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Text File | 1989-02-23 | 20.3 KB | 595 lines

<= ExZip => Part of the EXpert series programs available at The Executive Network Multi-Node BBS Registration number: (914) 667-4567 Public access : (914) 667-4684 Subscriber access : (914) 667-4759 -------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 1988 - Andy Keeves OK, just what the devil is ExZip you ask. ExZip is a rather simple program to help with the re-compressing of files. It was born primarily to answer the need of a BBS SysOp who receives a fair number of files, some of which may be damaged or ARCed with an older and less efficient ARChive program, or ZIPed with compression methods other than the ones I wish to use. ExZip has the ability to pick out any files from a given subdirectory that are dated with today's or yesterday's date and reZIP them all in one pass using PKZIP. Simple, no? This makes it an ideal program for unattended, overnight processing. All you need is a simple configuration file to tell it where your files are. There are a few other variables you can use, this way nearly anyone can use it effectively, not only Sysops. ExZip is a successor to ExArc and it introduces a number of new, enhanced features, including the automatic conversion from .ARC to .ZIP formats. ExZip is a FREE program. That is you may freely use it, give it away, upload it to other bulletin boards. You may NOT change it, or ask money for it or claim it is yours. If you like ExZip and is of help to you, upload a few files to your favorite bulletin board. If you absolutely must pay for it, send a few $$ to your favorite BBS Sysop - believe me, all Sysops can use it, since running a board is NOT cheap! Should you find a bug in ExZip, you may drop me a line via my BBS or via the InterLink network (several topics). ExZip v1.8 [02/23/89] - File Re-compressor program Page 1. How to set-up and use ExZip --------------------------- The configuration file MUST be called EXZIP.CFG and it MUST be located in your default directory when ExZip is ran. If you have used ExArc in the past, notice that the configuration file MUST now BE CALLED EXZIP.CFG!! MAKE SURE YOU READ ON, SINCE THERE ARE NEW OPTIONS HERE! It is a standard ASCII text file, so you may use most any editor to create it, including EDLIN or "COPY CON". The only required entry in this file is a path where the files to re-ZIP are to be found. The path specification, as well as the few other optional specs are entered in the format X=<options>, where X is the letter indicating the type of specification that follows. The path specification is indicated by the letter P. By the way, the configuration file is NOT case sensitive, so do not worry about it. Here's what it might look like: P=C:\NEWFILES OK, that wasn't so bad, was it? With that line, ExZip would re- ZIP all files on C:\NEWFILES that have a .ZIP extension and have yesterday's or today's date! Oh, nearly forgot to mention that ExZip can handle more then one directory if you so desire. This is accomplished by entering more then one P=<path spec> lines, like this: P=C:\NEWFILES P=C:\MYDIR P=C:\BASIC\PROGS More on path specifications. ---------------------------- FORMAT: P=<drive\path>=<drive\path\DIRnn> The path specifications lines must always begin with the letter P. Two options may be specified on this line, all parts separated by = (equal sign). Part 1, as shown above is the path to the files, including drive letter. Should NOT contain a trailing backslash, though ExZip will correct it for you. The second option is a pointer to the corresponding PCBoard DIRnn file, including drive letter and path. This should NOT be the ANSI version under any circumstances!!! If this is specified, ExZip will perform the following functions for you as well: - Set the ZIP file date to that found in the DIRnn file; - Adjust the DIRnn file entry for ZIP extension if needed; - Adjust the file size in the DIRnn to the new ZIP; ExZip v1.8 [02/23/89] - File Re-compressor program Page 2. I know that no program can please everyone, but I needed to put a ceiling on this somewhere, so the most path specifications you can enter into a .CFG file is limited to 50. Actually you could enter as many as you want, but ExZip will ignore anything past 50. ARC options. ------------ FORMAT : A=<Option> DEFAULT: NO Default here is to scan only for ZIP files. If option is "Y" for yes, ExZip will also scan for .ARC files in the specified path and convert them .ZIP in the same pass. You may also set this parameter to "O" (Only ARCs) which will bypass the processing of any ZIP files. This can be handy if processing a directory which has already been partially