Fetch Help > Concepts > BinHex Format

BinHex (sometimes called BinHex4) is a format for representing a Macintosh file in text form. The Macintosh file, which may contain special Macintosh information and raw binary data, is converted to a single file consisting of series of lines, each made up of letters, numbers, and punctuation. Because BinHex files are simply text, with no special information, they can be sent through most electronic mail systems and stored on most computers. However, the conversion to text makes the file larger, so it takes longer to transmit a file in BinHex format than if the file was represented some other way. The filename extension ".hqx" usually indicates a BinHex format file.

Fetch can get and put files in BinHex format. See the upload formats help topic for information about encoding files in BinHex when uploading.

Fetch automatically recognizes and decodes BinHex files when downloading, although automatic recognition can be turned on and off by selecting a remote file whose name ends with ".hqx", choosing Remote > Get Info to show the info window, and, in the Transfer Options pane, checking or unchecking the Automatically decode files like this checkbox.

Fetch automatically recognizes and decodes BinHex files when downloading, although automatic recognition can be turned on and off by either:

- Selecting a remote file whose name ends with ".hqx", choosing Remote > Get Info to show the info window, and, in the Transfer Options pane, checking or unchecking the Automatically decode files like this checkbox — this will enable or disable decoding of BinHex files;
- Or choosing Fetch > Preferences, clicking the Download tab, and checking or unchecking the Allow automatic decoding of downloaded files checkbox — this will enable or disable decoding of all file types.

Related topics:

- Upload formats
- Transfer Options