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ARCMASTR.DOC
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1987-08-01
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Arcmaster
by
John J. Newlin
-- What is Arcmaster?
Arcmaster is a full-featured Archive file management
system that is designed to take some of the pain out of
remembering the usage syntax for Archive system programs.
Specifically, Arcmaster fully supports the PKARC and
PKXARC system (Copyright by Phil Katz) and the ARCA and
ARC-E system (Copyright by Vern Buerg). Both of these
systems are supurb implementations of file compression and
decompression techniques. Use of either of these two
systems results in the saving of a lot of time and money
in transferring files over public phone lines and a lot of
disk space on private systems.
The problem is that both systems offer so many options and
switches that it is difficult to remember them when you
need to ARC or DeARC a set of files. Arcmaster removes
that difficulty and adds a fast, powerful search feature
so that you can always find that file you need even though
you may have stuffed it in an .ARC file some months ago.
Here are some of Arcmaster's features:
- View an .ARC file directory listing at
the touch of a key.
- DeARC multiple files.
- Selectively extract (or delete) files
from an .ARC file.
- Search any (or all) drives in your system
for a file that resides in an .ARC file.
- Browse ARCed files using Vern Buerg's
outstanding LIST program.
- Quickly and easily select ARC or DeARC
switches and options.
- Specify a target directory for file
extraction.
- Specify a target directory as host for
created .ARC files.
- Swiftly search entire system for any file.
- View any file through Buerg's LIST program.
-- License Terms
Arcmaster is copyrighted by John J. Newlin, all rights
reserved (1987). It is offered to IBM PC/XT/AT (and
clones) personal computer users as Shareware. This means
that you, the consumer, get to try out the proram and
evaluateits usefulness before risking a purchase. User's
who find it useful should remit a registration fee of
$40.00 to:
John J. Newlin
4060-228 Rosenda Ct.
San Diego, CA 92122
I am offering two incentives to promote registration of
Arcmaster. The first involves filling out the form that I
have included at the end of the user's manual. If you fill
in the form completely and include it with your registration,
I will accept a registration fee of $30.00. In addition
to saving $10.00, you avail yourself of the oppurtunity to
critique the program and to make an important contribution
to the design of future versions. I feel very strongly
that submitted critiques will be just as important to me
as the registration fees.
The second incentive is that by registering with me you
will recieve Arcmaster Plus, a program incorporating
additional advanced features. Some of the features of
Arcmaster Plus are:
- Print an Archive directory listing.
- Batch move, copy, deletion of files.
- Renaming of files.
Arcmaster may be executed on any personal computer system
by that system's owner/operator for evaluation purposes.
It may not be sold and it may not be used in any
commercial environment without my permission. It may be
copied for archival purposes and for purposes of Shareware
distribution, but no fee other than for the host media may
be charged.
I explicity reserve all rights to the distribution and
sale of Arcmaster, both in and outside of the United
States. I also claim copyright of the various screens and
displays embodied in Arcmaster.
-- Warranty
This program is provided AS IS without any warranty,
expressed or implied, including but not limited to
fitness for a particular purpose.
The author is a member of the Association of Shareware
Professionals (ASP).
-- Support
I support my software! Unfortunately, I cannot support a
toll free line but I will accept letters, phone calls,
carrier pidgeon drops, or whatever form of communication
suits you in asking for support. You can reach me at the
address above or at one of these two numbers:
Work - (619) 543-4072
Home - (619) 455-6225
I can also be reached via CIS EMAIL or IBMSW SIG message.
My CIS user id is 71535,665.
I have yet to write any non-trivial software that did not
contain bugs. Maybe others can, but I know I cannot. I'm
sure Arcmaster is no exception. Some of those little
beasts will probably never be found by me because of my
bias as the author. Therefore it is important to all who
use Arcmaster to let me know of any problems. If I know
about them, I can probably fix them. Ideas and
suggestions as how to improve the program are also most
welcome.
-- Technical Information.
Arcmaster was developed and initially tested on an AST
Premium/286 running MSDOS 3.1 and using monochrome monitor
driven by a Hercules + board. It has been beta tested on
the following machines:
IBM XT stock with mono board/monitor.
IBM AT (8mhz) EGA board simulating mono.
Leading Edge model "M" with CGA.
TANDY 1000 with CGA
It is written in Marshal Language Systems' Marshal Pascal
(70%) and assembly (30%) using Eric Isaacson's marvelous
A86 assembler.
