Copyright: Copyright 1995 MicroHelp Inc.


Table of Contents
MicroHelp Zip Editor™

What is Zip Editor

MicroHelp DEMOWare

Zip Editor Features

Distribution and Licensing

Technical Support

Copyright 1995 MicroHelp, Inc.

Zip Editor, VBTools and VBViewer are Trademarks of MicroHelp, Inc.  Compression Plus is a Trademark of EllTech Development, Inc.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.


About this Application
MicroHelp Zip Editor

Zip Editor is a DEMOWare Application showing the features and functionality of the following MicroHelp Visual Programming Tools products:

Compression Plus version 4

•	The fastest and most versatile Windows compression library available.

•	The only programming library that is 100% PKZIP compatible.

•	The only tool available that can create true Windows self-extracting archives.

VBTools™ 4

•	The first and still most popular Visual Basic add-on.

•	Contains 54 different VBX custom controls

•	22 data aware controls

•	Includes Farpoints Grid/VBX - the best bound grid control on the market. This control sells separately for $99.

VBViewer™

•	Views over 25 different file formats with built-in drag n drop support.

•	Views popular graphic, spreadsheet and word-processor formats

Muscle

•	The original power-house of over 600 assembly language functions in one DLL.

•	Full file and disk services, including format and disk copy.

•	Create, sort and search (including multi-key) arrays of any size (limited only by available memory).


What is DEMOWare

Instead of the usual boring demonstration programs that display pretty pictures or give nothing but sales hype in a slide-show presentation, MicroHelp decide to put our tools to the test and write useful Windows applications.  Not only does this show our products performing real world tasks, but it actually gives PC users something useful that they will want to keep around.

You can download the latest versions of all MicroHelp DEMOWare products from our BBS [ (404) 516-1497], in our Compuserve forum [GO MICROHELP] or on our Internet anonymous FTP site [Netcom.com, our directory is pub/mi/microhlp - This is subject to change as we hope to have our own WEB server installed by Q395].  All MicroHelp DEMOWare products are in true Windows self-extracting executable archives.  MicroHelp created this technology and is the ONLY company that has this capability.  Simply download the executable archive and run the program as you would any Windows application.  You will be prompted for the installation directory and all files will then be extracted and placed in the selected directory.


Zip Editor Features

Overview

Options

Viewing a File Within a Zip

Adding / Editing Comments

Searching for Comments


Overview of Zip Editor
Overview

Zip Editor version 1 is a Windows utility designed to view, unzip and edit ZIP compatible files.  While this version does not allow you to create ZIP files, our Compression Plus programming library does have the ability to both create and unzip, ZIP compatible files.  A future version of Zip Editor will have the ability to create zips.  See What is DEMOWare for information on obtaining the latest MicroHelp DEMOWare products.

The ZIP central directory structure has the ability to store both archive and individual file comments.  The PKZIP utility has a command line option to add comments to archives, but it is not intuitive and is only a DOS command line utility.

Zip Editor gives you the ability to edit and add both archive and individual file comments as well as to search for words within the archive comments.  This allows you to annotate you archive files and even the individual files within an archive and then search for an archive based on words in the comments.


Zip Editor Options
Options

Zip Editor allows you to define several options that it will use when unzipping and viewing files within an archive.  These options are stored in a private INI file called ZIPEDIT.INI that is created in the same directory as ZIPEDIT.EXE application file

The options menu has five different menu selections:

Change File Spec

By default, Zip Editor shows only files that have the .ZIP file extension.  This option allows you to change the file spec to anything you wish.

Keep Orig Time Stamp

By default, Zip Editor does not change the current time stamp when edit or add comments to an archive or its individual files.  If you uncheck this menu item, the archive will be updated to the current PC date and time whenever you press one of the Update buttons.

Configuration

This menu item displays the following dialog containing two different tabs with configuration options that effect the operation of Zip Editor.

If you have a TEMP environment variable, Zip Editor will default to use this directory as your working directory.  If you do not have a TEMP environment variable then the Working Directory will be blank.  You should enter a valid DOS path for your working directory.

The UnZip To: is the location Zip Editor should use to unzip files and comes with three options:

Working Directory - explained above.

Zip Directory - the same directory where the Zip file is located.

Current Directory - your current Windows directory.

Since Zip Editors primary function is to add comments to and search for comments in Zip files as well as allow you to view files within archives for the purposes of annotation, it does not provide incremental prompting for unzipping of archives.  When we add the ability to create archives with Zip Editor, then we will modify its functionality to allow full archive management.

The other Option Tab Unzip Options, controls the functionality of the built in file viewers.

