andyn@pro-sol.cts.com (Andy Nicholas) (01/28/89)
I saw some of the stuff that /steve schneider posted about ShrinkIt -- thanks for the kind words, but it's going to be a while before 1.0 comes out. I wrote a video driver for it instead of using the firmware, and as a result I have to rewrite almost all of the rest of the code which does any interface work. It's much faster display-wise than anything previously. I'll post some more later when I'm more awake... andy
andyn@pro-sol.cts.com (Andy Nicholas) (01/29/89)
As Steve Schneider noted earlier, ShrinkIt is a utility program designed to
archive files and/or disks in NuFX archives.
ShrinkIt uses a variant of straight Dynamic LZW compression to pack fairly
quickly and efficiently.
When you want to extract records from the archive, a list of the contents of
the entire archive and the attributes of each record are displayed for the
user to choose which records he'd like extracted. This way, multiple disks
can be archived in a single file, as can disks and files mixed together, and
so on. There is an option to add files or disks to an existsing archive.
There will be an option for deleting an individual record in the future, but
right now doing something like sorting an archive alphabetically is next to
impossible. (this was suggested to me at the beginning of this week).
ShrinkIt 0.95 is the current version. You should be aware that I consider
this to be pre-release software. The only reason I released it to the public
is because I needed alot of feedback on what works and what doesn't work on
which machines. I only have a IIgs, so that kind of makes it hard to test
ShrinkIt on an enhanced IIe, IIc (all 5? revs), or IIc Plus. So far Ive
gotten adequate feedback, but I haven't been overwhelmed... otherwise I would
normally have given ShrinkIt to a close group of friends to test for me and
gotten 000% feedback and ShrinkIt would be a much worse product.
I'd like to thank Morgan Davis for being such a help so far with molding
ShrinkIt and prodding me to change the user-interface to something usable.
If you'd like to get a copy of ShrinkIt via modem, 0.95 is available on
AppleLink PE in the telcom forum under processing utilities in their software
library, or... the Download Library of pro-sol [619-670-5379].
I'm a college student at Moravian College in the lehigh valley in
Pennsylvania. When I get back to college, I'll be able to post copies of
ShrinkIt to bitnet and the like with executioner.
andy nicholas
CSNET : nicholaA@moravian.edu
InterNET : nicholaA%batman.moravian.edu@relay.cs.net
ALink PE : ShrinkIt
ProLine : andyn@pro-sol.cts.com
USMAIL : Andy Nicholas, Box 435
Moravian College
Bethlehem, PA 18018andyn@pro-sol.cts.com (Andy Nicholas) (02/15/89)
ShrinkIt 1.0 is nearly done (about time, eh? :) -- v1.0 includes a couple off dearly needed features and bug-fixes: o Bundled directory support. You selecet the inclusion of a direcctory and *ALL* of its contents (including any subdirectories and their contents, up to 32 levels deep) just by pressing the space bar to place a check-mark beside the subdirectory. The extractor works by creating the needed subdirectories for a selected file automatically. The whole process is fairly fast and works very well. o Defeat of optimization of ProDOS disks while packing. ShrinkIt 0.99 (0.95, oops) always assumes that if the disk being packed is a ProDOs disk, that a bitmap is available to optimize the thing -- that's not always true. Some people were using ShrinkIt to archive their floppies, but Apple's BACKUP program places a prodos compatible header entry so that shkit 0.95 is fooled into doind the bitmap optimization. 1.0 corrects this if the open-apple key is held down at the beginning of shrinking a disk. o Copy files, including all the files in nested subdirectories. o Create subdirectories. o Type file contents (TXT files or AppleWorks AWP files.. sorry, no backwards scrolling, this is an archive program :) o Extract the contents of Binary II files. This will handle normal .BNY files, not .BQY files that have been squeezed. I do not have the space for the code to unsqueeze Binary II files without resorting to overlays. I'd like to keep the program single-load. o The user-interface has been clarified and enhanced. There is a selection button for the space bar, you can select multiple archives for unshrinking, or listing, and more file info is displayed in the list box. o The video driver for ShrinkIt has been completely rewritten. 