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ARC Shell Documentation Version 3.0 Copyright 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 Charles F. Johnson and Little Green Footballs Software Last revision: Sunday, December 8, 1991 --------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE NOTE: At the end of this document is the revision history of ARC Shell, which includes any new features or changes implemented in this version. Even if you're already familiar with ARC Shell, you should at least read through the section pertaining to this version before using the program. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Part One - Introduction ----------------------- ARC Shell is a GEM program which is designed to work with the popular ST archiving utility ARC.TTP. Essentially, ARC Shell adds a GEM interface to the ARC program, letting you point and click to select the various options instead of typing a command line. (I don't know about you, but one of the main reasons I bought an ST was to get away from all that MS-DOS/Unix command line silliness.) ARC Shell also contains a complete GEM-based disk utilities package, that lets you copy files (with wildcards and with query), delete and rename files, create and delete folders, show the free space on any connected drive, and even run other programs...all without exiting to the desktop. ARC Shell's current configuration can be saved at any point, so that the options and settings you use most often will be selected when you run the program. In addition, you can use the ST desktop's "Install Application" feature to set things up so that ARC Shell will automatically run when you double-click on a file with an extension of ARC. This documentation will focus primarily on the operation of ARC Shell; it's not intended to teach you how to use ARC. However, I've included the manual for version 5.20 of ARC in the archive which contains this file and the latest version of ARC Shell. Refer to this manual if you have any questions about the ARC program itself, such as "What's the difference between Updating and Freshening?" or "What does Convert Archive do?" The original version of ARC for the ST was version 5.12, ported by Harvey Johnson. The most recent version is ARC 5.21, ported to the ST by Howard Chu. Version 5.21 is available on Compuserve, Delphi, and GEnie, and on many local ST BBSes. (Note: Since the ARC 5.21 documentation is quite lengthy, I stopped including it in version 1.98 of ARC Shell. It should be easy to find this documentation on the major info services, if you still need it.) Part Two - The usual shareware plea ----------------------------------- Versions 1.95 and above of ARC Shell are "shareware," which means that if you like and use my program you're expected to pay for it just as you would be expected to pay for a "commercial" program. The registration fee for ARC Shell is $15.00 ... or more if you happen to be struck by a random philanthropic impulse. I've been continually updating and improving ARC Shell since it was first written, and I think you'll be pleased with the result; letters with checks in them would please me equally! If you end up using ARC Shell regularly, please send a check to: Charles F. Johnson (ARC Shell) P.O. Box 1250 Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 If you'd like me to acknowledge that I've received your shareware payment, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope, or your user address on GEnie, Delphi, or Compuserve. Thanks for your support! And remember -- if you'd like to see more shareware programs like ARC Shell, you have to do your part and pay for the shareware programs you use. (IMPORTANT NOTE: if you paid the shareware fee for a pre-3.0 version of ARC Shell before September 1, 1991, I'm asking a small upgrade fee of $10.00 for version 3.0 or later. See the section titled "Version 3.0" in the revision history at the end of this document for more information.) Part Three - Using ARC Shell ---------------------------- When you run ARC Shell, make sure you have the ARC program (ARC.TTP) in the same directory with ARCSHELL.PRG. The very first thing ARC Shell does is look in the current directory for ARC.TTP. If a file with this name cannot be found, ARC Shell will show you a file selector asking, "Where is ARC.TTP?" and you will be able to locate the ARC program with the file selector. When ARC Shell finds the ARC program, it will then display a large dialog box, with buttons representing the available options. What you're looking at. In the upper left of the main dialog box is a box containing buttons labeled "ADD to Archive," "EXTRACT from Arc," etc. The buttons in this box are the main ARC commands; you'll notice that the default ARC command is "EXTRACT from Arc." Only one of these buttons can be selected at a time - if you click on a button to select it, the previously selected button will be turned "off." (These are known as "radio buttons.") To the right of the ARC command box is a box containing the ARC "flags." The button labeled "Hold Screen" is selected by default when you first run ARC Shell. The buttons in this box can be turned off and on individually; unlike radio buttons, more than one can be selected at a time. The button labeled "Encrypt/Decrypt" is a special case; when you turn this button on, the code word entry line beneath it becomes active and the edit cursor (the thin vertical line) is placed on the entry line, allowing you to type in an encryption keyword. The code word can be up to eight characters long. Directly underneath the ARC command box is a box containing buttons to let you select the device which will be used for LIST and VERBOSE LIST commands, and the drive for ARC and DATA files. The drive buttons can be operated in two ways; you can either type in the drive letter by hand, using the up and down arrows to move from one button to another, or use the mouse to click on the button. If you click the button, a box with 16 buttons representing the 16 possible logical drives will pop up, allowing you to select the drive with the mouse. Only active drives will be selectable in this box, and hitting Return will exit without changing the current drive. Finally, along the bottom of the main box are buttons labeled "Info," "ARC," "Disk," "Config," and "Exit." The Info button will display a copyright message, and a gentle reminder to send in your shareware contribution. OK, let's do something. When you've set all the options in the ARC Shell dialog box the way you want them, click on the "ARC" button to start things going. NOTE: