BOO (binary-to-text encoding)

File Format
Name	BOO (binary-to-text encoding)
Ontology	Electronic File Formats Transfer Encodings BOO (binary-to-text encoding)
Extension(s)	.boo
Released	≤1984

BOO is a binary-to-text encoding originally associated with the Kermit communications software. The name is derived from the word "bootstrap".

Format details

The first line of a BOO file contains just the original filename.

BOO is generally a base-64 encoding, using ASCII characters from '0' (48) to 'o' (111). It has a special way to encode a run of all-NUL bytes, using a code beginning with a '~' character.

Specifications

In some Kermit distributions, the format is described in a file named ckboo.hlp or ckboo.txt.

• ckboo.txt

Software

• https://www.kermitproject.org/archive.html#boofile → boo.tar.gz or boo.zip (source code)
• MSBOOASM.ZIP - MSMKB/MSBPC2 v1.1 by W.C. Parke (DOS software)
• boo.zip - MAKEBOO/UNBOO (DOS software)

Sample files

• mskermit.tar.gz → *.boo