0.95 uses the apple firmware, but 1.0 uses my own routines, and as a result, even works on a Cortland (IIgs prototype), I am told... Also, The screen displays are much faster and there is less flicker when something major is done to the screen. o More memory is available for the compaction output buffer. About 26k total is available in v1.0 ffor the output buffer space. Part of the problem with LZW is that to get any kind of speed out of it, you have to use a hash-table, which in my case takes up 16k of the same bank that the output buffer, input buffer, and executing code are also in. v0.95 has about a 10k buffer, so v1.0's is about 150% larger. The packing/unpacking is slightly faster because of this. o Alot of the internal code has been rewritten, some of it almost from scratch. It allows for such things as the selection of all 253 files in a directory for an action (packing/unpacking/ copying/typing/etc), instead of the current 64 file limit. -------- Now the problem (other than this sticky keyboard :) -- I don't have access to a phone line anymore. I moved my IIgs into one of the Labs on campus, but we don't have phone lines, so sending out copies of v1.0 is going to be a little tough. I'm going to mail (like, usmail) copies of it to Lance Taylor-Warren and 2 other people to distribute. I don't even have access to a terminal line to run it to my GS. (if I did, I could use tip on our unix system to call out directly and upload it to some places, like appleLink) Several people have inquired as to when I'm going to add the inclusion of message with records in an archive -- soon, but not in 1.0 :) The fastest way to get a response from me is to send email to me at my college net address. Thanks! andy nicholas Andy Nicholas CsNet: nicholaA@moravian.edu Box 435, Moravian College InterNet: nicholaA%batman.moravian.edu@relay.cs.net Bethlehem, PA 18018 ALink PE: ShrinkIt
andyn@pro-sol.cts.com (Andy Nicholas) (02/19/89)
Gee, seems that ShrinkIt has caused quite a stir... hmmm...
I'm about to start seeding people with delta copies of ShrinkIt 1.0 -- I got
the extra memory routines done last night (this morning?). ShrinkIt currently
has an 18.1k buffer space for output data VS. the 9.7k output buffer in 0.95
-- when I add the extra filename business (so you can select up to 253 files
for an option) the buffer space should increase to slightly over 22k.
Increasing the buffer size decreases the unpacking/packing time by about 10-15
seconds on a fairly full 3,5" disk, and makes it possible for me to consider
adding disk swapping in a future version.
I'm going to have one other problem, though -- I'm very busy here at college
right now, and probably am not going to have time to write *GOOD*
documentation for ShrinkIt. Is there anyone out there who would like to do
this for me? You'd just have to write the text and mail it to me -- I'd mail
you (or send you, whichever) a delta copy of shrinkit 1.0 to fiddle with.
I finished the Binary II unpacking in ShrinkIt last night -- it's able to do
selective extraction for a Binary II file, just like the NuFX archives. If
the file in question is part of a bundled subdirectory, the proper
subdirectories to complete the pathname are automatically created. If the
file in question conflicts with an existing file and you rename the file,
giving it a new partial pathname with new subdirectories, the additional
subdirectories are created as well.
I'm considering removing the virus detectors from ShrinkIt -- the reason being
that they can be triggered too easily. The virus detectors work on the
principle of knowing what the full or partial pathname provided at $280 is.
Unfortunately, sometimes there is no default pathname provided at $280 by a
particular selector, in which case I'm unable to "find" the SYS file, shrinkit
and examine it for changes. Should I leave the detectors in, or take them
out?