You may also double-click on any of the buttons in the ARC command box (Extract, Add, List, etc.) to execute that command immediately without the extra step of clicking the "ARC" button. Depending on which ARC command you've selected, what happens next will vary slightly. In all cases however, the first thing ARC Shell will do is display a file selector to allow you to choose an ARC file. If you're creating a new archive file with the ADD or MOVE commands, simply type in a name for the new file on the file selector's "Selection" line, and hit Return or click on OK. If you're using any of the other commands (which all operate on previously-created archive files), click on the name of the ARC file you're working with and click OK. The file selector's "Cancel" button always returns you to the main ARC Shell dialog box. The LIST, VERBOSE LIST, or TEST commands only take one parameter - the name of an ARC file - so they will be acted upon as soon as you exit the file selector. Any of the other commands will now require a second parameter, the name of the DATA files on which you're operating. If you're ADDing files to an archive and you leave the "Selection" line in the DATA file selector blank, ARC Shell interprets this as "all files," and passes a search spec of *.* to the ARC program. If you type in a name on the selection line or click on a filename, only that filename will be passed to ARC. Also, when ADDing files, you will always return to the DATA file selector when ARC is finished adding a file or files, so that you can choose more files to add without having to select "ADD to Archive" every time. You must click on the file selector's "Cancel" button to exit back to the main dialog box. If you leave the "Selection" line blank when you're EXTRACTing files from an archive, you'll be faced with the following choices about how to extract the files: ALL - Extracts all files from the archive into the specified directory. When the operation is complete, ARC Shell will ask if you wish to delete the original ARC file. To Folder - First creates a folder (a subdirectory) with the same name as the archive file (minus the .ARC extension) in the specified directory, then extracts all files from the archive into the folder. Again, when the operation is complete, you'll be given the chance to delete the original ARC file. W/ Query - When you select the "Query" option, ARC Shell reads through the entire ARC file and gets the name of every file it contains, then displays all the names in a large dialog box. There is room in the box for 80 filenames; if an archive contains more than 80 files a page indicator will become visible in the lower left of the box and you can page forward and back to see the rest of the filenames. (The maximum is 720.) The Query box lets you mark individual files or groups of files for extraction by clicking on them with the mouse. You can click and hold down the button while dragging the mouse to select or deselect files, and double-click on any file to select it in one step. (Note: if you double-click on a file when other files are selected, it begins the extraction process for the entire group of selected files.) If you want to abort a multiple extraction after the process has already started, press and hold down the Alternate key. (Another note: the Query box is also available for the "Delete from ARC" and "Copy to StdOut" commands. Just choose "w/ Query from the alert box that appears afters selecting either of these commands.) Cancel - Lets you change your mind and return to the main ARC Shell dialog box. The "COPY to StdOut" command can be used to view text files contained within an archive without extracting them first. When this command is selected, ARC Shell will display an alert box with the choices "ALL" and "w/ Query." The Query option works in the same way as with the EXTRACT command; the filenames will be read from the archive, and you can choose which file(s) to view using the Query dialog box. When you use "COPY to StdOut" to view text files, you can pause the scrolling by typing Control-S and resume by typing Control-Q. The COPY operation can also be aborted at any time by typing Control-C. The LIST and VERBOSE LIST commands are used to display the files contained within an archive. You can direct the output from the LIST commands to the screen, to the printer, or to an ASCII disk file by clicking on the buttons labeled "List Device" in the main ARC Shell dialog box. There are two buttons in the ARC Shell dialog box which are intended to be used only with ARC version 5.21; "Overwrite Existing Files" and "Squash." Earlier versions of ARC will report an error if either of these two buttons are selected. The buttons labeled "Crunch" and "Squash" are used to choose between two different types of data compression schemes used by ARC 5.21 -- only the "Crunch" option is supported by earlier versions. So bear in mind that if you use the "Squash" method, people who don't have ARC 5.21 will be unable to extract those files. Part Four - The ARC Shell Disk Utilities ---------------------------------------- To access the ARC Shell Disk Utilities, click on the button labeled "Disk" at the bottom of the main ARC Shell dialog box. The Disk Utilities are a complete GEM-based file maintenance system - you won't have to exit ARC Shell to copy files, delete files, etc. You can even use the ARC Shell Disk Utilities to run other programs. When you click on the "Copy File(s)" button, a file selector appears to let you choose the source file(s) for the copy. You can use any combination of wildcards (? and *) on the 'Selection' line of the file selector to specify groups of files to be copied. When you click the file selector's OK button, another file selector will appear to let you choose the destination directory for the copied file(s). If the source filename contains no wildcards (in other words, you're copying a single file) the file will be copied right away. If there are wildcard characters in the source filename, you'll be given a choice to copy "ALL" files or copy "w/ Query." The Query option will prompt you whether or not to copy each file that matches the wildcard specification. You can also delete groups of files by using wildcards in the same way. If the destination filename already exists when a copy operation is being performed, a box will appear with the warning "Name Conflict During Copy." You can either click OK to write over the existing file or type in a new name for the copied file and hit Return. The "Run Program" command lets you execute a program from within ARC Shell, and