Arcmaster will support up to 400 files per directory
and 200 files per Archive directory. If anyone
needs increased capability, contact me and I will
provide you a custom version that will meet your
needs. I expect Arcmaster to support the Lotus, Intel,
Microsoft (LIM) Expanded Memory Specification (EMS)
as soon as MLS provides the compiler support.
-- Credits.
Arcmaster is an interface that automates most of the
command line entry typing required to utilize the
supported ARC programs and LIST. Without Vern Buerg's and
Phil Katz's brilliant efforts, there would be no need for
Arcmaster. It does not employ any file compression or
decompression techniques and does not offer any intrinsic
file viewing capability. Tied together with ARCA (or
PKARC), ARC-E (or PKXARC) and LIST, I believe it will save
much time and effort normally required to manage .ARC
files. Special thanks to Steve Marshal and the
folks at Marshal Language Systems for their support.
-- Installing Arcmaster.
-- Hardware Requirements.
Arcmaster should operate properly on any IBM PC/XT/AT
or compatible having 256k of RAM or greater. It
supports monochrome and color monitors and colors for
the CGA/EGA are user configurable. While Arcmaster was
designed primarily for a fixed disk environment, there
is no reason it cannot be useful when used from a
floppy disk.
Testing has shown that you will need approximately 110k
of free RAM above Arcmaster when it is running in order
to successfully invoke the archive system programs and/
or LIST. Arcmaster takes about 80k of RAM, DOS 3.1
takes about 70k (varying greatly, depending upon loaded
device drivers), so you will need at least 256k. If
you usually keep RAM resident software (like SCOUT)
loaded, then you'll need more.
-- Software Requirements.
PC DOS/MSDOS 2.0 or higher.
Arcmaster was designed specifically to interface with
three of five of the most popular Shareware programs
available. In order that Arcmaster provide the maximum
utility in managing ARC files, the following software
is required:
PKARC or ARCA
PKXARC or ARC-E
LIST
PKARC and PKXARC are archiving and de-archiving
utilities by Phil Katz. ARCA and ARC-E are equally
excellent archive products of Vern Buerg. LIST is a
superb file view/browse/list utility by Vern Buerg. It
is absolutely mandatory that one of the two archival
systems listed above be present when Arcmaster is
operated and it is highly recommended that LIST also be
included.
-- The Arcmaster Configuration File.
The Arcmaster distribution package includes two sample
configuration files. One is named ARCMASTR.CFG and the
other is named COLOR.CFG. When executed, the first
thing Arcmaster does is to look in the current
directory for ARCMASTR.CFG. If it finds it, it will
read it and make the appropriate adjustments to the
default settings. Since this file is a straight ASCII
text file, it is easily user created or modified. The
following paragraphs explain the various items that can
be specified in ARCMASTR.CFG.
-- Configuration Item Format.
All items in the file follow the same format. Each
line of the file starts with a keyword. Arcmaster
keys on the first character of the key word so the
key word may be just about anything desired as long
as it starts with the correct character. The key
word is followed by a space and then and "=" sign,
another space and then the configurable item itself.
Here is an example:
beeps = off
In this case the key word is beeps and the desired
setting is off. This could just as correctly
specified as:
Bells = OFF
or as:
BELGRADE = On
Notice that case is not important. In the case of
toggled items like this example, there are only two
choices, off and on - well, actually three, since
you can omit the item altogether. Here's another
example:
arc = \somedir\myarcdir ;host dir for arc files
In this example the user is defining the host
directory for all newly created .ARC files. The
keyword is arc and the target setting is a legal DOS
path specifier. Notice that you can comment
configuration commands by preceding them with a
semicolon. Here are the keywords and the Arcmaster
default settings:
Keyword Function Default Setting
------- ---------------------- ---------------
arc defines host directory load directory
for created ARC files
beeps determines if errors off
cause beeps
unarc defines host directory load directory
where files extracted
from an ARC file are
placed
squash determines whether or off
not PKARC will use the
new (and controversial)
"squash" method of
compressing files
type If omitted, the PKARC omitted
system is used. If
set to arc, the ARCA
system is use.
-- Color Monitor Configuration.
Setting up a CGA to your personal tastes is easy.
The following format must be used in the
configuration file (the values shown are the default
values for Arcmastr when used with a CGA).
