\end{funcdesc}
\begin{funcdesc}{hexbin}{input\optional{\, output}}
-Decode a binhex file \var{input}. \var{Input} may be a filename or a
+Decode a binhex file \var{input}. \var{input} may be a filename or a
file-like object supporting \var{read} and \var{close} methods.
The resulting file is written to a file named \var{output}, unless the
argument is empty in which case the output filename is read from the
This module encodes and decodes files in uuencode format, allowing
arbitrary binary data to be transferred over ascii-only connections.
-Whereever a file argument is expected, the methods accept either a
-pathname (\code{'-'} for stdin/stdout) or a file-like object.
-
-Normally you would pass filenames, but there is one case where you
-have to open the file yourself: if you are on a non-unix platform and
-your binary file is actually a textfile that you want encoded
-unix-compatible you will have to open the file yourself as a textfile,
-so newline conversion is performed.
+Wherever a file argument is expected, the methods accept a file-like
+object. For backwards compatibility, a string containing a pathname
+is also accepted, and the corresponding file will be opened for
+reading and writing; the pathname \code{'-'} is understood to mean the
+standard input or output. However, this interface is deprecated; it's
+better for the caller to open the file itself, and be sure that, when
+required, the mode is \code{'rb'} or \code{'wb'} on Windows or DOS.
This code was contributed by Lance Ellinghouse, and modified by Jack
Jansen.
\end{funcdesc}
\begin{funcdesc}{hexbin}{input\optional{\, output}}
-Decode a binhex file \var{input}. \var{Input} may be a filename or a
+Decode a binhex file \var{input}. \var{input} may be a filename or a
file-like object supporting \var{read} and \var{close} methods.
The resulting file is written to a file named \var{output}, unless the
argument is empty in which case the output filename is read from the
This module encodes and decodes files in uuencode format, allowing
arbitrary binary data to be transferred over ascii-only connections.
-Whereever a file argument is expected, the methods accept either a
-pathname (\code{'-'} for stdin/stdout) or a file-like object.
-
-Normally you would pass filenames, but there is one case where you
-have to open the file yourself: if you are on a non-unix platform and
-your binary file is actually a textfile that you want encoded
-unix-compatible you will have to open the file yourself as a textfile,
-so newline conversion is performed.
+Wherever a file argument is expected, the methods accept a file-like
+object. For backwards compatibility, a string containing a pathname
+is also accepted, and the corresponding file will be opened for
+reading and writing; the pathname \code{'-'} is understood to mean the
+standard input or output. However, this interface is deprecated; it's
+better for the caller to open the file itself, and be sure that, when
+required, the mode is \code{'rb'} or \code{'wb'} on Windows or DOS.
This code was contributed by Lance Ellinghouse, and modified by Jack
Jansen.