 yEnc32 FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
1. General yEnc Information 1.1. Did you invent yEnc? Is this the official yEnc website?
1.2. What's the difference between yEnc and yEnc32?
1.3. Why do people post in yEnc format?
1.4. Where's the 30-40% size reduction? yEncoded files seem BIGGER!
2. yEnc32 Information 2.1. Is yEnc32 free?
2.2. Does yEnc32 compress files to make them smaller?
2.3. Can I put yEnc32 up for download on my website?
2.4. Can I use yEnc32 to download yEncoded files?
3. Using yEnc32 3.1. How do I use yEnc32?
3.2. How do I use yEnc32 with my newsreader?
3.3. Can I use yEnc32 with web-based newsreaders?
4. Technical 4.1. What language was yEnc32 written in?
4.2. Is the source code available?
4.3. Why not use C++?
4.4. Will you be porting yEnc32 to Linux?
4.5. Will you be porting yEnc32 to Mac/OS2/(insert your favorite OS here)?
5. Troubleshooting 5.1. The yEnc32 window appears to be too small, and buttons are cut off!
5.2. yEnc32 won't decode my PAR files! It says they're corrupt!
5.3. yEnc32 says that most of my decoded files are corrupt!
5.4. What is I/O Error 103?
5.5. yEnc32 freezes up while decoding files
5.6. yEnc32 stalls while downloading my newsgroup list
5.7. yEnc32 is creating dozens of temporary files! (y32-xxxxxxxx.tmp)
5.8. yEnc32 is saying it 'Cannot create output file'
6. Support 6.1. ''I hate yEnc.'' Is this the right place to complain?
6.2. My question wasn't answered here. Who do I contact?
1. Did you invent yEnc? Is this the official yEnc website?
NO. We simply wrote yEnc32, a program that uses yEnc technology, in the same way that Internet Explorer, for example, uses the World Wide Web.
Similarly, just as IE is not the only browser available, yEnc32 is not the only program available to encode/decode yEnc files. There are plenty more available
at www.yenc.org.
In short:
| yEnc | = an algorithm which describes how to encode and decode files |
| yEnc32 | = our program, which actually makes use of the algorithm |
The inventors of yEnc are at www.yenc.org, and we are not affiliated with them in any way.
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2. What's the difference between yEnc and yEnc32?
yEnc32 is a a program that uses yEnc technology, in the same way that Internet Explorer, for example, uses the World Wide Web.
Similarly, just as IE is not the only browser available, yEnc32 is not the only program available to encode/decode yEnc files. There are plenty more available
at www.yenc.org.
In short:
| yEnc | = an algorithm which describes how to encode and decode files |
| yEnc32 | = our program, which actually makes use of the algorithm |
The inventors of yEnc are at www.yenc.org, and we are not affiliated with them in any way.
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3. Why do people post in yEnc format?
There has been much debate about the use of yEnc in newsgroups.
To explain it in plain (nontechnical) English: E-mail and newsgroups were originally intended for
sending messages, not files.
To allow for file attachments, programmers had to create clunky workarounds (UUEncode, Base64) which
permitted files to be included in messages. Unfortunately, these workarounds increased
the size of the files by about 30-40%. This means that it takes 30-40% longer to send & receive
files, and puts a heavier load on newsgroup servers.
The yEnc format is a similar workaround, but it only increases the size of the original files by 1-2% - a
huge savings. yEnc also adds additional protection to your files to reduce the chances of corruption, or receiving
an incomplete file.
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4. Where's the 30-40% size reduction? yEncoded files seem BIGGER!
This is a very common question. When you post "normally" (without yEnc), your news-posting software
automatically encodes your files in a format called UUencode before it posts them. It does this silently and
automatically, so in most cases, you don't actually see it happening.
It's this UUencoding step that increases the file size by 30-40%. Of course, you never actually see the
size increase on disk, but it will take you 30-40% longer to upload the files (and, subsequently, for someone
to download them later).
yEncoding replaces UUencoding, and reduces this 30-40% increase to a mere 1-2% (assuming you use a news-posting
program that supports yEnc internally). So it takes much less time to upload and download your files.
