meulenbr@cstw01.prl.philips.nl (Frans Meulenbroeks) (07/19/89)
Hi! I fetched packer.arc from the binaries group, and I am impressed. Can someone shed a light on how this is achieved? Is this a very small compression program which decompresses the remainder of the file?? I noticed that when packing an already packed file, the executable increases with 220 bytes. Could this be the size of the decompressor?? I also noticed that the packer itself was not packed. Curious isn't it? I found that pack could not handle every program. I got a message saying there was an error in the header when trying to pack hdx.prg. Somebody any idea what this program has what other programs don't have?? Frans Meulenbroeks (meulenbr@cst.prl.philips.nl) Centre for Software Technology ( or try: ...!mcvax!phigate!prle!cst!meulenbr)
swklassen@dahlia.waterloo.edu (Steven W. Klassen) (07/21/89)
In article <575@prles2.UUCP> meulenbr@cstw01.prl.philips.nl () writes: >Hi! > >I fetched packer.arc from the binaries group, and I am impressed. >Can someone shed a light on how this is achieved? Is this a very small >compression program which decompresses the remainder of the file?? > Has anyone done any benchmarks to determine the effects (good/bad/none) of packer on execution speed? Steven W. Klassen Computer Science Major University of Waterloo
terrell@druhi.ATT.COM (TerrellE) (07/24/89)
How does "packer" work??? I understand that it reduces the size of the program file, but when the program runs, is more memory available??? Terrell (att!druhi!terrell)
obryan@gumby.cc.wmich.edu (Mark O'Bryan) (08/01/89)
In article <4433@druhi.ATT.COM>, terrell@druhi.ATT.COM (TerrellE) writes: > > How does "packer" work??? I understand that it reduces the size of > the program file, but when the program runs, is more memory available??? No, it isn't magic, and more memory isn't available at run time. There appears to be a couple hundred byte "unpacker" at the front that expands the object code back to it's original size at run time. From some tests that I've done, it does this at about 250 kB/sec, which means you probably won't pay any performance penalty unless you're running from a RAM-disk. So far, all I've packed and use regularly is the Micro C-Shell and Tools. I haven't had any problems so far, but do wonder how reliable and bullet- proof "packer" is. It certainly seems to be a nice way to turn a 20-meg drive into a 30-meg drive. I'm disappointed that "packer" didn't come with more documentation. I'd feel a lot more comfortable knowing more about its heritage. -- Mark T. O'Bryan Internet: obryan@gumby.cc.wmich.edu Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI 49008
f-leoe@IFI.UIO.NO (Lars-Erik 0sterud) (08/01/89)
Packer is made by the authors of the dutch disk-magasin ST-News Lars-Erik 0sterud / Summer & Christmas: / leoe@ifi.uio.no / f-leoe@ifi.uio.no / ____________________/ _______________________/
gjh@otter.hpl.hp.com (Graham Higgins) (08/02/89)
FYI ... I tried packer on a couple of executables first, just to test its operation, it seemed to work fine, so I ran it on my gcc executables disk. Wow, *serious* compression -- it compressed the whole disk into a 0-byte space --- including the FAT. I guess it doesn't like the 82-track, 10 SPT format created by DC format. After that I left it well alone.
gjh@otter.hpl.hp.com (Graham Higgins) (08/02/89)
Ooops --- for "packer" read "crunch" -- different program??
stefan@spcc386.UUCP (Stefan Posthuma) (08/02/89)
Lars-Erik 0sterud writes: >Packer is made by the authors of the dutch disk-magasin ST-News Hhhmmmm... I cannot recall making or posting any packer on the net lately and my friend (the co-author of ST NEWS) doesn't have access to the net. (He doesn't even know it exists :-) I guess Lars-Erik has read ST NEWS and read about the packing of articles etc. I do in the program. But that packer is a text based one which only packs 1ST Word text files which are used in ST NEWS. By the way, now we are talking about ST NEWS, it's a free disk magazine which covers quite a lot of topics. We appear roughly bi-monthly and the disk includes a lot of articles about a lot of things plus nice pictures, music, demos etc. We have lots of articles about programming and since we have contacts with coders like TEX and the Lost Boys, some of these articles are really interesting. It is written in English and I can post a list of international distributors if there is enough interest. You send them a disk and they send it back containing the latest issue. We have people like that in 21 countries. Stefan Posthuma (editor, programmer, you know) of ST NEWS -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Oh my God, it is the attack of the Half-Crazed Mutant Teenage Alien Computer Junkies!!" +------------------------------------ "Relax! It are just some SPCC employees" | uunet!mcvax!spcc386!stefan
alderaan@tubopal.UUCP (Thomas Cervera) (08/05/89)
Hi, what about virus-killer programs ? Do they like packer ? :-) I've not tested that yet, because I don't have this wonderful? program. -- Thomas Cervera | UUCP: alderaan@tubopal.UUCP SysMan RKOpdp (RSTS/E) | alderaan%tubopal.UUCP@TUB.BITNET (saves $$$) D-1000 Berlin 30 | ...!pyramid!unido!tub!opal!alderaan Motzstrasze 14 | BITNET: alderaan%tub@DB0TUI11.BITNET
Graham.Higgins@mamab.FIDONET.ORG (Graham Higgins) (08/06/89)
-- Fidonet: Graham Higgins via 1:363/9 Internet: Graham.Higgins@mamab.FIDONET.ORG Usenet: ...!peora!rtmvax!libcmp!mamab!Graham.Higgins
gjh@otter.hpl.hp.com (Graham Higgins) (08/09/89)
Do I have a namesake, or is someone doing something they shouldn't? Cheers, Graham ====== ------------------------------------------------------------------ Graham Higgins @ HP Labs | Phone: (0272) 799910 x 24060 Information Systems Centre | gray@hpl.hp.co.uk Bristol | gray%hplb.uucp@ukc.ac.uk U.K. | gray@hplb.hpl.hp.com