaded file and the appropriate extension.
        
        -Encoding files into base64 format is also simple. Choose ENCODE
         FILE from the FILE menu and the File Open dialog lets you load
         just about any type of file for encoding. One more dialog will
         prompt you to choose the name and location of the new encoded
         file and that's it. Your encoded file is then written together
         with a MIME 1.0 compliant header. The program fills in the header
	 information itself - you don't have to bother trying to figure out
	 the MIME 'type' of your file. SJHB64 'recognizes' some 26 common
	 file types and adds the appropriate header information. 

         Note : SJHB64 does not suffer from what some programmers familiar
         with MIME call 'octet-stream syndrome'. A MIME compliant header
         contains a 'Content-Type:' field and the MIME specification
         currently lists over 60 common types covering images, documents,
         video, sound, HTML, text and many other data types. Some shareware 
         programs(and even a Newsreader made by the world's largest software
         company) have a bad habit of using the 'application\octet-stream' 
         type description in their MIME headers when encoding almost anything 
         that's not text. Conversely, SJHB64 is 'aware' of 26 of the most 
         common MIME data types and is pretty accurate when it fills in the  
         'Content-Type:' field. This is important - if your newsreader or
         encoder encodes a JPEG file and writes in the attached MIME header
         that it's 'Content-Type:' is application\octet-stream, this will
         mess up a lot of programs when they try to decode this file. For 
         this reason, SJHB64 does not rely on the information in this field 
         when decoding-it's often inaccurate.
       
	
	Design Philosophy
        _________________

	Everybody agrees that Windows is a huge success. This success
        has inspired hardware manufacturers to flood the market with low
        cost desktop computers with huge hard drives and lots of RAM to
        sell to users who want to run this huge, memory hungry operating 
        system. It has also changed the way programmers and the makers
        of software development tools think.

        In the old MS-DOS days, developers knew that their programs
        would have a limited amount of RAM to work with and disk space to 
        run on, so they made their software fast and very compact. If you
        knew what you were doing, you could write tight, lean code that ran 
        very fast. Nowadays, we don't have those limitations anymore and 
        Windows programs in general have become bigger, slower and often 
        needlessly elaborate. This is partly because developers don't 
        worry about tight code as much, and partly because of the 
        widespread use of "Visual" programming tools, which tend to make 
        slow, bloated executables. The decoders we've tested average around
        300K in size and require 300-400k of ram just to load(that's about as
        much as the entire Windows 3.1 operating system).

 	SJHb64 is small(31K), the fastest program of it's kind for the 
        Windows enviornment and requires only 28K of memory to load (many 
        users of SJHb64 1.2 sent us messages expressing their amazement
        that a program one-tenth the size of their old decoder could decode 
        files that the old decoder just couldn't handle). This is because 
        SJHb64 is written in old fashioned C - no "visual" tools, no application
        frameworks, just tight, fast code. SJHb64 does not have a lot of bells 
        and whistles you don't need like icon bars, tips, status bars and such.  
        Since SJHb64 is careful not to hog the CPU, it will also run quite 
        nicely under Windows 95 and NT. We try to create software that runs 
        on all windows platforms whenever possible.
	

        What Makes This Program Different?
        __________________________________

	SJHB64 is still the best at handling files with non MIME compliant 
        headers. The program 'recognizes' 28 common file types in their
        encoded form, and if no MIME header(or even a hacked one) is present,
        the program will attach the proper extension to the decoded file for
        you. No more files named MYSTERY or UNKNOWN and no more trying to write 
        phony MIME headers. For FAQ's and information about MIME and trouble
        shooting Mime\Base64 files go to our home page at 

                              http://www.sjhdesign.com


	Another area where SJHB64 shines is in it's ability to extract multiple 
        encoded binaries from one file, a feature missing from many decoders. The 
        MIME format imposes no limit on the number of encoded binaries users can 
        place in one message, and this is one of the main reasons MIME is the mail 
        format of choice of the most powerful and sophisticated mail programs. A
        number of users of SJHB64 1.2 told us that they had Mime\Base64 files on 
        their hard drives for a long time and did not even know that they contained 
        more than one encoded binary until they ran SJHB64 on them. 



