jac@paul.rutgers.edu (Jonathan A. Chandross) (09/10/90)
Submitted-by: jac Posting-number: Volume 1, Administrivia: 10 From: paul@atherton.com (Paul Sander) Doug Gwyn's apack program is a good start, but I've found through experience that it is better if such things insert a single character at the beginning of each line (perhaps a blank or hyphen). This character is then used as a record selector; each part of the packed file uses a different character. The header might use ">", the body might use " " (blank), and the checksum might use "=". I find that this is much more reliable than having a sentinel, and works when the exact length of the file is not known in advance (which is the case for DOS text files). [ I don't know what the selector buys you. Whenever you see a line beginning with a ^L not followed by another ^L (i.e. a source line beginning with ^L has another added to escape it) you know a new file is being unarchived. The ">" vs " " distinction is not necessary here, unlike with shar. As far as checksums go, this should be done by a separate program, and only if it turns out to be needed in practice. ] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To get something posted to comp.sources.apple2, send it to: Internet: jac@paul.rutgers.edu UUCP: rutgers!paul.rutgers.edu!jac Please mark comments that are not to be posted with "Not for Posting". Otherwise, I often can't tell. Jonathan A. Chandross Internet: jac@paul.rutgers.edu UUCP: rutgers!paul.rutgers.edu!jac