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<= ExZip => Part of the EXpert series programs available at The Executive Network Information System (914) 667-4567 ------------------------------------------ Copyright 1988-1991 by Andy Keeves Welcome to ExZip! ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 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 compressed with an older and less efficient program, or ZIPed with compression methods other than the ones desired. Many of the features found in ExZip are geared toward BBS operators, but I hope that it can be of some value to others as well. 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. Besides selecting new or all files and reZIPping them ExZip has the ability to check the ZIP file for integrity, remove ZIP comments from it, remove file attributes, check for virus infection, check for file duplication, adjust PCBoard directory descriptions and like wonders. A lot of this is done through the use of other programs making ExZip somewhat version independent when it comes to things such as ZIP formats, virus checkers and the like. ExZip is a successor to ExArc and it offers the ability of automatic and full featured conversion from .ARC to .ZIP formats. If you have used ExZip before.. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ExZip version 2.0 introduces a fullfeatured setup program and a totally new configuration file format! The configuration file used by version 2.0 (or later versions) is NOT COMPATIBLE WITH EARLIER VERSIONS! Do not attempt to read an old configuration file with the new software or the other way around!! At the least, the results shall be undesirable! The ExZip 2.0 configuration file was designed with upward compatibility in mind. ExZip and ExZSetup will automatically recognize file formats starting with this version and handle any required upgrading for you. You can share a single configuration file between ExZip and ExZTest if so desired. After all, most of the parameters are the same or similar. Distribution and License!! Please read this! ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ExZip is published as AdWare! What? You do not know what AdWare is? Under the AdWare concept you are free to use it and distribute it as long as you meet the following conditions: a) You do not charge for it. No fees of any sort are authorized to be asked for, accepted or collected! b) Any and all alterations to the program or documentation are expressly prohibited! You may, however, post the program on your system in the format you prefer (i.e. .ZIP or .ARC or whatnot). c) You may not add any files to the ZIP file or other compressed distribution file you may be using, including your own bbs ad, and similarly, you may not remove any file from the content, including my bbs ad! d) i. If you operate a BBS and decide to use ExZip for your BBS, under the concept of AdWare you are required to post the enclosed BBS ad for the Executive Network at least once in a message base designated for BBS ads (if you have one) or on your Main Board for a minimum of 7 days. ii. If you do not operate a BBS, under the concept of AdWare you are required to post the enclosed BBS ad for the Executive Network on three (3) bulletin board systems, other than the Executive Network, of course, in the main message area or an area specifically designated for that purpose by the operator. DO NOT post our ad on systems which prohibit the posting of BBS ads! I must also add here that there are no warranties of any sort, expressed or implied, that accompany this program. Use at your own risk. Sorry. If you feel that the above points are not agreeable to you, simply delete the file from your system. Pretty easy, don't you think? Should you feel that you absolutely must pay for ExZip, send a few $$ to your favorite BBS Sysop - believe me, all Sysops can use it, since running a board is NOT cheap! Please remember that I will try to fix problems as reported I will do so at my convenience as time is available. This program is made available to you at no real cost or investment which should be considered when requesting "support". Features summary. ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ExZip is controlled through a configuration file. The supplied ExZSetup program MUST be used for setting it up! DO NOT try to edit the configuration file with a text editor! It will NOT work! General features: o Up to 50 paths where the files are located. o Conversion from ARC to ZIP, including nested files. o Full activity and error logs. o Checking for viruses and associated file disposition. o Optional use of up to 5 different virus checking programs. o Optional use of duplicate checking and related disposition. o Full featured setup program. o Fully networkable operation. o Optional bypassing of files generated by you. o Unwanted file removal from ZIPs (TCAN). o Automatic removal of ZIP comments. o Alternate ZIP and ARC programs. o Your choice of ZIP options for compression. o Read Only and Hidden file handling. o Adding a standard ZIP comment. o Full self-check and anti-virus protection. o File Id stamping to recognize files already processed, even if they would normally qualify for your date range. Features for BBS operators: o Directory files for PCBoard, including names, file sizes and dates. o Damaged file disposition options and matching notation for PCBoard sysops. o Enhanced file creation/write routines written in assembler for added speed. o Full error checking and handling, including full network compatibility, when processing PCBoard's DIRnn files to allow safe operation in a network environment. o Can interact with PCBoard's private upload directory and move both, files and descriptions to a specified public upload directory upon successful processing. o Full duplicate checking through third a third party program with detailed reporting. Duplicate checking is done based on CRC-32 values, not file just file names. The use of external programs ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ExZip now incorporates the use of some programs written by other authors. One of these programs is STRIPZIP, written by Ken Brown, made available to everyone free, as POSTWare. If you use it, DO send him a postcard to THANK him for a terrific job! StripZip should be available on most BBSs. The second of these is VIRUSCAN from McAfee Associates. Please note that ViruScan is NOT a free program! As with all ShareWare, please register it if you are going to use it! This program can be found on most BBSs listed as SCANxxxx.ZIP, including the Executive Network, of course. Although we have received permission from McAfee Associates to include SCAN with the ExZip distribution file, we elected not to do so (with the exception of one release) due to the frequency of upgrades for this product. For duplicate checking introduced in version 2.0 ExZip interfaces Fred Kantor's FWKCS program. Please note that this program is Shareware as well and if you elect to use it you might as well register it. The moeny you will send for it will be more than saved in disk space recovered! Although ExZip incorporates only a small amount of code for self-testing, it is quite capable to detect an attemptd virus attack on itself. Should this occur, the code will immediately lock up the machine it is running on in order to prevent any further spreading of the possible virus. Please remember that ExZip does not look for nor does it detect a virus anywhere unless the virus attacks ExZip itself! Getting started and setting up ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ExzSetup will do most of the work for you initially. Remember that this manual is not intended to teach about the use of PCBoard or other programs with which ExZip might interface. You must have a working knowledge of these before you get started here! ExZSetup can be executed by simply typing "EXZSETUP" at the DOS prompt or by specifying the drive, path and name of the configuration file you wish to create or edit. For the rest of this document we will assume that you are using the name EXZIP.CFG which will be located in the current path. Once you typed EXZSETUP you will get a small selection menu as follows: ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ ExZip run time parameters │ │ ExZTest run time parameters │ │ ─────────────────────────── │ │ Quit ExZSetup │ └─────────────────────────────┘ Press ENTER to create/edit the EXZIP.CFG configuration file. The bottom line of your screen will be a status line with brief instructions for you: 04:54:45 pm │ Esc: Exit/Backup │ Space: Toggle │ Cursor keys: Move │ CAP The right side of the line will reflect the status of your Caps Lock and Num Lock keys while the left side will reflect the then current system time. The middle portion will indicate the usage of various control keys. If your configuration file does not exist you will be asked if you want to create it: ┌[ File access error ]─────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Problem: File not found or invalid! │ │ Target : EXZIP.CFG │ │ Action : Create new file now (Y/N)? _ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Press "Y" to confirm and proceed. You are now displayed the main options menu which are applicable to the operation of EXZIP. ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ ExZip run time parameters │ │ ExZTest run time parameters │ │ ────────╒══════════════════════════════════╕ │ Quit ExZ│ Virus checking │ └─────────│ Duplicate checking │ │ File attribute handling │ │ ──────────────────────────────── │ │ Disposition of damaged files │ │ Disposition of virus infections │ │ ──────────────────────────────── │ │ ZIP comment insertion │ │ Compression programs │ │ Process files in .ARC format │ │ Use ANSI colors in DOS │ │ Activity log file │ │ ──────────────────────────────── │ │ Paths to process │ │ Supporting files │ │ Index file specifications │ ╘══════════════════════════════════╛ You can move around the menu with your up and down arrow keys, page up and page down and you may leave the menu by pressing the escape key. Once you have positioned yourself to the item you wish to edit simply press the ENTER key to proceed. Most menus and options that follow will require the use of the cursor control keys though a few will also require typing. We will take each selection as they appear on the menu above. Checkin for virus infection ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── You can have ExZip use up to 5 different programs to check for virus infections. They must all have the ability to take all required parameters from the DOS command line and operate on all files in a specified path (passed to them by ExZip). ExZSetup will give you the default command line for McAffe's Viruscan program: ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ ExZip run time parameters │ │ ExZTest run time parameters │ │ ────────╒══════════════════════════════════╕ │ Quit ExZ│ Virus checking │ └─────────│ Duplic┌[ Virus detection ]─────────────────────────────┐ │ File a│ │ │ ──────│ Virus checking: ON │ │ Dispos│ Program 1: SCAN ! /NOMEM /A /X │ │ Dispos│ Program 2: │ │ ──────│ Program 3: │ │ ZIP co│ Program 4: │ │ Compre│ Program 5: │ │ Proces│ ┌─────────────────────────────────┐│ │ Use AN└─────────────│ Space or Enter to toggle │┘ │ Activity log file │ Arrow keys to change lines │ │ ────────────────────│ ESC to exit │ │ Paths to process └─────────────────────────────────┘ │ Supporting files │ │ Index file specifications │ ╘══════════════════════════════════╛ Checking for and eliminating duplicates ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── This one becomes more complex! ExZip v2.0 relies on Fred Kantor's FWKCS program to establish file duplications. You need to have setup the database required by this software in order to use the duplicate checking options of ExZip. Without going into a lecture on the use of this software we'll simply mention here that there are 4 basic files FWKCS works with. We will refer to them by their generic documented names. Please NOTE that ExZip v2.0 has been tested with FWKCS versions 1.05 (called FWKZCS and FWKCSF) and versions 1.06 through 1.08 ONLY! IF YOU TRY TO USE VERSIONS OF THE FWKCS PROGRAM(s) OLDER OR NEWER THAN THE ONES DOCUMENTED HERE DO NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT INCONSISTENT OR ERRONEOUS OPERATION! If you toggle duplicate checking ON you will have to define a few other choices for ExZip. In order to give you a better understanding of these we need to define what the definitions shown below mean. A "full, 100% duplicate" is a .ZIP file the contents of which already exists on your system. The content may be in another single .ZIP or spread over several .ZIPs - we simply do not care. If every file is already present somewhere we will consider it a FULL duplicate. You may dispose of these files by deleting them or renaming them. If you elect to rename ExZip will change the file's extention to .DUP for you. You may toggle this choice by pressing the space bar once highlighted. ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ ExZip run time parameters │ │ ExZTest run time parameters │ │ ────────╒══════════════════════════════════╕ │ Quit ExZ│ Virus checking │ └─────────│ Dup┌[ Duplicate checking ]───────────────────────────────┐ │ Fil│ │ │ ───│ │ │ Dis│ Duplicate checking : ON │ │ Dis│ │ │ ───│ Disposition of full (100%) duplicates: D (Delete) │ │ ZIP│ Disposition of partial duplicates : R (Rename) │ │ Com│ Minimum percentage to pass partial : (N/A) │ │ Pro│ Sort program : QSORT │ │ Use│ CSList1.SRT location & name : │ │ Act│ CSLIST1.SRT │ │ ───│ CSList1.NDX location & ┌─────────────────────────────────┐ │ Pat│ CSLIST1.NDX │ Space or Enter to toggle │ │ Sup│ │ Arrow keys to change lines │ │ Ind└──────────────────────────│ ESC to exit │ ╘═══════════════════════════════└─────────────────────────────────┘ You have 3 possible choices for a partial duplicate. A partially duplicated .ZIP file is one where at least one of the files within the .ZIP does not yet exist on your system. Once again, you can toggle the choices for partial duplicate disposition by pressing the space bar once the selection is highlighted. ExZip will not delete a partial duplication for you. The most common partial duplication is a newer version of a file where some of the documentation has not