andy
Andy Nicholas CsNet: nicholaA@moravian.edu
Box 435, Moravian College InterNet: nicholaA%batman.moravian.edu@relay.cs.net
Bethlehem, PA 18018 ALink PE: ShrinkIt
Bang: rutgers!liberty!batman!nicholaAnicholaA@moravian.EDU (Andy Nicholas) (02/19/89)
There seemed to be much concern on GEnie that a II+/Unenhanced IIe version of ShrinkIt wasn't avilable. -- There will be. I just happen to only have 2 hands, and am finishing up v1.0 of the real ShrinkIt that works on the majority of machines out there. ShrinkIt for the II+ will be in 40 columns, sport nothing of a decent user-interface (no highlighter bar selection, you'll have the type the names of all the files you want added to an archive, not just "check them off" as you do now with ShrinkIt), and there will be no provision for disk-swapping (or file swapping), and it also will only be able to: (1) shrink files/disks (2) unshrink files/disks (3) add to existing archives (4) list archives -- period, there simply isn't enough space for anything else in a 64k II+ machine. There will be a IIGS version of ShrinkIt (ShrinkIt/GS) available sometime probably in late spring. I have to do some additional research on data compression algorithms for my independent study this semester before I beginto code the thing... a good bet would be to corner me at AppleFest in Boston. :) andy
dbainbri@ics.uci.edu (David Bainbridge) (02/22/89)
I too would be interested in a copy of ShrinkIt, as I am fairly new to the the news groups, and could not find a copy of ShrinkIt on the apple binary board. Since I may not be the only one that is in need of this program would somebody please post a copy of ShrinkIt to the apple binary board. If this is not possible, could someone then send, or post information about how a copy of ShrinkIt can be abtained. thanks, david bainbridge ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- reply to: dbainbri@ics.uci.edu ( David Bainbridge ) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
jearls@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Johnson Michael Earls) (02/23/89)
Could someone repost the ShrinkIt program? I didn't get a chance to download it while it was available, and now it seems that it is being used everywhere. Thanx, - Johnson Earls EARLSJ@AFRPL-VAX.ARPA JEARLS@POLYSLO.CALPOLY.EDU
Kreme@cup.portal.com (Lewis Kreme Butler) (02/23/89)
|I'm considering removing the virus detectors from ShrinkIt -- the reason being |that they can be triggered too easily. The virus detectors work on the |principle of knowing what the full or partial pathname provided at $280 is. |Unfortunately, sometimes there is no default pathname provided at $280 by a |particular selector, in which case I'm unable to "find" the SYS file, shrinkit |and examine it for changes. Should I leave the detectors in, or take them |out? Well, I think you ought to leave them in with an explination of how they work so that users won't flip out when they get a virus detection from it all the time. Can't you just scan all available devices for the filename? No .sig yet, sorry!
dbainbri@ics.uci.edu (David Bainbridge) (02/28/89)
Could someone please either upload ShinkIt to the apple binaries board or email me a copy at the below address. It would be very much appreciated, probably by more people than just me. thanks, david bainbridge -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | University Of California, | | | Irvine | dbainbri@ics.uci.edu | -------------------------------------------------------------------------
jma@beach.cis.ufl.edu (John M. Adams) (02/28/89)
Yes. Will someone please upload ShrinkIt again? I requested this
about four or five days ago, and so far I've received about 10
mail messages asking if I'd forward it to them as well. Did ANYONE
download it the first time? Please, help some poor college students
by uploading it again...
--
Internet: jma@beach.cis.ufl.edu | John M. Adams ///
UUCP: {codas|gatech}!uflorida!beach.cis.ufl.edu!jma | University ///
"Risk. Risk is our business!" - Kirk | of Florida \\\///
------------------------------------------------------------------------------rich@pro-exchange.cts.com (Rich Sims) (03/13/89)
To Andy Nicholas (and anyone else who may be interested)... I've seen several complaints about ShrinkIt, and you've obviously gotten a number in e-mail.. May I make a suggestion? Don't respond to these idiots... just send 'em back what they paid for it and forget it! Rich Sims UUCP: crash!pro-exchange!rich ARPA: crash!pro-exchange!rich@nosc.mil INET: rich@pro-exchange.cts.com
ASTMJEPA@UIAMVS.BITNET (Jim Mueller) (03/18/89)
Andy Nicholas: I've gotten the same error a couple of times while unshrinking files. The error was $81. On versions prior to 1.0, the program would bomb. In versions 1.0 & 1.1 a window popped up and told me this error number. Does this mean the file is corrupted, else what? -- Jim Mueller ASTMJEPA@UIAMVS
friedman@porthos.rutgers.edu (Gadi ) (06/21/89)
I have started writing a program to extract shrinkit files
under Unix. I have a few question.
1. Does anyone have a description the Dynamic LZW algorithm so I can
uncompress the data?