	Limits
        ______

	Having highlighted SJHb64's strengths, we should also point out that it has 
        a few limits:


	The program does not fully support Windows95 long filenames. If a your MIME 
	file contains an encoded binary with a long filename(and the filename is
        included in the MIME header), the filename will be truncated to conform to
        the DOS 8.3 standard. The resulting decoded file will have this truncated
        filename.

	We've made some progress but still have a lot to do in the area of automatically
        correcting bad header data. If the file you are decoding has a mime compliant header 
        with an incorrect file type in it, SJHb64 will still sometimes use the bogus extension 
        for the decoded file. 



	User Agreement
        ______________


	SJHb64 is free, and you don't have to register it or pay us for it (as if 
	anybody registers their shareware). If you decide to use the program, you must 
	agree to two conditions:

	1) This software is offered for use as is, and no warranty
	is stated or implied.  SJHDesign is not responsible for any 
	loss of data, damage to hardware nor any resulting loss of
        time or revenue resulting from the use of this program.  Like 
	all software, this program is utilized entirely at the user's risk.

	2) We are not responsible for all of the hacked Base64 files floating 
	around the net. If SJHb64 cannot correctly decode a file containing one
	of the supported binary types mentioned above, chances are the data itself
	is corrupt. The same is true if you have a file that decodes OK but won't
	load in your JPEG or GIF viewer or whatever. With all of the poorly written
	encoders and bad phone lines in this world, it's a wonder that ANY files
	get to your hard drive in one piece. Our own experience is that about 10%
	of the Base64 encoded files and 30% of the UUEncoded files on the net are 
	corrupt. If you have problems decoding a file, DON'T EMAIL US ABOUT IT.
	Take a look at the Base64 Guide for Usenet Types at our site :
             http://www.sjhdesign.com/
        It has a lot of tips for troubleshooting problem Base64 files.


	Other Software from SJHDesign
        _____________________________

	
	DROPVIEW\IP - The State of the Art in image editing. Like SJHb64, the design
	philosophy behind DROPVIEW\IP is quite different from any other image editor.
	We have tried to take the image processing tasks you perform every day
	and make them as fast and automatic as possible. Features like batch file
	conversion, batch printing and batch image processing help automate those
	tedious repetitive tasks we all can't stand. If you need a program that
	has these features plus full drawing capabilities, pixel level editing, 
	thmubnails and auto indexing, icon editing, wallpaper changing, smart UUE
	and Base64 encoding\decoding and powerful image processing features, 
	you should take a look at Dropview\IP. Version 3.5 will be available by
	year's end at our home page and on Compuserve, AOL and USENET. You can also 
	find older versions just about everywhere and if you register one, you'll  
        get our powerful new upgrade. 


	SJHMedia - a new Multimedia player for Windows 3X and Windows 95. Powerful 
	browsing features make it easy to locate and play MPEG, AVI and Quicktime 
	videos and MIDI, RMI and WAV sound files. Built in configuration checking
	tests your multimedia configuration and helps find potential problems. A
	screaming 32 bit version is also available for only $14.95. 


        SJHDecode\View - our specialized image decoder which decodes UUE and Base64
        files containing JPG, TIFF, BMP, GIF, EPS and PCX images and loads them for
        viewing and editing in one quick step. Image processing features include
        contrast and brightness enhancement, color manipulation, resizing, greyscaling,
        and more. SJHDCV also supports full color printing, format conversion and encodes
	images to UUE or Base64. 


        Stop by for free fully functional demos of these programs at our site:

           http://www.sjhdesign.com/
	 

        Our page also has lots of useful information and FAQ's on mime\base64, digital
	imaging and multimedia, exhibitions of work by various digital artists, links to 
	multimedia sites and, of course, product support and information on all of our 
	software products. Any inquiries should be directed there.
	 



         
     	
                             

