HUFF@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu (Steve Huff, U. of Kansas, Lawrence) (01/11/90)
Could somebody please point me in the right direction regarding FTP? I need help with the various uncompress programs: unarc, unzip, etc. Specifically: 1. How does each work? 2. How do I use them? 3. What uncompress program do I use for which file ext.? Please treat me as a total neophyte to the FTP world (which is not far from the truth). E-mail (reply) preferred, but followup is a-ok too! Thanks! Steve ---------------------------------------------------------------- If the opposite of pro is con, what is the opposite of progress? Steve Huff Internet: HUFF@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu Bitnet: HUFF@ukanvax.BITNET EmCon: K1TR or KW02 (If you have access, please say so!) -----------------------------------------------------------------
w8sdz@smoke.BRL.MIL (Keith Petersen) (01/12/90)
Here is the information you requested.
ALL ABOUT ARCHIVES, ZIPS, ZOOS, LIBRARIES, and SQUEEZED FILES
Some of the files in the SIMTEL20 MS/PCDOS Software Libraries have been
transformed by using one or another of the standard public domain
utilities that either SQueezes, LiBRaries, ARChives, ZIPs, or ZOOs files.
This transformation is performed to compress the files to minimize
download time, and/or combine several related files into a single
easily-managed file. You cannot use or run any of these files without
first transforming them back to their original state.
These processed files are specially named with a file type (the last 3
letters of a file name after the '.') that signifies the transformation.
These are:
.ARC for files archived with PKPAK.EXE,
.ZIP for files archived with ZIP.EXE,
.ZOO for files archived with ZOO.EXE,
.LBR for files libraried with LU.EXE, and
.?Q? for squeezed files (middle letter is a Q).
ARC FILES
PKPAK is used to create and maintain file archives. An archive is a
group of files collected together into one file in such a way that the
individual files may be recovered intact. PKPAK will automatically
compress member files when adding them to the archive, and PKUNPAK
will expand them upon extraction. For files with the .ARC extension,
you must have a copy of file PD1:<MSDOS.ARC-LBR>PK361.EXE to extract
the component files. (PK361.EXE is a "self-extracting archive." When
you run this program, it will produces PKPAK, PKUNPAK and related
documentation). After you end up with a copy of PKUNPAK you can use
it to extract files. An example of using PKUNPAK to unpack an ARChive
"FILE.ARC" is:
"A>pkunpak file"
You do not need to supply the ARC file type when specifying "file."
ZIP FILES
PKZIP is used to create and maintain file archives. An archive is a
group of files collected together into one file in such a way that the
individual files may be recovered intact. PKZIP will automatically
compress member files when adding them to the archive, and PKUNZIP
will expand them upon extraction. For files with the .ZIP extension,
you must have a copy of file PD1:<MSDOS.ZIP>PKZ102.EXE to extract the
component files. (PKZ102.EXE is a "self-extracting archive." When
you run this program, it will produces PKZIP, PKUNZIP and related
documentation). After you end up with a copy of PKUNZIP you can use
it to extract files. An example of using PKUNZIP to unpack an archive
"FILE.ZIP" is:
"A>pkunzip file"
You do not need to supply the ZIP file type when specifying "file."
ZOO FILES
ZOO.EXE is an archiving program that is similar to PKPAK, but
non-compatible. ZOO can produce archives with long pathnames in them
(directory names as well as the file name) and it can store comments
about each file. If you want to take apart a ZOO archive, you will
need a copy of ZOO.EXE. Since it is a program in development, it's
hard to say what its file name will be when you read this, but
searching for ZOO*.* should turn up the correct file. When this
article was written the current version of ZOO was ZOO201.EXE, which
may be found in the PD1:<MSDOS.ZOO> directory. The zoo syntax for
file extraction is:
"A>zoo e file"
You do not need to supply the ZOO file type when specifying "file."
LBR FILES
LU and its relatives (LUP, LUU, LUE, LUT, LU86, LAR etc.), maintain
libraries of files. Most LU-type programs do not perform any
compression. Because of this, most people will squeeze files before
adding them to a library if they want to save space. If you want to
remove the component files from an .LBR file, you should have a copy
of file PD1:<MSDOS.STARTER>LUE220.COM. This will break up the library
into its component parts, and optionally unsqueeze any .?Q? files at
the same time. The syntax for LUE would be:
"A>lue220 file"
where file was really FILE.LBR.
LUU.COM can be used to create a .LBR file.
SQUEEZED FILES
NUSQ.COM is used to unsqueeze, or expand files that have a "Q" as the
middle letter of the file type. Such files have been squeezed, or
compressed with SQPC.COM or something similar. These programs use
Huffman Encoding to reduce the size of the target file. Depending on
the distribution of data in a file it can be reduced in size by 5% to
60% by squeezing it. If you download a file with a file type
indicating that it is squeezed, you will need file
PD1:<MSDOS.STARTER>NUSQ110.COM to expand it before you can use it.
The syntax to unsqueeze a file would be:
"A>nusq110 file.tqt"
where file.tqt was the file you wanted to unsqueeze. You must supply
the full file name and type.
MORE INFORMATION
For more information on ARChives, see the documentation for
PKPAK/PKUNPAK which is included in the PK361.EXE file. For
more information on ZIP archives, see the documentation for
PKZIP/PKUNZUP which is included in the PKZ102.EXE file. For ZOO
archives, see Rahul Dhesi's excellent documentation included in
ZOO201.EXE and UGUIDE.ZOO. The doc files included with the various
LU utilities will explain .LBR's, and LUDEF5.DOC explains the layout
of these files in detail.
Keith
--
Keith Petersen
Maintainer of SIMTEL20's CP/M, MSDOS, & MISC archives [IP address 26.2.0.74]
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