return to ARC Shell when the program terminates. If the program you choose to run has the extension .TTP (Tos Takes Parameters), a box will appear to let you enter a command line to pass to the program. The operation of the other disk commands should be fairly self-explanatory. You can rename files, show the free space remaining on a disk, create and delete folders, and format a floppy disk. The format command lets you use drive A or B, and formats either single or double sided. No fancy format options here - you get the straight ahead standard format, 80 tracks, 9 sectors per track. At the bottom left of the Disk Utilities dialog is a box titled "Copy/Delete Prompts" containing buttons labeled "On" and "Off." When this option is set to "Off," you'll get no warning when you delete a file or copy a file to an already existing name. The Exit button returns you to the main ARC Shell dialog box. Part Five - Configuring ARC Shell --------------------------------- Clicking on the button labeled "Config" at the bottom of the ARC Shell dialog box will take you to the configuration screen. This screen lets you specify a pathname for both a "default" ARC utility and an "alternate" ARC utility, and also set the directory to which ARC's numerous temporary files will be written (the latter option is only valid when ARC Shell is used with ARC 5.21). You can save these options, as well as every other ARC Shell setting, with the button labeled "Save Configuration"; after you do this, ARC Shell will remember the settings the next time you run it. The default ARC utility is the one which will be searched for when the program first runs. If you haven't specified a default ARC utility, ARC Shell looks in the current directory for a file named ARC.TTP (see above). However, using the Config option, you can set it so that ARC.TTP can be located anywhere when you run ARC Shell. Click on the button labeled "Locate Default ARC Program" and use the file selector to specify a new file and pathname. Next, you can select an alternate ARC utility which can be enabled by clicking on the button labeled "Use Alternate." To specify the pathname for the alternate ARC utility, click on the button labeled "Locate Alternate ARC Program" and use the file selector. The purpose of the "Alternate" option is to allow you to switch easily between two different ARC programs; for example, some people prefer to use a shareware program called DCOPY (by Ralph Walden) to do their ARC operations because it's quite a bit faster than ARC.TTP. When ARC is adding files to an archive, it creates quite a few temporary work files on the disk. With ARC Shell, you can choose to have these files written to either the ARC drive or the DATA drive, or to another directory altogether. (Hint: directing the temporary files to a RAMdisk can really speed up ARC, especially if you have a floppy-based system.) When you click on the button labeled "Set Directory" a file selector lets you choose the directory for the temporary files. (NOTE: this option is only valid when used with ARC 5.21.) There is one small difference in the way the two versions of ST ARC handle redirection to the printer. ARC 5.12 uses the device name "PRT:" while ARC 5.21 uses "PRN:." If you're going to be redirecting the output from the LIST commands to a printer, you should choose the appropriate "Printer Device Name" at the lower left of the Configuration box. When you have ARC Shell set up the way you want it (including all of the options in the main dialog box), you can click on the "Save Configuration" button to make this arrangement your new default....in other words, after saving your configuration, ARC Shell will always start out with your settings when you run it. Versions of ARC Shell prior to 1.96 saved their configuration data in a separate file called ARCSHELL.CNF. This was changed in version 1.96; the configuration is now saved directly into the ARC Shell program file, which makes a separate data file unnecessary. When you choose to "Save Configuration," ARC Shell will first look in the directory from which it ran for a file called ARCSHELL.PRG. If a file by this name is found, ARC Shell will attempt to write the new configuration data to this file. If for some reason, a file by this name exists and is NOT the ARC Shell program, you will be warned and the configuration save can be retried or aborted. If ARC Shell cannot find a file named ARCSHELL.PRG (perhaps you changed the name?), you'll be given a chance to use a file selector to locate the program file no matter which name you've given it. Part Six - Installing ARC Shell as an Application ------------------------------------------------- Using the desktop's "Install Application" feature, you can set things up so that whenever you double-click on a file with the extension .ARC, ARC Shell will automatically load and run. To do this from the desktop, click once on ARCSHELL.PRG to select it, then move to the "Options" menu and select "Install Application." In the box that appears, enter a document type of "ARC," and then click on the button labeled "Install." (DON'T hit Return after entering the document type....Return will exit without installing!) Now save your desktop, so this setting will be remembered the next time you boot up. If you double-click on an ARC file after ARC Shell has been "installed" in this way, a dialog box will appear showing the name of the ARC file you selected. You can extract files from this archive, do a verbose list of its contents, or cancel the operation by clicking on one of the three buttons in the box. If you choose to extract, you'll be given the same extract options as explained above in the section titled "Using ARC Shell." When the extract or list operation is complete, you can either enter ARC Shell (to do some more archive maintenance) or quit back to the desktop. ********************** * * * Revision History * * * ********************** -------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.97b ARC Shell 1.97b adds compatibility with the modified "Install Application" feature of Neodesk, while retaining compatibility with all currently released versions of the TOS desktop (as of January 2, 1989). Another new feature of 1.97b -- when you extract ALL files from an ARChive, ARC Shell will ask if you wish to delete the original ARC file when the extraction is complete. (This feature was previously only available after extracting "To Folder.") -------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.97c Version 1.97c fixes a bug in the 'Delete' option which was very hard to track down. ARC Shell 1.97c will now properly delete the original ARC file (if you choose, of course) after an 'Extract' operation. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.98 ARC Shell 1.98 has several substantial improvements. All of the options in the main dialog box can now be selected with keypresses, as well as with the mouse. The active keys are: Control A - Add to Arc Control M - Move to Arc Control U - Update Arc Control F - Freshen Arc Control D - Delete from Arc Control T - Test Arc Control X - Extract from Arc Control R - Run from Arc Control C - Copy to StdOut Control L - List Control V - Verbose list Control O - Convert Arc F1 - Info F2 - ARC F3 - Disk F4 - Config F5 - Exit Undo - Exit (same as F5) To help you remember the keypresses, the letter corresponding to the active key is capitalized in the first word of each option. (e.g. eXtract, cOnvert, Add, etc.) Another new feature is the 'Buffer Screen' option in the Configuration dialog box. When this option is set to YES, ARC Shell will keep a copy of the main dialog box in memory, and very quickly 'blit' it to the screen every time it needs to be redrawn. This speeds up the operation of ARC Shell (a lot), but it costs 32K of RAM. If you'd like to free up that 32K, just set the 'Buffer Screen' option to NO. This may enable you to run ARC Shell in tight memory situations where you previously couldn't. The status of 'Buffer Screen' is saved (along with everything else) when you save your configuration. Still another new feature: when you save your configuration with ARC Shell 1.98, the full paths of the ARC and DATA drives are saved, not just the drive letter. And yet another new feature: the 'Copy to StdOut' option will now copy to the printer as well as the screen. This is very handy - it lets you make hardcopy listings of files contained in archives without first extracting them. To 'Copy' to the printer, the button labeled 'Printer' must be selected in the 'List/Copy Device' box. ('Copy to StdOut' cannot be directed to a file -- that would be the same as 'Extract'ing the file!) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.98.1 This version (released April 11, 1989) fixes a small bug in the "Save Config" option, that only showed up after following a certain sequence of steps. Thanks to Tim Hitchings for pointing this one out. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.99 Version 1.99 adds the ability to configure ARC Shell so that each ARC option (Extract, Add, Move, etc.) can use EITHER the default ARC utility OR the alternate ARC utility. (The default and alternate ARC utilities are defined in the 'Config' screen.) When you first run ARC Shell 1.99, all options are set to use the default ARC utility (usually ARC.TTP or ARC521.TTP). To change any option, just hold down the Control key while clicking on the option; a dialog box will pop up with two buttons labeled 'Default' and 'Alternate.' Choose which ARC utility you wish to use for this ARC option, and click the OK button. You can go through and set all the ARC options this way, and when you save your configuration this information will be saved along with everything else. Notice in the 'Config' screen, that the Alternate ARC Utility box no longer has a button labeled 'Use Alternate.' This is because you now set each ARC option individually. The most common use for this feature is to set something like DCOPY or David Ramsden's KWIKARK.TTP as the 'Alternate' ARC Utility, then set the 'Extract' option to use the Alternate utility (by holding Control while you click on 'Extract'). Now you can have the compatibility of using ARC.TTP for all your archiving work, combined with the speed of DCOPY or KWIKARK for extractions, without having to go to the 'Config' screen and change the 'Use Alternate' button. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 2.0 ARC Shell 2.0 is now compatible with the new LHARC format, which uses a file extension of LZH. In testing, I've found that LHARC provides a significant increase in compression over ARC 5.12 or 5.21; in one case, a 217K text file compressed to less than 57K, or just over a quarter of its original size! By comparison, the original ARC.TTP produced a compressed file of over 100K, or just about half the file's original size. In another case, several program and text files totalling over 130K were compressed into an archive that ended up being only 45K...a mere 35% of the original size of the files. Impressive results indeed. When you first run ARC Shell 2.0, it looks for a file called ARC.TTP in the same directory. If ARC.TTP is found, you'll be delivered immediately to the main ARC Shell dialog box. If ARC Shell can't find this file, it will ask you 'Where's ARC.TTP,' and present you with a file selector. Use the file selector to locate the program you use to manage files that have an extension of ARC (probably ARC.TTP or ARC521.TTP). It doesn't have to be in the same directory with ARC Shell. Looking at the main screen of ARC Shell 2.0, you'll see two new buttons directly underneath the options (Add, Move, Delete, etc.), labelled 'Def:' and 'Alt:'. These two buttons are used to tell ARC Shell which archive utility goes with which option. (See the revision history for ARC Shell 1.99, above, for an explanation of the 'Default' and 'Alternate' archive utilities.) Note that the 'control-click' feature of ARC Shell 1.99 no longer exists in version 2.0; you now set the archive utility for each option simply by clicking on one of the 'Def:' or 'Alt:' buttons. As you click on different options, the 'Def:' and 'Alt:' buttons will become selected and deselected, to show you which options go with which utilities. Using version 2.0 with LHARC ---------------------------- As mentioned above, the LHARC program uses a file extension of LZH instead of ARC. In the main ARC Shell dialog box, you'll see a new option called 'File Type,' with two buttons labelled 'ARC' and 'LZH.' When you select the LZH button the ARC Shell file selector will use an extension of LZH. Also, and more importantly, selecting either ARC or LZH switches between two sets of 'Default' and 'Alternate' archive utilities. This way you can set up ARC.TTP and DCOPY (for example) as your 'Default' and 'Alternate' utilities, and still use LHARC and some other LZH-oriented utility simply by clicking the LZH button. The first time you click on the LZH button, both 'Default' and 'Alternate' utilities will be blank. To install LHARC as the default utility for LZH files, first select the LZH button, then enter the Config screen (by clicking on the Config button or