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5. Is yEnc32 free?
Yes. yEnc32 has been released under the GNU General Public License, and may be used freely by anyone (personal, commercial, educational, or otherwise).
Centova Technologies Inc.
retains the copyright.
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6. Does yEnc32 compress files to make them smaller?
No. yEnc32 is not a file compressor; it has absolutely nothing in common with WinRAR, WinZip, WinAce, etc.
yEnc32 will not make your files smaller.
The 30-40% reduction in size refers to how much smaller yEncoded files are compared to UUEncoded or Base64-encoded
files. For details, see the previous section.
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7. Can I put yEnc32 up for download on my website?
We'd prefer you didn't.
If you'd like to make yEnc32 available to your visitors, please link to our website:
http://www.yenc32.com
Or directly to our download page:
http://www.yenc32.com/download/
This is simply to ensure that the latest version of yEnc32 is always being distributed, rather than old, outdated copies.
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8. Can I use yEnc32 to download yEncoded files?
yEnc32 is simply an encoder/decoder utility. It does not download files; it simply decodes files you've
already downloaded. (On a side note: it can also encode files and post them to newsgroups.)
If you're looking for a program to download yEncoded files, you might be interested in either of these fine applications:
NovusNews is geared toward automatic mass-downloading, whereas Forté Agent is provides more of an interactive interface; both are excellent applications.
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9. How do I use yEnc32?
Please see the manual. For more information, consult the Forums.
See also: "How do I use yEnc32 with my newsreader?"
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10. How do I use yEnc32 with my newsreader?
If you use Outlook Express, see the Outlook Express Users Guide.
If you use Forté Agent, see the Forté Agent Users Guide.
If you use Netscape 4.x, see the Netscape 4.x Users Guide.
If you use Netscape 6.x/7.x, see the Netscape 6.x/7.x Users Guide.
If your newsreader is not listed above, you need to find a way to make your newsreader export message
articles without altering them. Then, just open up the exported files in yEnc32 and you should be
on your way.
Also note that some newsreaders simply refuse to work with yEncoded files.
If you need further assistance, please use the forums.
See also: "Can I use yEnc32 with web-based newsreaders?"
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11. Can I use yEnc32 with web-based newsreaders?
In short, no. If you use a web-based news provider (eg: you use your web browser to view news articles through a website),
you will not be able to decode yEncoded messages.
This is not a limitation of yEnc32; it's a limitation of your browser and/or webserver, so there's nothing we can do about it.
The reason behind this is because web browsers misinterpret (and therefore corrupt) the 8-bit/binary yEncoded data as it's
coming from the news server. So by the time your web browser saves it, it's already corrupt - so obviously there's no way we can
correct this after-the-fact.
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12. What language was yEnc32 written in?
yEnc32 was written in Borland Delphi 7.
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13. Is the source code available?
Yes, the complete source code for yEnc32 has been released under the GNU General Public License. In layman's terms,
that basically means that you can use it in your own applications (subject to the licensing conditions), as long as you
release the source code to your applications as well.
The Encoder and Decoder components that yEnc32 is based on are also available under the GNU Lesser General Public License,
which allows you to use them in your own applications (subject to the licensing conditions) without releasing your source
code.
Please visit our Developers Site for more information.
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14. Why not use C++?
We do. And Delphi. And several others. We use whichever language best suits the needs of a particular
project. We created yEnc32's base components for another developer who happens to use Delphi.
If you don't like Delphi, there are plenty of other code snippets available on the official yEnc website.
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15. Will you be porting yEnc32 to Linux?
Quite possibly - Kylix has come a long way. Please don't rush us on this, though - we want to get it working properly under one OS before we add support for another.
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16. Will you be porting yEnc32 to Mac/OS2/(insert your favorite OS here)?
No. Someone else may have written a decoder for your OS - check the official yEnc site at www.yenc.org.
We use Windows and Linux exclusively, and have no access to (or desire to code for) other hardware or platforms.
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17. The yEnc32 window appears to be too small, and buttons are cut off!
