[comp.sys.apple] what format are .Z files in?

joseph@elbereth.rutgers.edu (Seymour Joseph) (03/29/89)

Hi Folks.  I finally found the 13 moria files.  They are storea at
Husc6.harvard.edu with file names like : Moria01.Z

I downloaded them but they don't look like binscii or executioner
files.   I suspect the .Z was supposed to clue me in to their file
type but I am baffled.  How do I take these 13 files and make an
application out of them?

Thanks for the help.
Seymour

gwyn@smoke.BRL.MIL (Doug Gwyn ) (03/29/89)

In article <Mar.28.13.33.45.1989.2408@elbereth.rutgers.edu> joseph@elbereth.rutgers.edu (Seymour Joseph) writes:
>I suspect the .Z was supposed to clue me in to their file type ...

Very likely those are files that have been compacted with "compress".
The sources for "compress" itself may be found in many source archives.
You'll probably need a real computer, e.g. a UNIX system, to use for
uncompressing the files.

ART100@PSUVM.BITNET ("Andy Tefft 862-6728", 814) (03/29/89)

Files with a .Z suffix which are stored on Unix machines are in
compressed format -- use the uncompress program in Unix to uncompress
them (this seems to be a pretty standard utility that everyone has).
I'm not aware of a program to uncompress them on Apples. Anyone know
of one?

There is also a .z suffix, which indicates files packed with the 'pack'
program, which uses Huffmann encoding. .Z files are packed with
Lempel-Ziv.

lwv@n8emr.UUCP (Larry W. Virden) (03/29/89)

Note that I have seen a couple versions of compress ported to the IIgs; I have
not ever seen one ported to anything smaller yet.  It shouldnt be THAT hard,
except that you have to have a C compiler ... sigh.

-- 
Larry W. Virden	 674 Falls Place, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068 (614) 864-8817
75046,606 (CIS) ; LVirden (ALPE) ; osu-cis!n8emr!lwv (UUCP) 
osu-cis!n8emr!lwv@TUT.CIS.OHIO-STATE.EDU (INTERNET)
The world's not inherited from our parents, but borrowed from our children.

rob@lucifer.UUCP (Rob Clive) (03/30/89)

In article <8903281714.aa01931@SMOKE.BRL.MIL> ART100@PSUVM.BITNET ("Andy Tefft  862-6728", 814) writes:
>Files with a .Z suffix which are stored on Unix machines are in
>compressed format -- use the uncompress program in Unix to uncompress
>them (this seems to be a pretty standard utility that everyone has).
> ... .Z files are packed with Lempel-Ziv.

Isn't this the coding used by ShrinkIt?  How easy would it be to write 
something to translate ShrinkIt files to a format that uncompress could
understand?

P.S. Has anybody had trouble with IIplus unShrink?  I can get to the bit where
you select the file in the archive to be extracted but then the program seems
to stop and won't respond to any key except RESET;  that takes me back to the
start.

nicholaA@moravian.EDU (04/05/89)

>P.S. Has anybody had trouble with IIplus unShrink?  I can get to the bit where
>you select the file in the archive to be extracted but then the program seems
>to stop and won't respond to any key except RESET;  that takes me back to the
>start.

Have you tried plugging something into your joystick port?  It seems that on
some Basis 108 machines (and possibly other Apple ][+ clones), the softswitch
area does strange things to those who read it as opposed to "normal" apples.

So, most likely, if you plug something into your joystick port, your problems
will go away...

andy

----
Andy Nicholas                     CsNET: shrinkit@moravian.edu
Box 435, Moravian College      InterNET: shrinkit%moravian.edu@relay.cs.net 
Bethlehem, PA  18018               uucp: rutgers!lafcol!lehi3b15!mc70!shrinkit
----                           ALink PE: shrinkit