2. I noticed that there is 32 bits reserved for threads. Does this
mean that 2^32 threads are possible?. As all the threads of a
file are read in before any data is extracted, it is possible to run
out of memory. Why wasn't each thread put in the beginning of its
data so that the threads can be handled sequentionally?
3. Why is there no CRC of the data? A CRC for the headers
is calculated.
I tried sending mail to andyn@pro-sol, but it bounced back.
I also tried sending mail to nicolaA@moravian.edu but got
no reply.
Gadi
--
uucp: {ames,att,harvard,ucbvax,iuvax}!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!friedman
arpa: FRIEDMAN@ARAMIS.RUTGERS.EDUjschober@gnh-starport.UUCP (GlobalNet Operator) (06/25/89)
Gadi <obsolete!aramis.rutgers.edu!porthos.rutgers.edu!friedman%rutgers.edu> writes: >> I tried sending mail to andyn@pro-sol, but it bounced back. >> I also tried sending mail to nicholaA@moravian.edu but got >> no reply. I don't knoe what all addresses Andy keeps tabs on, but I know for sure that you can reach him at..... ProLine: shrinkit@gnh-starport UUCP: {backbone}!crash!pnet01!gnh-starport!shrinkit InterNet: gnh-starport!shrinkit@pnet01.cts.com I guess he'll be hanging around this area until school resumes in the fall. Of course, he's also got "ShrinkIT" on AppleLink and (I think) GEnie. Joseph F. Schober, Sysop, StarPort BBS [703/931-0947 - 3/12/2400 baud] ProLine.: jschober@gnh-starport =================== UUCP....: crash!pnet01!gnh-starport!jschober ALink PE: JSchober InterNet: gnh-starport!jschober@pnet01.cts.com C-Serve: 72727,2765 ARPA....: crash!pnet01!gnh-starport!jschober@nosc.mil =================== * Sent by StarPort BBS at 6/24/89 9:17:34 PM
nevar@pnet51.cts.com (Karsten Smelser) (07/23/89)
Slight problem here... I don't have a copy of Shrinkit, and no idea
of where to get one...
Help?!?
-Karsten
*****************************************************************************
* UUCP: {amdahl!bungia, uunet!rosevax, chinet, killer}!orbit!pnet51!nevar *
* ARPA: crash!orbit!pnet51!nevar@nosc.mil *
* INET: nevar@pnet51.cts.com *
* E. Karsten Smelser : IncStar Corp. : Stillwater, MN : 55082 *
*****************************************************************************lamn@pnet51.cts.com (Lloyd Nelson) (07/23/89)
It is available on GEnie, CompuServe, St. Paul TVI (local to you) 612-221-1388
just give ST Paul TVI a call, sign on, do a little posting, look in the file
tansfer section, download, and voila you got it.
UUCP: {rosevax, crash}!orbit!pnet51!lamn
ARPA: crash!orbit!pnet51!lamn@nosc.mil
INET: lamn@pnet51.cts.comcraparotta@kyoa.enet.dec.com (Physical T5--Virtual T7) (10/16/89)
Scott, FAIRNESS my BUTT!!!!! I agree that Andy did some FINE programming with Shrinkit(tm), but he also states in HIS Docs that it would be FREE... That's FREE, in NO cost to me. If I'm correct it is ALSO one of the provisions that makes it used on Information Services... So since I have a GS, I now have to pay for it to shrink forked files?? Bull..... I know that I can shrink the whole disk, but that is a pain and is NOT the point.. READ the end of his DOCS..... I hope that the information services either DUMP Shrinkit(tm) or someone else comes out witha program.... Joe
) (02/20/90)
I would appreciate it if someone would e-mail me a copy of Shrinkit
along with instructions on how to use it, how to get programs from my
Unix account to my //c (I've recently learned how to FTP, so I can get the
programs to my account, I just don't know what to do after that.), and
anything else I should know about to use Shrinkit. I am using Beagle
Brothers' Point-to-point telecommunications software, and I also have
a copy of kermit.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.
