Shorten for Macintosh
and for
Linux on Intel®, Be OS, and Compaq Tru64 Unix
Shorten is a utility developed by Tony Robinson and SoftSound Limited
www.softsound.com
to convert audio files to and from a compressed format. Compression of about 50% is typical. MP3 compression is usually much greater, but unlike MP3 files, shortened files result in no loss of fidelity.
Shorten for Macintosh has a graphical user interface and also contains the md5sum checksum utility which can be used to verify file integrity. Shorten for Linux and Be OS is just the vanilla shorten utility from SoftSound compiled for those operating systems.
These versions of shorten were ported by Douglas Hornig
doug@hornig.net.
NEW!
Carbonized release for MacOS X—see below.
Downloading Shorten:
Use these URLs to download the utilities for your platform. Please read the
shorten license
information before you use it.
Shorten for the Macintosh comes in these flavors:
Carbonized for MacOS X
PowerMacs with MacOS 7 through 9
68K Macs
In addition, here are some command-line ports to various other operating systems:
Shorten for Linux on Intel®
Shorten for Linux on Be OS
Thanks to Paul Lucente!
Shorten for Compaq Tru64 UNIX
(aka Digital UNIX, OSF/1)
Shorten for Macintosh revision history:
10/9/01 1.1a4:
- Converted to Carbon so Shorten will run natively on MacOS X. Other than that the a4 release has the same functionality as the a3 release so the latest version for PPC and 68K is still a3.
- A new version with some actual new features will be forthcoming. Check back again in a few weeks!
8/17/99 1.1a3:
- Added a preferences dialog that lets you:
- Specify that shortened files be expanded to Audio IFF (ie, AIFF) instead of WAVE.
- Request that source files be deleted after
expanding or shortening.
6/15/99 1.0a3:
- Added license information from SoftSound (sorry about forgetting it!)
6/10/99 1.0a2:
- Navigation services file dialogs (MacOS 8.5?) let you select multiple files to process. You
can also drop multiple files onto the Shorten icon from the Desktop as always.
- Added MD5 checksum support. To make a checksum from multiple files without Nav. Services
you can hold down the option key when dropping files from the Desktop.
- Uses the Appearance Manager progress dialog if available (MacOS 8.0?).
- Runs faster in the background, though does not hog the machine as much as when in the foreground.
- Various user interface quirks were corrected.
6/2/99 1.0a1:
- Rather rough initial release.
- Converts from WAV to SHN and SHN to WAV.
- Standard file dialog allows one-at-a-time file conversions.
- Desktop drag to shorten icon allows multiple files to be converted in batch mode.
Possible future features:
- Play shortened files directly.
- Support for shortening Audio IFF (AIFF) files.
- AppleScriptability.
I would like to thank all of you who took the time to send your kind comments to me. That's what
makes it all worthwhile. Well, I do use them myself too. Keep 'em coming!
Please send comments and bug reports to
doug@hornig.net
SHORTEN SOFTWARE LICENSE
This software is being provided to you, the LICENSEE, by Tony Robinson and SoftSound under the following license. By obtaining, using and/or copying this software, you agree that you have read, understood, and will comply with these terms and conditions:
This software may not be sold or incorporated into any product which is sold without prior permission from SoftSound. When no charge is made, this software may be copied and distributed freely.
Permission is granted to use this software for decoding and non-commercial encoding (e.g. private or research use). Please email shorten@softsound.com for commercial encoding terms.
DISCLAIMER
This software carries no warranty, expressed or implied. The user assumes all risks, known or unknown, direct or indirect, which involve this software in any way.