laba-5ac@web7f.berkeley.edu (04/23/88)
Here is a test I did which compares several methods of compression data
with MS-DOS. With comp.binaries.ibm.pc becoming moderated, and people
talking about which compression software to use to post stuff, I thought
that this would be appreciated. Take it for what it's worth - I wrote
the file and did all the tests in about an hour, but I believe it is
reliable.
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TEST OF MS-DOS COMPRESSION PROGRAMS
Release 1.0
Tests performed 4-21-88 by Erik Talvola
Article Copyright 1988 by Erik Talvola
File: PCPLUSTD.DOC - a 108220 byte text file
Program Name Compression Time Size of Compressed File
---------------------------------------------------------------
ARC v5.21 1:05.85 45674
ARCA v1.27 18.23 44068
PKARC v3.5 10.44 * 42408
PKARC v3.5 (-oct) 10.71 44013
ZOO v2.00 18.45 42865
SQPC v1.24 28.61 60785
Compress - 16 bit 1:06.30 39249 *
File: PCPLUSTD.EXE - a 186544 byte binary file
Program Name Compression Time Size of Compressed File
---------------------------------------------------------------
ARC v5.21 2:05.50 122725
ARCA v1.27 34.27 120993
PKARC v3.5 21.31 120184
PKARC v3.5 (-oct) 21.26 * 120118 *
ZOO v2.00 40.64 120846
SQPC v1.24 49.48 135137
Compress - 16 bit 3:55.96 120771
File: PCPLUS.NEW - a 9003 byte text file
Program Name Compression Time Size of Compressed File
---------------------------------------------------------------
ARC v5.21 8.57 4983
ARCA v1.27 3.95 4983
PKARC v3.5 3.57 * 4984
PKARC v3.5 (-oct) 3.57 * 4984
ZOO v2.00 4.29 5133
SQPC v1.24 4.45 5884
Compress - 16 bit 9.06 4964 *
File: PRINTHLP.EXE - a 7776 byte binary file
Program Name Compression Time Size of Compressed File
---------------------------------------------------------------
ARC v5.21 7.86 5840
ARCA v1.27 4.01 5930 *
PKARC v3.5 3.57 * 5843
PKARC v3.5 (-oct) 3.63 5843
ZOO v2.00 4.33 6101
SQPC v1.24 4.56 6824
Compress - 16 bit 9.78 5931
NOTE: These tests were performed on a 10 MHz IBM PC/XT clone running
with a 30 Meg ST-238R hard drive. The times will vary drastically
depending on the makeup of your system. The stars next to entries in
the table indicate the best performance in that category.
Description of the programs:
ARC v5.21 is the original ARC program by System Enhancement
Associates Inc. It allows the packing of several files into one file
for easy transfer, resulting in a FILENAME.ARC file.
ARCA v1.27 is a program by Vernon Buerg which will create ARC files
completely compatible with SEA's ARC program.
PKARC v3.5 is a program by PKWARE Inc. which creates ARC files which are
not compatible with ARC v5.21 unless the -oct option is used (note the
separate entries in the test). The resultant filename is still
FILENAME.ARC, even if compatibility mode is not turned on.
ZOO v2.00 is a program by Rahul Dhesi which operates similarly to
SEA's arc, allowing the packing of several files into one file, but
creates FILENAME.ZOO files, which are not compatible with ARC files in
any way.
SQPC v1.24 is a program by Vernon Buerg which will create FILENAME.?Q?
files compatible with common compression programs on CP/M systems. It
does not allow several files to be packed into one file, as do the ARC
programs and ZOO.
Compress is a program by (author unknown) which is compatible with the
popular *NIX compress program. It creates files with varying
extensions, replacing some part of the extension with a Z. It does
not allow several files to be packed into one file, as do the ARC
programs and ZOO. Note that this is the 16 bit version of compress,
the 12 bit program was not tested because I did not feel it was
necessary.
Commentary:
PKARC seems to be the fastest performer and has the best compression
on the large binary file. Compress seems to have the best overall
compress rate, performing best on the large and small text files.
However, it is the slowest program of the group in all cases. ARCA is
second to PKARC in most categories, then ZOO, then the original ARC,
then SQPC.
There are *NIX counterparts to ARC (original ARC and PKARC type - at
least under BSD *NIX), ZOO (all versions of *NIX) and Compress (all
versions of *NIX). There are no version of SQPC or an equivalent for
*NIX to the author's knowledge.
Many of the programs offer additional features not mentioned in the
text, such as encryption, conversion of text files to *NIX format from
MS-DOS format, saving of directory structions along with files, etc.
A more thorough description of features may accompany a later version
of this comparison, but this article only stresses the time to
compress a file and the amount of compression.
The authors of the following programs request a donation: ARC, ZOO,
and PKARC. The author of ARCA suggests you make a donation to the
author of ARC. There are no requests for payment on either SQPC or
Compress.
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Erik Talvola laba-5ac@widow.berkeley.edu
"...death is an acquired trait." -- Woody Allen
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