changed. You can rename the file and decide later or you can "pass" the file as is, making it available to your callers. The 3rd choice is an automatic decision to be made by ExZip. This is based on the percentage of duplication. You may specify percentages on the next line starting with 10%. If you were to specify 60%, a .ZIP file containing 10 files inside would "pass" if 5 or less of the 10 files were duplicates and "fail" is 6 or more were duplicated. For sort program we default to the widely available QSORT although many others may be used. The only requirement for the sort program is that it must be able to sort a file "in place". We pass only one paramater to the sort routine, that being the file name. When sort terminates we expect to find the same file in the same place, sorted. The CSLIST1.SRT and CSLIST1.NDX files are the generic names for 2 of the 4 files used/created by FWKCS. You must enter the proper drive, path and file name here. If ExZSetup does not find the specified file the name you entered will be flashing in red. Handling file attributes in ZIPs ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ZIP files have the ability to retain file attributes, such as Read Only which can do nasty things to your system. We aim to remove these before doinganything with the file. A program widely available on BBSs called STRIPZIP is the one we default to since it handles the task rather well. ExZip will insert the name of the file being processed whereever you type a pound sign (#) which makes this option reasonably flexible. DO NOT overlook or underestimate the power of this option! Too many Sysops have been burned by files extracted from a ZIP which could not be deleted and were added to other ZIPs later in the processing cycle!! ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ ExZip run time parameters │ │ ExZTest run time parameters │ │ ────────╒══════════════════════════════════╕ │ Quit ExZ│ Virus checking │ └─────────│ Duplicate checking │ │ File attribute handling │ │ ──────────────────────────────── │ │ Dispositi┌[ Attribute handling ]─────┐ │ Dispositi│ │ │ ─────────│ STRIPZIP /R # │ │ ZIP comme│ ┌────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Compressi└──────────│ Enter a single pound sign (#) │ │ Process files in .AR│ where the .ZIP file name should be │ │ Use ANSI colors in D│ This is a full DOS command line │ │ Activity log file └────────────────────────────────────┘ │ ──────────────────────────────── │ │ Paths to process │ │ Supporting files │ │ Index file specifications │ ╘══════════════════════════════════╛ Disposition of damaged or virus infected files ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Both of these options are defined the very same way. The pop-up screen offers you 4 choices through which you can move up and down with your arrow keys. Once you highlighted the option you desire to use press ENTER or ESC to activate it. Hopefully, the following illustration will be self-explanatory to most reading this.. ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ ExZip run time parameters │ │ ExZTest run time parameters │ │ ────────╒══════════════════════════════════╕ │ Quit ExZ│ Virus checking │ └─────────│ Duplicate checking │ │ File attr╔══════════════════════════════════════╗ │ ─────────║ Disposition of damaged files: ║ │ Dispositi╚════════════════════┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ Disposition of virus infection│ Keep target file │ │ ──────────────────────────────│ Delete target file │ │ ZIP comment insertion │ Overwrite with 0 byte file │ │ Compression programs │ Rename and keep file │ │ Process files in .ARC format └─────────────────────────────┘ │ Use ANSI colors in DOS │ │ Activity log file │ │ ──────────────────────────────── │ │ Paths to process │ │ Supporting files │ │ Index file specifications │ ╘══════════════════════════════════╛ ZIP file comments ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── While we are very much against BBS ADS being inserted into ZIPs as files we have no real problems with comments being added to the ZIP file. Comments are easily removed by anyone (STRIPZIP mentioned above will automatically remove them for you!). If you wish to add a ZIP comment of your own to files processed by ExZip you need to create a text file containing the comment to add. Once you have done this you simply turn on the option in ExZSetup and specify the exact location and file name which contains the text. ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ ExZip run time parameters │ │ ExZTest run time parameters │ │ ────────╒══════════════════════════════════╕ │ Quit ExZ│ Virus checking │ └─────────│ Duplicate checking │ │ File attribute handling │ │ ──────────────────────────────── │ │ Disposition of damaged files │ │ Disposition of virus infections │ │ ──────────────────────────────── │ ┌[ Zip comment insertion ]─────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ In use : NO │ │ Filename: │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ Paths to process │ │ Supporting files │ │ Index file specifications │ ╘══════════════════════════════════╛ Compression programs ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Although ExZip's primary task is to handle ZIP files it does have the ability to accept and convert .ARC files for you. it will not process ARC files without converting them to the ZIP format! On this screen you may specify your favorite compression programs and the compress options you wish to use. ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ ExZip run time parameters │ │ ExZTest run time parameters │ │ ────────╒══════════════════════════════════╕ │ Quit ExZ│ Virus checking │ └─────────│ Duplicate checking │ │ File attribute handling │ │ ──────────────────────────────── │ │ Disposition of damaged files │ │ Disposition of virus infections │ │ ──────┌[ Compression programs ]────────────────────────────────┐ │ ZIP co│ │ │ Compre│ Program to create .ZIP files: PKZIP │ │ Proces│ Compression options to use: -A -EX -O │ │ Use AN│ Program to uncompress .ZIP files: PKUNZIP │ │ Activi│ Program to uncompress .ARC files: PKUNPAK │ │ ──────│ │ │ Paths └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ Supporting files │ │ Index file specifications │ ╘══════════════════════════════════╛ Don't forget to tell ExZip which files you want to process! You can do this nearly effortlessly on the following selection screen: ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ ExZip run time parameters │ │ ExZTest run time parameters │ │ ────────╒══════════════════════════════════╕ │ Quit ExZ│ Virus checking │ └─────────│ Duplicate checking │ │ File attr╔══════════════════════════════════════╗ │ ─────────║ Compressed file type to process: ║ │ Dispositi╚════════════════════┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ Disposition of virus infection│ Process only .ARC files │ │ ──────────────────────────────│ Process only .ZIP files │ │ ZIP comment insertion │ Process both .ARCs & .ZIPs │ │ Compression programs └─────────────────────────────┘ │ Process files in .ARC format │ │ Use ANSI colors in DOS │ │ Activity log file │ │ ──────────────────────────────── │ │ Paths to process │ │ Supporting files │ │ Index file specifications │ ╘══════════════════════════════════╛ Using ANSI colors ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── This is an insignificant option. It does nothing more than inserting some ANSI color codes to the batch processing section of ExZip. If you have ANSI.SYS loaded you might as well use it as it will highlight things like file names while doing the work. ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ ExZip run time parameters │ │ ExZTest run time parameters │ │ ────────╒══════════════════════════════════╕ │ Quit ExZ│ Virus checking │ └─────────│ Duplicate checking │ │ File attribute handling │ │ ──────────────────────────────── │ │ Disposition of damaged files │ │ Disposition of virus infections │ │ ──────────────────────────────── │ │ ZIP comment insertion │ │ Compression programs │ │ Process files in .ARC format │ │ Use ANSI ┌──────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Activity │ Use ANSI colors in DOS (Y/N)? Y │ │ ─────────└──────────────────────────────────────┘ │ Paths to process │ │ Supporting files │ │ Index file specifications │ ╘══════════════════════════════════╛ Using ANSI colors ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ExZip will keep a running log of what it has found for you. This is an important feature to help you monitor the findings of the process. It will become more important with future developments! You have the option of specifying the name and location of this log file below: ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ ExZip run time parameters │ │ ExZTest run time parameters │ │ ────────╒══════════════════════════════════╕ │ Quit ExZ│ Virus checking │ └─────────│ Duplicate checking │ │ File attribute handling │ │ ──────────────────────────────── │ │ Disposition of damaged files │ │ Disposition of virus infections │ │ ──────────────────────────────── │ ┌[ ExZip log file to use ]───────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ Log file to use: │ │ EXZIP.LOG │ │ │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ Paths to process │ │ Supporting files │ │ Index file specifications │ ╘══════════════════════════════════╛ Defining your paths and optional PCBoard directories ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── This may be the most complex specification you have thus far tackled in ExZSetup! You need to tell ExZip where your files to be checked are located and possibly where they should end up if they pass inspection. ExZip can process up to 50 paths in one run. It will check your PCBoard DIRnn file and if need be adjust things such as the file size in it. To move around this screen is slightly trickier than previous ones. You can use your arrow keys to select the entry number to modify or type the number (1-50) yourself. Press enter to process the entry which consists of up to 4 parts as shown below. The ESC key will get you out of the window you are in at any time. ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ ExZip run time parameters │ │ ExZTest run time parameters │ │ ────────╒══════════════════════════════════╕ │ Quit ExZ│ Virus checking │ └─────────│ Duplicate checking │ │ File attribute handling │ │ ──────────────────────────────── │ ┌[ Path specification 1 of 50 ]───────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ Origin - file location before processing │ │ Drive/directory of files: C:\PRIVATE\ │ │ PCBoard DIRnn file spec : C:\GEN\DIR0 │ │ │ │ Destination - if file is to be moved or blanks │ │ Drive/directory of files: C:\UPLOADS\ │ │ PCBoard DIRnn file spec : C:\GEN\DIR99 │ │ ╔═════════════════════════════════════╗ │ └──────────────────────────────║ Enter path number to view/change or ║─┘ │ Index file specifications║ use to display paths in sequence ║ ╘══════════════════════════║ Press Enter to add or change a path ║ ╚═════════════════════════════════════╝ Defining your ExZip supporting files ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── There are three supporting files you may elect to use with ExZip. Each of them are handled in the same fashion but they each have different uses. In all cases you may use the question mark as a wild card character, however, you may NOT use an asterisc! The "unwanted" file lsiting contains names which you wish to delete from a ZIP file at all times. Typically, you might add things such as COMMAND.COM or PKUNZIP.EXE (how could you extract PKUNZIP from a ZIP if you didn't already have it?). The "acceptable duplication" listing contains file names which you do not want to check against other files on your system. A typical example of these might be things like certain VGA drivers which show up in numerous ZIP files. The "do not process" listing tells ExZip to completely bypass a file listed here. Seems many of you recreate and redate some files in your current uploads, such as your ALLFILES.ZIP listing. These files really do not need to be processed by ExZip even though they qualify by their creation dates. Put their names in this listing to exclude them. To define either of these files you need to specify their actual location, including drive and path, along with the name of the file to use. If the file does not exist the name will flash in red. ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ ExZip run time parameters │ │ ExZTest run time parameters │ │ ────────╒══════════════════════════════════╕ │ Quit ExZ│ Virus checking │ └─────────│ Duplicate checking │ │ File attribute handling │ │ ──────────────────────────────── │ ┌[ Supporting files ]────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ Unwanted files' list: │ │ EXZIP.EXC │ │ Acceptable duplications' list: │ │ EXZIP.VDL │ │ 'Do Not Process' file list: │ │ EXZIP.DNP │ │ │ └────────────────────────[ F2=Edit ]─────────────────────────┘ │ Supporting files │ │ Index file specifications │ ╘══════════════════════════════════╛ To create or edit these files highlight the one you wish to work on and press F2. ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ ExZip run time parameters │ ┌[ Pick list ]────────────────┐ │ ExZTest run time parameters │ │ WELCOME.TXT READ_ME.PLS │ │ ────────╒════════════════════════════════│ VIRUSCHK.DOC READ_ME.750 │ │ Quit ExZ│ Virus checking │ U_README READ_1ST.PLS │ └─────────│ Duplicate checking │ U_READ.ME READ_1ST.EXE │ │ File attribute handling │ U_CAN.REG READTHIS.TOO │ │ ───────────────────────────────│ UREAD1ST READNOW.TFB │ ┌[ Supporting files ]─────────────│ UGLY.COM README2.COM │ │ │ U-CAN.REG README1.DOC │ │ Unwanted files' list: │ TYPE.ME README.TFB │ │ J:\PCB\NODE2\EXZIP.EXC │ TPB README.ROS │ │ Acceptable duplications' list: │ SOUND.MSG README.CUE │ │ EXZIP.VDL │ SAVEADS.ZIP README.?? │ │ 'Do Not Process' file list: │ SAFE_OWL.COM README.33 │ │ EXZIP.DNP │ RUN-ME.COM README-9.??? │ │ │ ROSEREAD.ME README-8.??? │ └────────────────────────[ F2=Edit│ ROCKLAND.BBS README-7.??? │ │ Supporting files │ READ_ME.TXT README-6.??? │ │ Index file specifications ├─────────────────────────────┤ ╘════════════════════════════════│ Scratch pad : │ └─────────────────────────────┘ The 'pick list' displayed may contain no files or more files than will fit in the display window (depending on your file). You can move around this list with your arrow keys easily. To change an existing entry simply highlight it and press the ENTER key. The name will move down to the "scratch pad" for editing. To add a new name to the list press INS. This will make "room" for a new item. To remove a name from the list highlight the item to be removed and press DEL. Remember that the list of names will always be resorted for you on exit. PCBoard 14.5a and later index file option ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Since the PCBoard index file is a static file you may have to re-index when moving files with ExZip. For example, on my system all uploads are private. I use ExZip to move them to my public upload directory if they pass all tests. As a result of this my upload directory changes only once each day I was able to add it to the index file used by PCBoard. But I need to be certain that all new additions to this directory are reflected in the index file. By specifying the information shown below you can tell ExZip to automatically recreate this index for you. To disable this option simply make sure that no name is shown in the program name field. You can do that by placing your cursor on the first character of the field and pressing DEL until it is cleared. ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ ExZip run time parameters │ │ ExZTest run time parameters │ │ ────────╒══════════════════════════════════╕ │ Quit ExZ│ Virus checking │ └─────────│ Duplicate checking │ │ File attribute handling │ │ ──────────────────────────────── │ │ Disposition of damaged files │ │ Disposition of virus infections │ │ ──────┌[ Database specifications ]─────────────────────────────┐ │ ZIP co│ │ │ Compre│ Name of index program to use: MAKEIDX │ │ Proces│ Name of the data file: MASTER.DAT │ │ Use AN│ Name of the index file: MASTER.IDX │ │ Activi│ Location of index files: │ │ ──────│ C:\PCB\ │ │ Paths │ │ │ Suppor└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │ Index file specifications │ ╘══════════════════════════════════╛ If you entered correct information and selected the proper options you wish to use you are now ready for a test run of ExZip! ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │ ExZip run time parameters │ │ ExZTest run time parameters │ │ ────────╒══════════════════════════════════╕ │ Quit ExZ│ Virus checking │ └─────────│ Duplicate checking │ │ File attribute handling │ │ ──────────────────────────────── │ │ Disposition of damaged files │ │ Disposition of virus infections │ │ ──────────────────────────────── │ │ ZIP comment insertion │ │ Compression programs │ │ Process files in .ARC format │ │ Use ANSI ┌──────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Activity │ Save changed information (if any)? _ │ │ ─────────└──────────────────────────────────────┘ │ Paths to process │ │ Supporting files │ │ Index file specifications │ ╘══════════════════════════════════╛ Command line options ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── There are relatively few command line options available in ExZip. All are identified by a leading / (slash) as the first character of the option. Options are not case sensitive, may be specified in any order and leading and trailing spaces are ignored. The first item specified on the command line immediately following the name of the program will be considered to be the specification for the configuration file if it is not preceeded by a slash. If the file name is not preceeded by a drive and/or path specification ExZip will search all paths specified in your DOS PATH= setting in order to locate the file. You may freely rename ExZip if you should deem that advisable. The command line format is as follows: EXZIP <config_file> </option1> </option2> ... </option?> All command line options may be abbreviated to the first two letters following the slash (and must be at least that long). The available options and their uses are: /ALL When specified, this option tells ExZip to ignore dates and process ALL files in all specified paths. Ideal for conversions. NOTE that if /ALL is specified all file moves will be disabled!! /EVENT When specified, it tells ExZip to suppress all sound effects. Retries on some errors will also be limited if the task about to be performed is not crutial. /TODAY Forces today's date on the file as well as the DIRnn listing for Sysops. This is functional only when ExZip is handling a private directory and is ignored at all other times. See description of Private Upload handling for more information. /NOVELL Tells ExZip to use Novell's NCOPY instead of the DOS COPY program for faster copying of files. Make sure you have NCOPY in a search path if you specify this option. /ND Disables duplicate checking for this run only. This