Alternatives to ".bat" extension in files?

[Foebane]

All of my Amiga-related files must have extensions like ADF and EXE and LHA, but I find that if I add BAT extensions to the script files I create for Amiga, and then put them in archives that I then add to email attachments, then Google Mail will flag them as ILLEGAL and fail their delivery, probably because they think that I'm delivering viruses or something.

So what other extension makes sense for Amiga scripts that might be ignored? I'm thinking:

.scr
.run

But is there anything else that applies to a 3-character extension? Sorry to be so restrictive, but even if the Amiga isn't, there are other apps I use that demand them.

[Devlin]

.ash (Amiga SHell)

based off unix style .sh files, perhaps, though for an amiga script it'd likely have a .info attached with it (with c:iconx default tool)? so maybe an extension is not needed?

[Hewitson]

Using an extension for an AmigaOS script is wrong. If you really must use one, I'd avoid ".run" as that is already used for some executables.

For example SFX archive util/arc/lha.run on aminet.

How about using LHA or LZX to create the archives? Surely Google won't scan those.

[hiho]

Can you just set the script flag?

[Foebane]

Originally Posted by Hewitson

How about using LHA or LZX to create the archives? Surely Google won't scan those.

I use LHA, I thought Google wouldn't scan those either, but it did and it rejected the files as attachments.

I am seriously considering not bothering with an extension, following all of your friendly advice, because these scripts are solely on the Amiga side, whereas all the other Amiga files are on the Windows side and thus need extensions.

Can you just set the script flag?

I already do

[hiho]

Then why use any extension at all?

[Ami]

I use .dos or .ados extensions.

[malko]

and what about simple ".s" at the end of your filename?

[meynaf]

Originally Posted by malko

and what about simple ".s" at the end of your filename?

Don't do that, this is reserved for asm source code

I use ".script" for shell scripts, to remind me of what the file is for.
I may suggest ".scr" if really 3 letters are required, but i fail to see any valid reason for this.

[Foebane]

Made the changes yesterday; totally removed all the .bat extensions and no more error messages on GMail.

[demolition]

If I need to attach archives to emails I sometimes remove the file extension completely from the attached archive which generally prevents any mail services from identifying the file as an archive. Not that it is hard to identify the archive type through the file header, but I guess they don't do that.

[tomse]

if you need to send files using email, you can try using send.firefox.com or wetransfer.com and paste the link it's also good for sending large files.

[Foebane]

Originally Posted by demolition

If I need to attach archives to emails I sometimes remove the file extension completely from the attached archive which generally prevents any mail services from identifying the file as an archive. Not that it is hard to identify the archive type through the file header, but I guess they don't do that.

I wouldn't say that about GMail. If they're willing to recognise Amiga LHA files (what's an Amiga, many of their younger employees ask) within attachments, then they'll go further and examine the file headers, too.

Originally Posted by tomse

if you need to send files using email, you can try using send.firefox.com or wetransfer.com and paste the link it's also good for sending large files.

No, thanks. I'll stick with Yahoo! Mail and Google Mail.

[Foebane]

Speaking of "no extensions needed for scripts", are there ANY Amiga files that need extensions for identification? I would've thought archives would be one thing that is needed, if only for WinUAE to identify the files that are dragged and dropped into it!

I remember back when I was using real Amigas in the 1990s that extensions in filenames were fully optional, but then how do you tell what the files are? If the only way to tell what the file does is via the accompanying icon, then that's not much use if the icon is deleted!

All I can say is: thank God I moved to the PC with a much more reasonable filename system (from Win95 onwards at least) - I can only imagine the headaches and clutter that separate icons caused in the world of Amiga.

[idrougge]

Filename extensions are a seventies thing, just like all-caps filenames with only eight characters.

Thank God I moved to the Mac where changing a filename from .jpg to .bat doesn't make the system think the file is no longer a picture.

[daxb]

On Amiga you can identify file type by file header, file suffix or magic. RAW usually hasn't a file header.

It is better to identify file type by header then by some filename extension. It is more save this way. I don't know how Windows works nowadays but back then the identification by ".txt, .zip, ..." was stupid. Too easy to manipulate and make things not work.

[Foebane]

Originally Posted by daxb

On Amiga you can identify file type by file header, file suffix or magic. RAW usually hasn't a file header.

It is better to identify file type by header then by some filename extension. It is more save this way. I don't know how Windows works nowadays but back then the identification by ".txt, .zip, ..." was stupid. Too easy to manipulate and make things not work.

Windows still works that way.

And to be honest, being able to change the extension makes it easy to hide things.

[Photon]

Extensions aren't really extensions on Amiga. They're optional and just part of the filename. Amiga goes by actual content to decide what to open the file with, not the name of the file. Other platforms are still waiting to be enlightened.

Just change the extension of a picture to .exe, and it's a virus Probably removing the extension is the best way to fool OSes and virus scanners alike. For a .bat file, .txt might suffice. For something foolproof, just compress it with a lesser known but fully functional archiver.

[Foebane]

I have a couple of batch files on PC I can attach to emails by changing them to .txt, but the ones inside the LHA archive are not easy at all to change. But, as others have said, just remove the .lha and I'm good to go!

[Rotareneg]

Password protecting the archive will stop it from being scanned too.