completed. >> Note that both, ZIP to ZIP and ARC to ZIP format conversions check for imbedded compressed files! If converting from ARC ExZip will look for additional .ARC files contained in the archive and they will also be converted to ZIP. Similarly, ZIPs will be looked for in ZIP files and recompressed. Activity logs. -------------- FORMAT : L=<drive\path\filename> DEFAULT: EXZIP.LOG ExZip activity will be recorded, along with any errors encountered, in the log file. This is a cumulative record and the file should be occasionally deleted to save space. Program names. -------------- FORMAT : Z=<program name> DEFAULT: PKZIP Defines the PKZIP program name, if other than original. ExZip v1.8 [02/23/89] - File Re-compressor program Page 3. FORMAT : U=<program name> DEFAULT: PKUNZIP Defines the PKUNZIP program name, if other than original. FORMAT : X=<program name> DEFAULT: PKXARC Defines the PKXARC program name, if other than original. Command options. ---------------- FORMAT : O=<options> DEFAULT: -A -EB4 -O Allows you to specify your own PKZIP options overwriting all defaults shown above. ANSI options. ------------- FORMAT : C=<OFF> DEFAULT: ON Turns off ANSI codes if ANSI.SYS is not loaded. ZIP file comments. ------------------ FORMAT : I=<drive\path\filename> DEFAULT: NONE If specified, the contents of the indicated file will be placed in the new ZIP file as a comment. Unwanted files! --------------- ExZip allows you to specify a list of unwanted files. These would be files like COMMAND.COM, AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS and whatever other names you wish to exclude from compression whenever found in a file being ZIPed. To use this feature, simply create a file called EXZIP.EXC on the same drive\path as ExZip v1.8 [02/23/89] - File Re-compressor program Page 4. your EXZIP.CFG file. This file can be created and maintained with any text editor. Enter each unwanted filename on a separate line, without a drive\path designation. Up to 100 names may be specified. Directory Handling ------------------ ExZip observes network file sharing on multi-node systems. As a result, when using the DIRnn update feature, it creates a temoprary work file, which is copied to the actual DIRnn file when all completed. Should another user be on-line reading the directory, ExZip will go into a wait loop, retrying the update every 10 seconds or so until it succeeds. If running unattended during your event, you should assure that no other program is locking the directories permanently. ExZip will wait for ever if need be. Should a problem occur, the copy may be skipped by pressing ESC. ExZip does NOT update your ANSI directories! After ExZip is finished you can accomplish that by simply running PCBFiler during your event via the command line: PCBFILER /COLORIZE;SORT which will sort and colorize all your directories. Command line switches --------------------- There are only two command line options available in ExZip. Either or both are specified with a leading / (slash). /ALL When specified, this option tells ExZip to ignore dates and process ALL files in all specified paths. Ideal for conversions. /EVENT When specified, it tells ExZip to suppress all sound effects. Known Problems! --------------- At the time of this writing there are known problems in PKZIP, which I imagine will be fixed in time. Some have been ExZip v1.8 [02/23/89] - File Re-compressor program Page 5. addressed by ExZip, others simply cannot be, so you should use caution! 1) PKZIP seems to create larger files if ASCII compression is turned on. This is the -ea# parameter, omitted by ExZip. I recommend no -ea# at all! 2) PKZIP does not observe the -o parameter as documented. ExZip gets around this problem IF you also point it to your corresponding DIRnn file. 3) PKUNZIP seems to fail to display or extract ZIP file members under some circumstances. This has not been identified as to the exact reason or way it happens, but it does happen. Since no error code is returned by PKZIP, ExZip has no way to find out that nothing was extracted, and you CAN lose a file this way! This is a problem that must be resolved on the PK side. 4) A problem has been reported where PKZIP will create and continue to create a ZIP file. I have no idea what the circumstances might be as I have never seen this one myself, however, it can and will run you out of disk space if/when it happens! 