Automatically show single file when unzipped - If checked, Zip Editor will automatically load the unzipped file into the viewer.  If you unzip multiple files, the selected file (the one that is yellow) will be viewed.

Automatically delete file after viewing - If checked, Zip Editor will automatically delete the viewed file after you close the viewer.

Overwrite when unzipping - If checked, Zip Editor will automatically overwrite a file by the same name(s) in the target directory.  If unchecked, Zip Editor will prompt you before overwriting existing files.

All of these options are saved in the private INI file named ZIPEDIT.INI that is saved in the same directory as the ZIPEDIT.EXE application file.


Viewing a File Within a Zip

To view a file within an archive:

1.	Select the Options - Configuration menu and then click on the Unzip Options tab.

2.	Check the Automatically show single file when unzipped option.

3.	Select the archive.

4.	Double-click the left mouse button on the file name you want to view.

5.	The file will be unzipped to the directory specified under Options and then loaded into the built in file viewer.  This viewer is MicroHelps VBViewer.  It supports over 25 different file formats and has built in drag n drop capability.  You can drag a file from FileManager and drop it onto the open viewer to view the contents of the file.


Adding and Editing Comments in Zips
Adding / Editing Comments

To add or edit comments for a ZIP archive:

1.	Select the archive.

2.	Edit / enter the comments in the Zip Comments box.

3.	Press the Update button underneath the Zip Comments box or use the shortcut key Alt-U.

The archive comments will be saved and the archive file size will be updated to reflect this change.

To add or edit individual file comments:

1.	Select the archive.

2.	Select the file within the archive you want to comment.

3.	Edit / enter the comments in the File Comments box.

4.	Press the Update button underneath the File Comments box or use the shortcut key Alt-P.

The file comments will be saved and the archive file size will be updated to reflect this change.

If you want to totally delete any comments for either an archive or an individual file:

1.	Highlight all of the comments in the appropriate box.

2.	Press the Delete key to delete the comments.

3.	Press the appropriate Update key.

When an archive or file does not have any comments associated with it, the Comments box will show: {No Comments}.  Zip Editor does not actually save the text {No Comments} in the archive.  If you press the one of the Update keys when either comment box has this annotation, nothing will be saved in the archive.


Searching for Coments in Zips
Searching for Comments

Zip Editor has the ability to search for any text within the comments of ZIP compatible archives.  You can limit the search to archives in the current directory (the default), or search all archives on the current drive.  Individual file comments are not searched.  The search is currently limited only to files with a .ZIP file extension.

To search for text in the archive comments:

1.	Select File - Comments from the menu.

2.	Choose either Current Directory or Entire Drive for which archives you want to search.  Obviously, it is much quicker to search just the current directory.

3.	In the Text to Find box, enter the text that you want to find.  The search is not case-sensitive.

4.	Press the Ok button to begin the search.  Once the search begins, the Close button will change to a Cancel button, allowing you to stop the search at anytime.

5.	Once the search is complete, the number of files found will be displayed on the bottom of the dialog and all of the matching files loaded into the dropdown combo box.  You can then select any of the matching archives and press the Load button to view the contents of that archive.

6.	If you want to perform another search, press the Search button.


Distribution and Licensing

You may freely copy and distribute this application as long as all of the original files are distributed unmodified and nothing is charged for the application.  This application and all of the included files are copyrighted by and the property of MicroHelp, Inc.  The end-user has a non-revocable license to use this application on any personal computer without restriction.

This application is distributed AS IS without any warranty, expressed or implied.  MicroHelp is not responsible for any damages, real or imagined that may result from the use or misuse of this application.


Tech Support for this application
Technical Support

This application was created as a demonstration of some of the features and functionalities of MicroHelps Visual Programming Tools.  While technical support is not available for this application, we are always interested in making it better.  If you have any problems using this application or have some suggestions on how to improve it, you can contact us through one of the following methods, and address your comments to  - Tools Product Manager:

Our own 24-hour Bulletin Board Service (BBS) at (404) 516-1497  28.8, N-8-1

Compuserve - GO MICROHELP

Internet - tech@microhelp.com

While we value any suggestions you are willing to make, please keep in mind that this version of Zip Editor is not meant to be a fully complete ZIP management utility.  We do plan on enhancing this DEMOWare application, adding the ability to create archives as well as unzip individual files within an archive to any location.

For more information on the full line of MicroHelp Visual Programming Tools-

CALL: 800-922-3383 ( outside the U.S. call (404) 516-0899 ).

For detailed product sheets, call our FastFax™ service from your fax machine at (404) 591-6454.