switch overrides the setting of the configuration file. /NU Disables the recording of the results of duplicate checking. Duplicate checks will be performed and reported but the databse will not be updated with the processed information. Other options, notes & thoughts ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── EXZDATE.EXE - this is a small program which you can place in any of your search paths. ExZip looks checks for it and if found any invalid date found inside a ZIP file will be automatically changed to the processing date. This includes dates in the future as well as pure garbage found in compressed files on occasion. CLEARERR.COM - is a small program to clear the DOS errorlevel due to an inconsistency. See documentation for the program for more details. You shuold have this in a search path available for ExZip's use. ZIPs in ZIPs - ExZip will fully process a ZIP found within a ZIP (or for that matter an ARC in a ZIP or ARC in an ARC). However, it will NOT process down to the third level. Inasmuch as I find ZIPs in ZIPs an acceptable practice I disagree with going to 3 or more levels. ExZip will note any such occurances in the log file but will rely on you for their final checks. Problems - All known problems of previous release versions have been corrected. FWKCS - Duplicate checking depends a great deal on your ability to initially set-up this software. Although a few startup ideas are included here you will need to consult the program's documentation and options more details. I can tell you what information ExZip uses based on which you can decide what you may wish to keep and discard. ExZip uses only individual file 'signatures' - not ZIP signatures. As far as ExZip is concerned you can remove all ZIP file signatures. Once you have 'cleaned up' your system and eliminated duplications which already existed (if that is desired) you can, if you want to also eliminate multiple occurances of signatures. Again, ExZip looks only for identical matches. If multiple occurances are found in your database ExZip will report them to you (up to 99 of them) but it is not necessary for proper operationn. FWKCS prior to version 1.06 consisted of two programs. ExZip will identify this and properly interface with either. ExZip will function correctly with either v1.05 or v1.08 of this software. It has not been tested with versions above 1.08 thus it is entirely possible that they will not interface correctly. Memory use - ExZip uses a moderate amount of RAM which is allocated dynamically as needed. Since the supporting files, such as EXZIP.EXC are loaded in entirety the amount of memory required will vary from site to site. You must remember, however, that ExZip will shell and load programs such as PKZIP which require a fair amount of RAM by themselves (I have seen PKZIP use as much as 300+ KB) thus the more memory you can give it the safer you'll be. I cannot check for memory while in a DOS shell! Disk use - ExZip unzips files it processes one at a time, thus the space required for work areas will not be greater than the contents of the largest ZIP it is to process. However, it does create a number of batch files which, when processing a large number of files at once (in excess of 500) will take up considerable space. The end ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── I really do not have much more to add although I am quite certain I have overlooked a number of points which perhaps should have been mentioned. I never claimed to be good at writing documentation. :) If ExZip works for you and helps that is great. If I wasted your time reading all this and it really isn't for you, so be it. Please note that any trade marks and service marks mentioned in this document belong to someone. I do not hold any trademarks on anything associated with this software. I do, however, reserve all rights and copyright to ExZip, ExZSetup and ExZTest. My greatful appreciation to many who have helped ExZip get to where it is today including but not limited to the beta testers who's files and directories were at the mercy of early versions. Although all beta tester feedback is valuable I need to specifically thank Mike Meyer and Ray Novino for their time and dedication to this project. Much of what we accomplished in ExZip will be the foundation of the next ExZTest program! All typos (for which I am famous) fund in this document are intentional. (And if you beleive that you should send me $1,000 in small bills for registration!) Since, in my opinion, no documentation should ever exceed 1000 lines in length we'll put an end to this real soon. If you managed to read this far you should bear in mind that you might be the only one! If you need to contact me I can be reached on the ILink mail network's Sysop echo and Shareware echo. Have fun!