5) We found a problem with PKZIP inserting the drive\path designation of the original file into the ZIP. This does not seem to be the case when creating a new ZIP file, but rather if you replace a member within one, possibly repeatedly, with the -A or -U option. We are not certain at this time which option causes the situation. This really is it. Just remember that PKZIP and PKUNZIP (and possible PKUNPAK) must be available when doing this, in the current directory or in a search path. Also, don't run out of space! A good rule to keep in mind is that you should have free space equal to the size of your largest ARChive times 2 (at the least). Although ExZip may look a bit strange running on a monochrome monitor (was designed for CGA), it will run flawless. Suggestions and warnings! ------------------------- WARNING! DO NOT RUN ExZip in a DDOS bottom partition!! It will hang, since it uses direct screen writes !!! ExZip v1.8 [02/23/89] - File Re-compressor program Page 6. WARNING! I do not suggest running ExZip with DDOS up or in small memory machines IF you will be encountering ARCs within ARCs or ZIPs within ZIPs! ExZip uses a DOS shell to do the work and yet a second if ARCs or ZIPs are located in the file. And ZIPping right along .... keep dialing! ExZip v1.8 [02/23/89] - File Re-compressor program Page 7. Changes in ExZip. ----------------- In all honesty I do not anticipate many changes to this program, so there is no separate what's new file. I will simply pickup from today's changes, and future ones, if any. v 1.4 Oct 17, 1988 New feature added. - There is a new .CFG parameter you can now use with ExArc. It facilitates the addition of tag lines that PKWare allows. You will need to create file, containing the single line of your desired tag line. Once you have this, simply tell ExArc where it is and it will do the rest for you. The format for this is "I=<path\filespec>" where "I" stands for input. - With the proliferation and changes in archiving utilities, there seems to be a need to allow multiple programs. Thus, an additional .CFG parameter is available to allow the use of programs other than PKARC/PKXARC. The format is simply "X=<extract-program>" & "A=<arcprogram>". Thus you might have a line like "X=PKPAK" or variations like it. You need not specify the extension, only the name. If either of these two are found in the .CFG file, ExArc will use the program names you supply instead of PKARC/PKXARC. If not found, it will still default to the original names. v 1.5 Feb 5, 1989 New feature added. - I came across a slightly annoying situation, finding that some folks not only place a comment in the archive, but also additional files which do not belong there. Not only is this against the wishes of most Shareware authors, but these files will also increase my storage requirements and my callers' transfer times! Well, now there is an answer. ExArc can be told to remove specific files from the archive if found! Most people are consistent when adding a file. All you need to do is create a text file called EXARC.EXC (as in EXClusions) in the same directory as EXARC.CFG is already in. Use any text editor, COPY CON, EDLIN, and enter each file name you wish removed. You may enter up to 100 file names, each on a separate line. DO NOT ExZip v1.8 [02/23/89] - File Re-compressor program Page 8. enter drive or directory designations, only the file names! This is it. Simple and effective! You will never be annoyed by "extra" files ever again! v 1.6 Feb 20, 1989 Changes toward ZIP. - Program renamed to EXZIP. - Several new CFG options added - Handles compressed files inside the file - Converts from either ARC or ZIP - Updates PCBoard's DIRnn files now - Stamps the new ZIP with date from DIRnn v 1.7 Feb 21, 1989 Minor (internal) change - ExZip was never designed for a major conversion effor, such as that of an entire system. Since it relied on relatively few files being re- comressed, the DOS .BAT usage was fine. In handling thousands of files, however, DOS slowed it to unrealistically slow levels. Version 1.7 now checks the number of files that need to be processed and breaks the batch into smaller .BAT files of 50 compressions each. Thus we are able to retain the full conversion speed throughout. - Minor changes in colors for readability - Added file display to last step of directory scans. The system just seemed to sit there doing nothing on a large conversion. Now at least you can tell what it is doin. v 1.8 Feb 23, 89 Maintenance release - Corrected (external) problem of faulty ZIP file for version 1.7 (see notes on PKZIP bugs). - Reduced label sizes to allow handling of directories containing more than 999 files. - Added additional checking for the presense of PKZIP. Previously, if this was not found, ExZip could have deleted the original files without a replacement file. - Corrected documentation to properly indicate default program name as PKXARC instead of PKUNPAK. ExZip v1.8 [02/23/89] - File Re-compressor program Page 9.