You're probably using an old version. Please upgrade to the latest version.
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18. yEnc32 won't decode my PAR files! It says they're corrupt!
This is not a bug in yEnc32.
Whomever encoded your PAR file was using a broken/buggy encoder program, as explained
in this forum post. There is
nothing we can do about this; if a file is improperly encoded, you won't
be able to decode it with any yDecoder application (yEnc32 or otherwise).
Again, please note that this is NOT a limitation of yEnc32 or the yEncode algorithm;
neither yEnc32 nor the yEncode algorithm has any problems with PAR files.
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19. yEnc32 says that most of my decoded files are corrupt!
This is not a bug in yEnc32.
There are three common causes for this problem:
1. Whomever encoded your files was using a broken/buggy encoder program, as explained
in this forum post. There is
nothing we can do about this; if a file is improperly encoded, you won't
be able to decode it with any yDecoder application (yEnc32 or otherwise).
The most common culprit is 'Power-Post build 25b; yEnc'; it is notorious for generating files with
bad CRC32 values. We've had several dozen complaints; almost all of them tracked back to this particular
encoder. We've contacted the original author of Power-Post regarding this problem, but we've received no
response to date.
2. The files are, in fact, corrupt.
3. The application you're using to decode the files is inadvertently corrupting the files when it saves them.
Netscape has been known to do this. This is also very common when using web-based newsreaders.
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20. What is I/O Error 103?
This is an error message produced by yEnc32 v0.0.3 when attempting to decode an file that was not encoded in
yEnc format, or is corrupted. This is not a problem with yEnc32, it is a problem with the file you're tring to
decode. Try re-downloading the file; if that doesn't help, then the file was probably posted incorrectly.
The yEnc32 Support team will not be able to help you with this - if your file is corrupt, there's nothing we can do
about it.
Note: yEnc32 v0.0.4 produces a more meaningful error message, but still cannot, of course, decode a corrupted
or non-yEnc file.
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21. yEnc32 freezes up while decoding files
This is a known problem with version 0.0.3, and has already been corrected. Please obtain
version 0.0.4 here.
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22. yEnc32 stalls while downloading my newsgroup list
This is a known problem with versions of yEnc32 prior to 0.0.4. It does not happen for
everyone (we use yEnc32 with no problems on Shaw news servers). It is fixed in version 0.0.4.
Please obtain version 0.0.4 here.
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23. yEnc32 is creating dozens of temporary files! (y32-xxxxxxxx.tmp)
This is a confirmed bug in version 0.0.4. It is fixed in version 1.0.5; please upgrade.
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24. yEnc32 is saying it 'Cannot create output file'
This means that Windows is not allowing yEnc32 to save your decoded file(s).
Check to make sure that:
- Your output folder exists.
- Your hard drive has plenty of free disk space.
- Your output folder is not marked 'read only'.
- You have write permissions to the output folder.
- There are no errors on your hard disk. (Use 'scandisk' to check.)
If you have checked all of the above and the problem persists, try saving a text file (using
Notepad) in the directory you have chosen as your output directory. If Notepad cannot save
the text file, then the problem is definitely an issue with your filesystem - NOT yEnc32 - and
we cannot help you with it.
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25. ''I hate yEnc.'' Is this the right place to complain?
NO.
As stated above, we simply wrote a program to encode/decode files - we did not
invent the yEnc "concept".
We created yEnc32 simply because so many people were having problems with yEnc posts. If you don't like
yEnc, that's fine - a lot of people don't. But the fact remains that people are probably going to keep using it.
We're trying to make life with yEnc easier - we're not trying to force yEnc down your throat.
If you really hate having to use a bunch of different utilities to download your pr0n, the best solution
is to either:
(a) petition the makers of your newsreader to add yEnc support, or
(b) switch to a newsreader which
already has built-in yEnc support. The official yEnc website (not
affiliated with us) lists several newsreaders which already support yEnc.
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26. My question wasn't answered here. Who do I contact?
You can try posting your question in the yEnc32 Forums.
yEnc32 is no longer directly supported by the yEnc32 developers due to lack of resources
for this project.
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