: This space for rent or sale : See you in The Funny Pages, :
: : The Hoz!!! (Samuel Hozman) :
:------------------------------------: hozman@nunki.usc.edu :
: University of Southern California --- Fight On, Trojans!!! : mustang@spock.UUCP (Neil McNeight) (02/21/90)
I've noticed that there are a lot of requests going on for Shrinkit. Could someone possibly post it to comp.binaries.apple2 in BinSCII _ONLY_ form, or post the address of the company and the price (I know I personally could use a copy of it)? Thanx in advance. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neil McNeight |"Does anyone know where the love of God goes" Class of 1991 |"When the waves turn the minutes to hours" Choate Rosemary Hall | -Gordon Lightfoot Wallingford, CT | 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald' Real Home: Marine City, MI |--------------------------------------------- Real Life: Still searching | Even!if!I@knew.my.path,I!wouldn't.tell!YOU! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
nicholaA@batman.moravian.EDU (Andy Nicholas) (02/22/90)
In article <1018@spock.UUCP>, mustang@spock.UUCP (Neil McNeight) writes: > Could someone possibly post it to comp.binaries.apple2 in > BinSCII _ONLY_ form, or post the address of the company and the price (I > know I personally could use a copy of it)? Thanx in advance. I'll post shrinkit 2.1 to comp.binaries.apple2 right now -- ShrinkIt is not for sale. andy -- Yeah!
nicholaA@batman.moravian.EDU (Andy Nicholas) (02/22/90)
>> Could someone possibly post it to comp.binaries.apple2 in >> BinSCII _ONLY_ form, or post the address of the company and the price (I >> know I personally could use a copy of it)? Thanx in advance. Someone sent me a copy of binscii 1.0.3, so I can mail that also if anyone needs "everything" to get setup with binscii and shrinkit. (something tells me I should write a script to mail all this stuff.. hmm) andy -- Yeah!
mustang@spock.UUCP (Neil McNeight) (02/23/90)
Even though his intentions were pure, I would like to comment on the bass ackwards maneuver by the person who posted ShrinkIt2.1 to comp.binaries.apple2 in ShrinkIt form. I believe my original article said in BinSCII format _ONLY_. If anyone else would like to post a copy ^^^^ of ShrinkIt in ShrinkIt form, please Snail me a copy (info in .sig is not much, but I've recieved letters with less than that :-). Thank you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neil McNeight |"Does anyone know where the love of God goes" Class of 1991 |"When the waves turn the minutes to hours" Choate Rosemary Hall | -Gordon Lightfoot Wallingford, CT | 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald' Real Home: Marine City, MI |--------------------------------------------- Real Life: Still searching | Even!if!I@knew.my.path,I!wouldn't.tell!YOU! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
nicholaA@batman.moravian.EDU (Andy Nicholas) (02/23/90)
In article <1021@spock.UUCP>, mustang@spock.UUCP (Neil McNeight) writes: > Even though his intentions were pure, I would like to comment on > the bass ackwards maneuver by the person who posted ShrinkIt2.1 to > comp.binaries.apple2 in ShrinkIt form. I believe my original article > said in BinSCII format _ONLY_. If anyone else would like to post a copy Whoops. Hey, um, Mark Johnson... you didn't put ShrinkIt on Apple.com just the way I sent it, did you? I think I sent it to you shrunk with ShrinkIt. Sorry about that. I screwed up. I'll go post it "not-shrunk"... yeah, this is going to be one of those days. sigh. andy -- Yeah!
nicholaA@batman.moravian.EDU (Andy Nicholas) (02/23/90)
In article <1021@spock.UUCP>, mustang@spock.UUCP (Neil McNeight) writes: >> Even though his intentions were pure, I would like to comment on >> the bass ackwards maneuver by the person who posted ShrinkIt2.1 to >> comp.binaries.apple2 in ShrinkIt form. I believe my original article >> said in BinSCII format _ONLY_. If anyone else would like to post a copy > > Sorry about that. I screwed up. I'll go post it "not-shrunk"... yeah, this > is going to be one of those days. sigh. Oh yeah... If you were one of those people that sent me email asking for a copy of ShrinkIt 2.1, and I sent it to you... well, guess what? I sent it packed with ShrinkIt. (no laughing please :) so, if you still want a copy, send me email (yes, again) and I'll email you a copy that you'll only need BINSCII to decode. gee, when I screw up, I do it right, huh? andy -- Yeah!