labc-4dc@e260-4e.berkeley.edu (Erik Talvola) (02/17/89)
Here is a simple test of various compression programs which I recently completed. I tested all of them on the same group of files - namely, PC-Write v3.02 as installed on my hard disk. This includes a large (250K+) binary file, a few fairly large text files, and some various junk, including a UU-Encoded file. Here are the results in two tables - one in order of size, one in order of speed. The Competitors: PKZIP v0.90 by PKWARE Inc. PAK v1.6 by NoGate Consulting PKPAK v3.61 by PKWARE Inc. (no longer available) DWC Release A5.01 by Dean W. Cooper ARCA v1.29 by Wayne Chin and Vernon Buerg ZOO v2.01 by Rahul Dhesi ARC v5.32 (just for laughs) by System Enhancement Associates QARC v1.00 (distributed with ARC) by System Enhancement Associates Results in order of size (original size 582010 bytes): Rank Size Program (and options) Time (m:s) 1: 338989 PKZIP v0.90 (with options -ea4 -eb4) 2:57 2: 341852 PKZIP v0.90 (with options -ea3 -eb3) 2:28 3: 348604 PKZIP v0.90 (with options -ea2 -eb2) 2:18 4: 357929 PAK v1.6 3:36 5: 382888 DWC Release A5.01 (option az -- size) 1:30 6: 383599 PKPAK v3.61 1:18 7: 384657 PKZIP v0.90 (no options) 1:11 8: 387190 QARC v1.00 1:27 9: 391440 DWC Release A5.01 (option ay -- speed) 1:11 10: 393409 ZOO v2.01 2:17 11: 394398 ARCA v1.29 2:07 12: 399993 ARC v5.32 7:02 Results in order of time: Time Program (and options) Size 1: (t) 1:11 PKZIP v0.90 (no options) 384657 1: (t) 1:11 DWC Release A5.01 (option ay -- speed) 391440 3: 1:18 PKPAK v3.61 383599 4: 1:27 QARC v1.00 387190 5: 1:30 DWC Release A5.01 (option az -- size) 382888 6: 2:07 ARCA v1.29 394398 7: 2:17 ZOO v2.01 393409 8: 2:18 PKZIP v0.90 (-ea2 -eb2) 348604 9: 2:28 PKZIP v0.90 (-ea3 -eb3) 341852 10: 2:57 PKZIP v0.90 (-ea4 -eb4) 338939 11: 3:36 PAK v1.6 357929 12: 7:02 ARC v5.32 399993 So, the winner appears to be PKZIP. It makes the smallest compressed file by far, if you are interested in that, and is the fastest program in another mode, and the file generated was only 2K bigger than the next file in the same time category. PAK is the only program which can approach the compression of PKZIP in full compression mode, but it definitely falls short in speed. Three cheers for PKZIP and let's hope it survives. -- Erik Talvola | "It's just what we need... a colossal negative labc-4dc@web.berkeley.edu | space wedgie of great power coming right at us c164-2bf@bard.berkeley.edu | at warp speed." -- Star Drek
davidsen@steinmetz.ge.com (William E. Davidsen Jr) (02/18/89)
The figures reported are interesting, and somewhat similar to results I got testing a subset of the programs reported in the original posting. One thing which is of more than passing interest to some of us is portability to other systems. This chart is *not* complete, although I believe that any program not mentioned is not available in source or for other operating systems. source <============ avail for ==========> prog avail? DOS UNIX Amiga Mac VMS arc5.21 Y Y Y Y S S arc6.00 Y Y S - - - zoo2.01 Y Y Y Y - Y compress Y S Y Y - S pkarc N Y 1 1 - - Y - yes N - no S - somewhat, not fully functional 1 - squashed format uncompress available in modified ARC Please post corrections, I'm not trying to become a chartkeeper (or to make any point about this). -- bill davidsen (wedu@ge-crd.arpa) {uunet | philabs}!steinmetz!crdos1!davidsen "Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me
davidsen@steinmetz.ge.com (William E. Davidsen Jr) (02/18/89)
In article <13173@steinmetz.ge.com> davidsen@crdos1.UUCP (bill davidsen) writes: A correction already, I lost the line for DWC... | source <============ avail for ==========> | prog avail? DOS UNIX Amiga Mac VMS | | arc5.21 Y Y Y Y S S | arc6.00 Y Y S - - - | zoo2.01 Y Y Y Y - Y | compress Y S Y Y - S | pkarc N Y 1 1 - - = dwcA5.01 Y Y S N N N | | Y - yes | N - no | S - somewhat, not fully functional | 1 - squashed format uncompress available in modified ARC -- bill davidsen (wedu@ge-crd.arpa) {uunet | philabs}!steinmetz!crdos1!davidsen "Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me
djlinse@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Dennis Linse) (02/22/89)
In article <13173@steinmetz.ge.com> davidsen@crdos1.UUCP (bill davidsen) writes: > source <============ avail for ==========> >prog avail? DOS UNIX Amiga Mac VMS >compress Y S Y Y - S >pkarc N Y 1 1 - - >Y - yes >N - no >S - somewhat, not fully functional >1 - squashed format uncompress available in modified ARC There is a compress compatible program for the Mac called (amazingly enough) MacCompress 3.0. (I believe that it is close to the lastest version.) It encode and decode in unix compress format. It also has a Mac specific format. There is also a program called arcmac (or something like that) which can extract pkarc files (and maybe more, but that is all I have tried). Dennis -- Found at the top of a looonnng homework assignment: "Activity is the only road to knowledge" G.B. Shaw
thomas@mvac.UUCP (Thomas Lapp) (04/04/89)
I have a friend who is interested in the theory behind the various compress- ion techniques used on PC files (ie. .ARC, .ZIP, etc.). The program PK(UN)ZIP uses a new technique which is somewhat explained in the documentation which comes with the program distribution. However, my friend was not able to make heads or tails of the discussion. Can anyone point him to some other sources which explain the compression technique used by Phil Katz' program? Thanks. Please e-mail direct. I'll summarize if requested. - tom ============================================================================== You trust REPLY? Well, if you insist. Just don't cry if it doesn't work. ------------------------------------- uucp: ...!udel!mvac!thomas ! "One day I put instant coffee in Internet: mvac!thomas@udel.edu ! the microwave.... And I almost Internet: mvac!thomas@udel.edu ! went back in time" -- Steven Wright changing to: mvac23!thomas@udel.edu! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------