by typing function key F6), and click on the button labelled 'Locate Default Archive Utility'. Use the file selector to locate LHARC.PRG (or whatever it's called on your system). When you do this, its full pathname will appear in the first box in the Config screen. When you exit the Config screen to the main ARC Shell dialog box, the button labelled 'Def:' will now contain the name of the LHARC program. If you also have some other utility for managing LZH files, you can follow the same procedure for setting up an 'Alternate' utility. That's all there is to it; you are now set to use either the standard ARC.TTP (or DCOPY or ARC 5.21) or the new LHARC program, simply by clicking on the ARC or LZH buttons. If you'd like to make this your default configuration, be sure to click on the 'Save Config' button in the Config screen (see above). PLEASE NOTE: All ARC functions are not implemented in the current version of LHARC, so some ARC Shell options may not work. ALSO, the LHARC format and the formats used by ARC.TTP are _not_ compatible; you should not pass the name of an ARC file to LHARC, or pass an LZH file to ARC.TTP. ARC.TTP acts very strangely when passed the name of an LZH file, and it may even crash and do nasty things to your disk directory. Be careful. (Unfortunately, there's nothing ARC Shell can do to prevent crashes here -- the problem is in ARC.TTP.) The other important new feature in ARC Shell 2.0 is the ability to 'globally' set all ARC Shell options to use either the 'Default' or 'Alternate' Archive utility. Immediately to the right of the ARC button at the bottom of the screen are two buttons labelled 'DEFAULT' and 'ALTERNATE.' Click on either button to change all ARC Shell options to use that utility; this only affects the settings for the current file type, ARC or LZH. When you switch from one file type to another, the option assignments are preserved. The function key mapping has been changed in ARC Shell 2.0 to reflect the two new options at the bottom of the main box ('DEFAULT' and 'ALTERNATE'). The new function keys are: F1 - ARC F2 - DEFAULT F3 - ALTERNATE F4 - Info F5 - Disk F6 - Config F7 - EXIT Undo - EXIT (same as F7) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 2.1 Support for ARC 6.02 -------------------- The latest version of ARC (6.02) has been ported to the ST by Darin Wayrynen. This new version offers two big improvements over previous versions. First, ARC 6.02 is MUCH faster both at adding and extracting files from an archive. And second, ARC 6.02 now allows you to add entire subdirectories to an archive, along with any and all nested subdirectories. A subdirectory shows up in a verbose list as only one entry in the archive file; it can be extracted to any path and the directory structure will remain intact. *** IMPORTANT: if you want to use ARC 6.02's subdirectory *** *** feature with ARC Shell, please read the following *** *** paragraph before continuing! *** To use ARC 6.02's subdirectory feature, just select the button labeled 'Include Subdirectories' at the right side of the ARC Shell dialog box. When the 'Data' file selector appears (where you select the files to add), you should type in the name of the folder you wish to add on the file selector's 'Selection' line. (Since clicking on a folder name in the file selector opens it.) Wild cards may be used, just as with all other ARC operations. As of this date (December 28, 1989), ARC 6.02 does not support redirection of its 'List' or 'Copy' commands, so those features of ARC Shell will not work with ARC 6.02. When used with ARC 6.02, the 'Copy to StdOut' command will only send a file to the printer, not to the screen; and the 'List' and 'Verbose List' commands will only send a file to the screen, not the printer. If you need to redirect these commands to other devices, you should use an earlier version of ARC. (I've found that ARC 5.12 [the first one for the ST] seems to handle redirection the best.) Improved support for LHARC -------------------------- I've improved ARC Shell 2.1's compatibility with LHARC quite a bit, and added support for LHARC 0.51's 'comment' feature (which allows you to add comments to files in an LZH archive). The 'Query' operations now work correctly with LZH files. You can extract, delete, and copy files from an archive by selecting the 'w/ query' option; when you do this a large box will appear, displaying the names of all the files in the LZH archive and allowing you to select the ones you wish to act upon. (See 'W/ Query' in Part Three above.) The Copy to StdOut feature of ARC Shell is now compatible with LHARC, allowing files in an LZH archive to be sent to the screen or printer without actually extracting them. Unfortunately, LHARC 0.51 still does not support redirection of the 'List' or 'Verbose List' commands to a printer or to a file. If you wish to add comments to the files in your LZH archives, select the button labeled 'LZH Comments' at the right side of the ARC Shell dialog box. (This button is grayed out when you're in ARC mode.) LHARC will prompt you for the comment when it is invoked by ARC Shell. PLEASE NOTE: I've found that the current version of LHARC will always go into "Comment" mode if any file in the archive being added to contains a comment, whether the 'LZH Comments' button is selected or not. This is a "bug" in LHARC 0.51 and unfortunately there's nothing ARC Shell can do to fix or prevent it. Alternate Command Lines ----------------------- ARC Shell 2.1 allows you to enter your own command line for any of the Archiving options in the main dialog box. Each of the 12 buttons ('Add,' 'Update,' 'Delete,' 'Extract,' etc.) has its own alternate command line that can be used to access features of archiving programs that ARC Shell itself does not directly support. (The command line is the line you see at the top of your screen whenever ARC Shell calls an archiving program such as ARC.TTP or LHARC. Please refer to the documentation for your archiving program for more details about how to use its command line options.) To enter an Alternate command line, just hold down the Alternate key while you click on the ARC button, or while you double-click the ARC option you wish to execute, or while you type the option's keyboard equivalent. A dialog box will appear, with two editable fields in which you can enter both a title for the alternate command line and the command line itself. You should enter the entire command line up to the point at which the name of the archive file will appear. If your archiving program requires a blank space before the name of the first archive file, be sure to include it at the end of the alternate command line. For example, ARC 5.21C has a special option which allows compression with 13, 14, 15, or 16 bit token tables. This feature allows you to generate smaller archive files; the higher the bit value, the smaller the resulting file. (Usually.) The downside of this feature is that archives compressed in this way can only be extracted with ARC 5.21C, since no other version can handle them. You can use the Alternate command line feature of ARC Shell 2.1 to experiment with these extended compression methods and see if you'd like to use them. (I don't recommend uploading files to networks or BBS'es in any of these extended formats, by the way.) 