#b = 01 ;border color
#m = 1F ;main window color
#t = 4F ;top and bottom logo bars color
#p = 4F ;cursor bars color
#g = 1E ;message window color
#e = 1E ;entry window color
#s = 1E ;status window color
#r = 1C ;error window color
#i = 1E ;time display color
#d = 1E ;date display color
Note that each line must begin with a pound sign
character ("#") and must start in column one of the
file. A one character (not case sensitive) command
identifier immediately follows the pound sign which
is then followed by a space, an equals sign, a space
and then a two digit hex number. The first digit of
the hex number specifies the background color and
the second digit controls the foreground color. Use
the following table to put together the desired
background and foreground digits.
Foreground colors Background colors
----------------- ------------------
0 - black 0 - black
1 - blue 1 - blue
2 - green 2 - green
3 - cyan 3 - cyan
4 - red 4 - red
5 - magenta 5 - magenta
6 - brown 6 - brown
7 - light gray 7 - light gray
8 - gray
9 - light blue
A - light green
B - light cyan
C - light red
D - light magenta
E - yellow
F - white
The Arcmastr distribution package contains a sample
configuration file COLOR.CFG that contains the
settings listed above. Just rename it to
ARCMASTR.CFG to try it on a color monitor.
-- The DOS Path Command
It is vital for the operation of Arcmaster that you
correctly set the DOS environment path string. The
directory or directories containing PKARC, PKXARC (or
ARC, ARC-E), and LIST must be included in the DOS path
string. For example, suppose you are using ARC and
ARC-E and they reside in D:\UTIL\ARC. And suppose that
LIST resides in C:\GOODPROG\LISTER. You must ensure
that, as a minimum, the path command looks like this:
PATH=C:\GOODPROG\LISTER;D:\UTIL\ARC
This is critical and is the first thing you should
check if Arcmaster is not functioning properly.
-- Program Names.
For the sake of simplicity and because the programs
that Arcmaster interfaces with are distributed using
different names to indicate different versions (i.e.,
the latest version of list is distributed as LIST62A),
I have required that the programs be named as follows:
PKARC
PKXARC
ARCA
ARC-E
LIST
Therefore, you must have the programs you are going to
use with Arcmaster properly named and their host
directories must be included in the DOS environment
path string. If this is done, Arcmaster will be off
and running like the champ it is.
-- Operating Arcmaster.
Arcmaster is easy to operate! It is almost entirely
driven by one-keystroke menu options, displays a one-line
explanatory message for each menu option, and offers
extensive on-line help. Help is available almost anywhere
by just pressing the "h" key.
-- Starting Arcmaster.
Just remember that you need to have accomplished four
small tasks prior to running Arcmaster. Did you do
these?
1. Setup ARCMASTR.CFG for your settings.
2. Ensure the archive system programs and LIST
are properly named.
3. Ensure that the DOS environment PATH string
includes the directories containing the
archive programs and LIST.
4. Place ARCMASTR.HLP in same directory as
ARCMASTR.EXE
Ok, just type ARCMASTR at the DOS command line and away
we go!
-- The Main Arcmaster Screen.
The main screen is divided into windows (or boxes, if
you will). The top window displays the label of the
current disk drive and the name of the active
directory. The next window contains boxes which
display the system time and date and the total and
tagged file counts. The next ten lines are divided
into to two equal size boxes. The left box contains
the ten main menu selections. The right box contains a
smaller box that has my Shareware notice in it. This
notice will not be present in the version sent to
registered owners. Below the two large boxes are four
windows where various items of information are
displayed. All required user entries will be made
through the window labeled Entry.
-- The Main Menu.
There are ten menu selections to choose from. A menu
item may be selected by its associated function key or
by moving the cursor bar to that item and pressing
return. The up and down arrow keys move the cursor up
and down one item at a time. The Home key homes the
cursor bar to item number 1 and the End key homes it to
item number 10. As the cursor bar is moved, a one line
explanatory message appears in the Entry window. Help
on any menu item is available by pressing the "h" key
with the cursor bar over that item. The double box
area of the screen will clear and be replaced by a help
message pertaining to the selected item. Arcmaster is
exited by pressing ESC from the main window. The ESC
key is used throughout the program to abort an
operation and return to the previous operational level.
-- Main Menu Selections.
-- F1 - DeARC Archive Files.
This selection is used for de-arcing one or more
archive files. If any .ARC files are present in
the current directory, the middle area of the
screen will clear and a list of up to 40 .ARC
file names will appear. If there are more than
40 .ARC files in the directory, you can page
through them using the PgUp and PgDn keys. A
cursor bar is available to move with the arrow
keys to select file names. The Home key homes
the cursor to the first file on the page and the
End key positions it to the last file on the
page. Pressing the plus (+) key will tag an .ARC
file for de-arcing and the minus (-) key is used
to untag. Pressing ESC will return you to the
main window display. If you tagged any .ARC
files for de-arcing, the Shareware notice box
will be replaced by the following sub_menu:
F1 - Extract no option
F2 - Extract -r option
F3 - Extract -c option
F4 - Extract -p option
F5 - Test -t option
This example is for PKXARC - a similar menu
appears for ARC-E. I won't go into the specifics
of each de-arcing function - Katz and Buerg both
do a fine job of that in their documentation.
When you make a selection, the screen will clear
and either PKXARC or ARC-E will take over and de-
arc ALL of the tagged .ARC files. The extracted
files will be placed in the directory that you
designated as the unarc directory in the
configuration file. If none was specified,
extracted files will be placed in the current
directory. Don't forget that help is available
on these functions by pressing the "h" key.
Back in the ARC directory display now, pressing
return will clear the filename display and
replace it with a display of the selected .ARC
file's directory listing. The directory is
presented in the following format, 10 file names
at a time:
# name date time size <length> method
# is an index number, date and time are file date
and time, size is actual uncompressed size of the
archived file, length is the compressed size of
the file, and method is a two character
abbreviation of the compression method used, as
follows:
CR = crunched
PA = packed
SQ = squeezed
ST = not compressed
QU = squashed (PKXARC only)
The cursor bar is moved through the file with the
up and down arrows and the PgUp and PgDn keys.
In this case, the Home key homes to the top of
the directory and the End key moves to the end of
the listing. Now here's the neat part. If you
have Buerg's LIST program, press return with the
cursor bar over a file entry. LIST will be
invoked, take control, and you can now browse the
arced file without having to de-arc it!
-- F2 - Create or Add to ARC
This function is the logical reverse of the de-
arc function. In this case the middle portion of
the screen will clear and the display will
contain file names of all files in the current
directory. Simply move the cursor to the files
you desire to archive and press the plus (+) key
to tag them. The minus (-) key untags. You
cannot tag an .ARC file but you can press return
with cursor bar over an .ARC file name and view
the contents of its directory and browse any file
in the list with Buerg's LIST program.
When you are finished viewing or tagging, press
ESC. If you tagged files, you will be presented
with the following sub-menu in the right-hand
box:
F1 - Archive no option
F2 - Archive f option
F3 - Archive u option
F4 - Archive d option
F5 - Archive m option
F6 - Comment x option
F7 - Comment c option
Again, this is the menu for PKARC and a similar
menu will appear if you're using ARCA. Consult
the operating manual of either program for more
specifics on these options. The "h" key provides
a summary explanation of each item. When an item
is selected, you are prompted for the .ARC file
name. The name you enter can be a for a new,
non-existing .ARC file or for one that already
exists, but if it exists, it must reside in the
directory you specified as the host directory for
.ARC files in the configuration file. If you
didn't specify one, Arcmaster will use the
current directory. Remember, most of the
selections available are applicable to existing
.ARC files. Arcmaster can make .ARC file
management much, much easier but it cannot think
for you or anticipate your desires.
When you make a selection, the screen will clear
and you will see PKARC or ARCA swing into action.
-- F3 - Selectively DeArc Files.
This option provides you with the capability to
enter an archive directory listing and select
individual files in the directory to operate on.
The screen will clear and the display will
contain all (if any) .ARC files in the current
directory. Move the cursor to the desired .ARC
file and press return. The directory listing of
that file will be displayed. You can now move
the cursor to specific files and tag (or untag)
those files for specific de-arcing operations.
When you're through tagging, press ESC, and a
sub-menu will appear in the right hand box that
looks like this:
F1 - Extract no option
F2 - Extract -r option
F3 - Extract -c option
F4 - Extract -p option
F5 - Delete -d option
These are PKXARC options. Similar options are
offered for ARC-E. Extracted files will be
placed in the unarc directory specified in the
configuration file or in the current directory,
if unspecified. When a selection is made, the
screen will clear and PKXARC or ARC-E will take
over an perform the indicated operation.
-- F4 - ARC Command Line Ops.
This selection permits you to invoke PKARC or
ARCA with wild card designators if desired. You
will be prompted for the file names, dos file
masks, options, switches, etc. You DO NOT type
in the name of PKARC or ARCA. That will be
inserted for you. The help ("h" key) function
has a summary of command line items for your
specified Archiver program.