'Change Default' button in 'Extract' box ---------------------------------------- A new feature has been added to the box that appears when you extract files from an archive (either in ARC or LZH mode). This box contains buttons labeled 'All,' 'To Folder,' and 'W/ Query'; ARC Shell 2.1 now lets you set which of these buttons will be the 'default' button. (In other words, the one that is selected when you type the Return or Enter key.) To do this, click on the button labeled 'Change Default' at the bottom of the box, then on the button you wish to make the default. This new default status is also saved with the rest of the ARC Shell configuration data. Buffer Screen Option compatible with "big screen" monitors ---------------------------------------------------------- The 'Buffer Screen' option of ARC Shell 2.1 (which allows for super fast redraws of the main dialog box) has been updated to handle large screen monitors and the PD BIGSCRN program. Depending on the size of the monitor being used, this option can require quite a bit of memory; if memory is tight, turn screen buffering off and redraws will take place at their normal speed. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 2.1b Copy to StdOut Fixed for Older Versions of ARC ---------------------------------------------- While adding the code to allow "Copy to StdOut" to work with LHARC, I inadvertently introduced a bug that made it fail when used with older versions of ARC. This bug is fixed in ARC Shell 2.1b. (Thanks Ralph, for bringing this to my attention.) All Other Reported Bugs Fixed ----------------------------- Version 2.1b also fixes all reported bugs in version 2.1. I can't even remember all of them; but if you had a problem with ARC Shell 2.1, chances are it's fixed now. NEW FEATURES: Right-Click to Select Options ----------------------------- ARC Shell 2.1b allows you to instantly select any of the 12 main ARC options (in the upper left of the box) by clicking on it with the right mouse button. If you hold down the Alternate key while you right-click on any option, its "Alternate Command Line" box will appear (see above, "Alternate Command Lines".) Prompt for Delete Configurable ------------------------------ After calling ARC (or LHARC) to extract the files from an archive, ARC Shell displays an alert box that asks if you want to delete the archive file you've just extracted from. If you find yourself always clicking on the "Cancel" button in this alert box, you may want to turn "Prompt for Delete" OFF. This button is located in the ARC Shell Config screen; if it is not selected, the "Delete" alert box will not appear after extracting. (Good suggestion, Lloyd.) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 2.3 Compatible with Atari TT030 and ISAC hi-res color board ------------------------------------------------------- Version 2.3 of ARC Shell is now compatible with Atari's new 68030-based TT computer. This version also displays correctly when used with the ISAC hi-res color board. 'Include Subdirectories' Active in LZH Mode ------------------------------------------- This version of ARC Shell lets you select the 'Include Subdirectories' option in LZH mode. (Previous versions only allowed this in ARC mode.) However, there are currently quite a few different versions of LHARC in circulation, and 'Include Subdirectories' does NOT work with all of them. This option will not work with LHARC060 or LHARC051 (by Jon Webb); it will work with LHARC102 (by Bill Shroka). To add subdirectories to an LZH archive with LHA121 (by Roger Burrows), you'll need to use the 'Alternate Command Lines' feature (see above, under the section for version 2.1) to specify a command line for the 'Add' button that looks like: ax <-- one trailing space after the 'x' To extract archives which contain subdirectories (and maintain the original directory structure) with LHA121, set up an alternate command line for the 'Extract' button that looks like: xx <-- again, one trailing space after the 'x' To install these alternate command lines permanently in ARC Shell, make sure to save your configuration before exiting the program. Known Bug --------- This version of ARC Shell has one small known bug; if you choose the 'Extract w/Query' or 'Delete w/Query' option, sometimes ARC Shell will fail to display all the files contained within the selected archive. I wanted to release this new version for TT owners as soon as possible, and haven't had time to look into this bug yet -- next version! -------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 2.4 Compatibility with LZH11316.TTP ------------------------------- ARC Shell 2.4 is now compatible with the latest version of Thomas Quester's LZH utility, LZH11316.TTP. This new LZH program is from Germany, and is about 25% faster than the others on the scene. It's available on the major info services, and should be filtering down to local BBS's very soon. (If it hasn't already.) Since LZH11316 expects some commands to be formatted differently than other versions of LZH, there is a special button in ARC Shell's Config screen called 'LZH11316 COMPATIBILITY MODE' that must be selected in order for ARC Shell to pass the proper commands to LZH11316.TTP. The state of this button is saved with the rest of your ARC Shell configuration when you 'Save Config'. Link with CodeHead's MaxiFile ----------------------------- If you have CodeHead Software's MaxiFile installed as a desk accessory, ARC Shell 2.4 now allows you to call it up by clicking on a button on the main ARC Shell screen. If MaxiFile is detected, ARC Shell changes the 'Disk' button to read 'MAXI,' and clicking on it (or typing F5) automatically opens up MaxiFile. (If you haven't heard about it yet, MaxiFile 3.0 is a phenomenally powerful commercial disk maintenance utility from CodeHead Software, written by yours truly! <grin>) If MaxiFile is not present, the built-in disk utilities in ARC Shell will be active instead. Known Bugs ---------- OK, so I lied. I still haven't had time to look into the small bug in 'Extract w/Query' mentioned in the 2.3 notes above. But I did want to release a version that would work with Quester's LZH utility right away, so I hope you'll forgive me! I _will_ fix this bug in the next version however. This version DOES fix a bug in the Extract w/Query function that would cause crashes under some circumstances, when you were using this function with LZH files. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 2.5 New "MaxiFile Mode" for Add, Move, Update, and Freshen! ------------------------------------------------------- ARC Shell 2.5 now takes advantage of a special communication "pipeline" built into CodeHead Software's MaxiFile III, that lets you use MaxiFile to select multiple files for archiving -- even files from different directories -- all in ONE move! Now you can choose everything you'd like to archive, and walk away from the computer while it does the work for you. No more waiting to select the next file. This feature requires that you have MaxiFile version 3.0 or later installed as a desk accessory. (Contact CodeHead Software at 213-386-5735 for more details about MaxiFile III. It's a really rad tool. The raddest.) To enable the special "MaxiFile Mode," there is now a new button in ARC Shell's 'Config' screen labeled 'USE MAXI FOR ADD.' If you don't have MaxiFile III installed as a desk accessory, this button will be grayed out (disabled). Select this button to turn on "MaxiFile Mode." The state of this button is saved with everything else when you 'Save Config.' When this button is selected and you choose the Add, Move, Update, or Freshen commands, ARC Shell will still put up the standard file selector for you to choose the name of your archive. However, after you've selected your archive file, ARC Shell will now call MaxiFile to obtain the files you wish to add to the archive. Simply select the files (and/or folders) to add from MaxiFile's current source directory, then click the button in MaxiFile's lower right that says "ARC" (or hit Return). This MaxiFile button says "ARC" only when called from ARC Shell, to remind you from whence you came; otherwise it says "EXIT." If you're holding either Shift key when you click MaxiFile's "ARC" button (or hit Return), ARC Shell will read your selections out of MaxiFile, then immediately call MaxiFile again, to let you choose more items from another directory if you wish. When you're done selecting items to add to your archive, click the "ARC" button without holding Shift. MaxiFile will then begin calling your archive utility, adding (moving, etc.) each item automatically until it reaches the end of the list you (and MaxiFile III) have given it. Go have a peanut butter and banana sandwich while you wait, or better yet, take a walk. :) Right-Clicking on 'MAXI' Enters ARC Shell's Disk Utilities ---------------------------------------------------------- Someone pointed out that if you had MaxiFile installed, you could no longer use ARC Shell's 'Run Program' feature to launch an external program, because the 'Run Program' button was located in ARC Shell's 'Disk Utilities' box -- which was replaced by MaxiFile! Therefore, this version of ARC Shell now lets you right-click on the 'MAXI' button to get at ARC Shell's built in disk utilities, allowing you to run programs again. The Big Name Change ------------------- I got tired of hunting through the code and the text file changing every occurrence of ARCSHL24.* to ARCSHL25.*, every time I did an update...so from now on the file name of ARC Shell will be simply ARCSHELL.PRG. This will make it easier on you HotWire users too; no more redoing all your menus that contain ARC Shell when a new update is released. 'Extract w/Query' Bug Fixed! ---------------------------- ARC Shell 2.5 fixes the bug in 'Extract w/Query' mentioned above in the 2.3/2.4 notes. To recap, ARC Shell would sometimes fail to display all files in an LZH archive. Now, all files in an LZH archive are displayed correctly in ARC Shell's 'Query' dialog box. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 2.6 Better Compatibility with Quester LHARC Programs ------------------------------------------------ This version of ARC Shell is now completely compatible with the "subdirectory" options of Thomas Quester's (German) LHARC programs. This means that if you have ARC Shell's 'Include Subdirectories' button selected, the Quester LHARCs will now compress and extract archives containing folders with no problems. Just make sure that if you are using one of the Quester LHARC programs, you also select the button labeled 'Quester LZH Mode' in ARC Shell's Config screen. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 2.6a 'Quester Mode' Configurability ------------------------------ ARC Shell 2.6a adds the ability to configure 'Quester Mode' to be on or off depending on the state of the 'Def:' and 'Alt:' buttons. This means (for example) that you can set up one of the Thomas Quester LHARC programs as your 'Default' archive utility in LZH mode, and some other LHARC program as your 'Alternate' archive utility, and ARC Shell will automatically switch 'Quester Mode' on or off for you as you select different archiving commands from the main command list. (For more information, see "Part Five - Configuring ARC Shell" and "Using Version 2.0 with LHARC" above.) The 'Quester Mode' button has now been relocated from the Config screen to the main ARC Shell screen, to make it easier to turn on and off. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 3.0 Greatly Improved Support for Quester LHARC ------------------------------------------ ARC Shell 3.0 has several large improvements; as the subtitle says, one of them is a greatly improved interface for Thomas Quester's LHARC utilities. When you select the 'Quester Mode' button in this new version, Arc Shell changes some of the 'Switch' buttons to allow you to use many of the special features available in the Quester LHARC programs. The new 'Switches' are: NO INDICATOR -- When selected, this switch turns off the LHARC progress indicators (asterisks) which appear when a file is being extracted from or added to an archive. SKIP TIMESTAMP COMPARISON -- By default, LHARC compares the timestamps of files being extracted with the timestamps of any existing files in the destination, and does not extract if the stamps are the same. When selected, this switch disables this comparison, so that all files are extracted even if the timestamps are the same. STORE/EXTRACT FULL PATHS -- Normally, LHARC stores only the names of files in an archive, not the full path information for each file. (For example, ARCHIVE.TXT as opposed to \DOCUMENT\ARC\ARCHIVE.TXT.) When this switch is selected, LHARC will store complete path information for each file in an archive, and use this information when extracting to maintain the directory structure. This switch must be selected in order to store full directories in an archive, and to maintain the directory structure when extracting. SEARCH ALL FOLDERS -- When this switch is selected, LHARC will recursively search all nested folders in the data path for files that match the search specification. This switch is used to archive all versions of a particular file, or all files of a particular type. INCLUDE SPECIFIED FOLDER -- When this switch is selected, LHARC will archive all files in the selected folder, including all files within nested subdirectories. If you use MaxiFile III as your data file selector, you can simply select (highlight) the directories you wish to archive. If you use the standard system file selector (or a replacement like the Little Green Selector or UIS) you will have to type in the name of the folder you wish to archive, on the file selector's "Selection" line. LHARC 1.13 MODE (LH1) -- The latest versions of Thomas Quester's LHARC use a new compression technique that is incompatible with older versions, and with other LHARC programs and extractors. This new compression method is known as "LH5." To create archives that will be compatible with earlier versions of LHARC (using the "LH1" compression method), select this switch. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ NOTE: For more information about these switches and the other special functions of Thomas Quester's LHARC, please see the documentation included with that program. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Painless Group Extractions -------------------------- In the main screen, where the "List Device" buttons used to be, you'll see a button labeled "GROUP EXTRACT." (The "List Device" switches are now located in the Config screen.) This new function lets you automatically extract all ARC/LZH files in a certain directory to individual folders with the same names as the archives. When you click the "Group Extract" button, ARC Shell presents a file selector to let you choose the path containing the ARC/LZH files you wish to extract. It doesn't matter what you type on the "Selection:" line in the file selector -- only the path information is used. Once you've selected the path containing your archive files, ARC Shell will display a dialog box that lets you choose whether you want to extract each archive to a folder, or to extract all files to the destination directory without creating individual folders. This box also lets you choose whether or not ARC Shell will delete the archive files after extracting. When you've finished setting the "Group Extract" options, ARC Shell displays another file selector, this time to let you choose the destination for the extracted files/folders. Once again, the "Selection:" line is ignored here -- only the path is important. After you select the destination, ARC Shell will search the source directory for all files with an ARC or LZH extension (depending on your current mode), and automatically extract them to the destination directory, creating folders if you chose that option. You can abort a Group Extract operation by holding down the Alternate key. New "Install Application" Dialog Box ------------------------------------ (Refer to "Part Six" above for a complete discussion of installing ARC Shell as an application for ARC or LZH files.) The new "Install Application" box now lets you choose beforehand whether you wish to delete the archive file after extracting it, and whether you wish to exit immediately or enter ARC Shell when the extraction is finished. Initial Setup Changes --------------------- ARC Shell 3.0 requires that you go through the initial setup procedure again; the configuration format is not compatible with older versions. The program still automatically searches for ARC.TTP at bootup; but now, the first time you click the LZH button, ARC Shell will ask you to locate your default LZH utility. Query Box Compatible with LH5 Archive Method -------------------------------------------- ARC Shell's 'Extract w/Query' function is now compatible with archives that use the LH5 compression method, and with archives that contain files with full path information. Set ARC and DATA Paths in Config Screen --------------------------------------- The Config screen of ARC Shell 3.0 has changed a bit from previous versions. First, as mentioned above, the "List Device" buttons are now located here. More importantly, there are two new buttons labeled "Set Archive (Source) Path" and "Set Data (Destination) Path". These new buttons let you set the default paths for the ARC and DATA file selectors, before saving your configuration. (In previous versions, you would have had to actually proceed through an archiving operation to set both paths.) IMPORTANT: Upgrade Fee! ----------------------- For the first time ever in its five year history, I'm asking an upgrade fee for this new version of ARC Shell. If you paid the shareware fee for a pre-3.0 version of ARC Shell before September 1, 1991, there is a small upgrade fee of $10.00 if you decide to use version 3.0 or later. Please send a check or money order for this amount to the address listed in "Part Two - the Usual Shareware Plea" above. And thank you very much for your payment; if you've paid for ARC Shell, you're one of the few, the proud, the shareware supporters, and it's people like you who make it possible for me to continue upgrading the program! ***************************************************** * * * This document and all versions of ARC Shell are * * Copyright 1987,88,89,90,91 Charles F. Johnson * * and Little Green Footballs Software. * * All Rights Reserved. * * * * ARC Shell may NOT be sold. It may, however, be * * freely distributed as long as this document is * * included and neither program nor document are * * altered IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER. This document * * may not be reprinted without permission. * * * * While every effort has been made to ensure that * * this program is free of bugs, I cannot be * * responsible for any damages or loss of data * * resulting from the use or misuse of ARC Shell. * * * *****************************************************