-- F5 - DeARC Command Line Ops.
This works exactly the same as F4 above except
that it invokes PKXARC or ARC-E. The same
comments apply.
-- F6 - Change Drive/Directory.
Here you have the facility to move around the
drives and/or directories in your system. Enter
a valid directory path name and Arcmaster will
make that directory the current directory. To
change drives, enter the drive letter and a colon
(:) alone (i.e., D:) and Arcmaster will change to
the default directory on the specified drive. Or
enter both the drive and target directory name
(i.e., C:\GOODPROGS\LEVEL2). Pressing return
without typing anything in will command Arcmaster
to return to the drive and directory from which
you loaded and executed it. Pressing ESC aborts
the command and returns main menu cursor control.
-- F7 Search for ARCed File.
Now we are into some neat stuff! Arcmaster can
find any archived file anywhere in your system.
You will be prompted for a file name. Enter the
full file name with extension. Arcmaster will
then search every .ARC file it finds on the
current drive for the target file. If it finds
it, the middle area of the screen will clear and
you will see some portion of the .ARC file's
directory listing with the bar cursor on top of
the file you wanted to find!!! You can now press
return and call Vern's super LIST program to
browse that file. Press ESC to leave that
display and the search will continue until all
.ARC files on the drive have been searched. If
you desire to search a specific drive, precede
the file name with the drive character and a
colon (i.e., D:TARGET.DAT). Remember the drive
sequence list item you put in the configuration
file? Enter the target file name with a star and
a colon (i.e., *:TARGET.DAT) and Arcmaster will
search the drives you placed in that list in the
order that you placed them. I think this feature
alone is well worth the price of Arcmaster.
-- F8 - Search for Any File.
More neat stuff! This works just like the F7
selection except that now you can search for any
file anywhere in your system. Enter a target
file name using the same rules as given above.
When the file is found, the middle portion of the
screen will clear and a portion of the directory
the file was found in will appear with the cursor
bar sitting on top of the target file!! Want to
view it? Press return and let LIST do its magic!
-- F9 - Display Files.
Use this selection to bring up a display showing
up to 40 file names from the current directory.
You can page up and down through the directory
and view any file by pressing return with cursor
bar highlighting its name.
-- F10 - Change Config Settings.
I think that you will find this feature very
handy. It allows you to dynamically change four
of the key items that you placed in the
configuration file. This selection will bring up
a sub-menu in the right hand box that looks like
this:
F1 - Change ARC Directory
F2 - Change DeARC Directory
F3 - Change ARChive System
F4 - Change Squash Setting
The first option permits you the flexibility to
change the target directory for ARC operations
and the second lets you re-set the destination
directory for de-arc extraction operations. You
probably won't need option 3 - it let's you
switch between the PKARC and ARCA systems.
This is a good time to talk about Phil Katz's
exclusive "squash" compression technique. Phil
has done a brilliant job of implementing fast,
accurate file compression/de-compression
techniques in his two programs. He recently
added a new technique that is very efficient
called "squash". Unfortunately, "squashed" files
are not compatible with Vern's outstanding system
and so BBSes and services like CIS discourage use
of .ARC files containing entries that have been
"squashed". Phil's latest version provides a
command line option (-oct) that suppresses use of
"squash" when archiving files. It also forces
use of the more standard time/date stamping
format. If you have a version PKXARC that DOES
NOT support the -oct switches, then place the
command squash = on in ARCMASTR.CFG. I know this
seems the reverse of what it ought to be but when
this option is set to "on", Arcmaster will NOT
insert the -oct switch into the command line. If
you have Phil's latest version, you can go either
way. Just remember that the Arcmaster setting of
squash = on forces Arcmastr to omit the -oct
option and you should have no trouble. This
selection lets you change it while Arcmaster is
running.
-- Arcmaster Registration Form
Remember, if you fill out this form in its entirety,
you may register for $30.00. Registrants will
receive Arcmaster Plus on disk.
-------------------------------------------------------
Name:_______________________________________
Address:____________________________________
City:_______________________________________
State:______________________________________
Zip:________________________________________
What do you like about Arcmaster? Please take as many
lines as necessary to express your opinion:
What don't you like about Arcmaster?
How could Arcmaster be improved?
Computer type/name_______________________________________
Operating System____________
Total memory on board_______________________
Monitor/board type______________________________________
Favorite ARC system (PKARC OR ARCA)_____________________
Thank you very much for considering Arcmaster!
