╠╚┴╥├ ┴RCHIVE ├REATOR FOR ├╙-─╧╙ -------------------------------- ├OMMAND: ╠╚┴ ╙YNTAX: ╠╚┴ [-S] ARCHIVE[.LZH] FILE(S) ─ESCRIPTION: ╠╚┴ IS USED TO CREATE ARCHIVES USING THE ╠╚┴╥├ FORMAT. ╧PTIONS: ╘HE -S OPTION TELLS ╠╚┴ TO CREATE A SELF DISSOLVING ╙╞╪. ╙EE THE DOCUMENTATION FOR ╙╞╪ FOR MORE DETAILS ON USING ╙╞╪. ╨ROS: ╘HE ╠╚┴╥├ ARCHIVE HAS SEVERAL ADVANTAGES OVER THE ┴╥├128 OR ═╙-─╧╙ STYLE ┴╥├ FORMATS AND IS GROWING IN POPULARITY. ┴MONG THE ADVANTAGES ARE ... 1) ╙IMPLICITY. ╙INCE ONLY ONE DATA COMPRESSION ALGORITHM IS USED, THE CODE IS LESS COMPLEX SINCE WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT OBSOLETE VERSIONS OF THE COMPRESSOR OR CHOOSING BETWEEN ONE OF SEVERAL POSSIBLE COMPRESSORS. 2) ╨ORTABILITY. ╙INCE THE ├ SOURCE CODE FOR THE COMPRESSOR AND DECOMPRESSOR IS READILY AVAILABLE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, THE FORMAT IS BEING USED ON NUMEROUS DIFFERENT OPERATING SYSTEMS INCLUDING ═╙-─╧╙, ┴MIGA─╧╙ AND OTHERS. ╘HUS ARCHIVES CREATED ON THE ├128 CAN BE MANIPULATED ON OTHER SYSTEMS AND VISA VERSA. 3) ┼FFICIENCY. ╘HE SLIDING DICTIONARY DATA COMPRESSION ALGORITHM EMPLOYED BY ╠╚┴╥├ IS A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT OVER THE ╠EMPEL ┌EV TECHNIQUE EMPLOYED BY ┴╥├, ┌╧╧ AND OTHERS. ╞URTHERMORE, THE TECHNIQUE WORKS WELL WITH BOTH SMALL FILES AND WITH PROGRAM AND OTHER FILES WHICH NORMALLY DO NOT COMPRESS VERY WELL. ╘YPICALLY, YOU CAN EXPECT TO GAIN ABOUT 20 TO 25% OR SO OVER ┴╥├128 OR ├╙┴╥├. ╘HAT MEANS THAT A 800╦ FLOPPY DISK FULL TO THE BRIM WITH ARCHIVES, COULD BE CONVERTED TO ╠╚┴╥├HIVES TO YIELD ABOUT 200╦ OR SO OF FREE DISK SPACE. 4) ╠ONG FILENAMES. ╘HE ╠╚┴╥├ FORMAT DOES NOT ARBITRARILY RESTRICT YOU TO THE ═╙-─╧╙ 8+3 FILENAME LENGTHS AND SO IS BETTER SUITED FOR ├OMMODORE 8 BIT ─╧╙ OR ┴MIGA─╧╙ AND OTHERS. 5) ╘HE ╙EL╞ E╪TRACT MODULE CAN BE RUN ON EITHER A ├64 OR A ├128, WHICH CAN AID IN ELIMINATING A BIT OR CONFUSION AND/OR REDUNDANCY. ├ONS: ╔T DEPENDS WHO YOU'RE COMPARING TO HERE. ├OMPARED TO ╨╦╫┴╥┼'S ┌╔╨ OR ─╚┼╙╔'S ┌╧╧ ╠╚┴╥├ LEAVES A BIT TO BE DESIRED IN TERMS OF SUPPORT FOR FILE COMMENTS, RECOVERING DAMAGED ARCHIVES AND SO ON, BUT COMPARED TO JUST ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE, ╠╚┴╥├ HOLDS ITS OWN PRETTY WELL. ╙PEED IS THE MAIN PROBLEM. ╠EMPEL ┌EV COMPRESSION IS FASTER, BUT IN ITS CURRENT STATE ╠╚┴ IS ONLY MARGINALLY SLOWER THAN ┴╥├128 SO THE COMPRESSION AND PORTABILITY ADVANTAGES MORE THAN COMPENSATE. ╔ BELIEVE THERE'S ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT HERE SO ╠╚┴ MIGHT GET A SPEED BOOST LATER ON. ╠╚┴ AND ╠╚╪ ARE WRITTEN IN HYBRID ├ AND ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE, SO THE EXECUTABLES ARE SOMEWHAT LARGER THAN NORMAL. ╘HIS MAKES THEM A LITTLE MORE AWKWARD TO USE IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A ╥┴═ EXPANSION CARTRIDGE. ╔MPLEMENTATION: ╠╚┴ REQUIRES A 1750. ╔T WON'T WORK WITHOUT ONE. ╠╚╪ AND ╠╚─ DO NOT. ╔F YOU DO NOT HAVE A ╥┴═ EXPANSION CARTRIDGE, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO VIEW AND/OR DISSOLVE ╠╚┴╥├HIVES, BUT YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO CREATE THEM. ┼ACH FILE IN THE ARCHIVE IS PRECEDED BY A HEADER WHICH CONTAINS, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE FILE'S ORIGINAL SIZE, ITS COMPRESSED SIZE, AND THE FILES CALCULATED ├╥├. ╙INCE THIS INFORMATION IS NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL AFTER THE FILE HAS BEEN COMPRESSED, ╠╚┴ COMPRESSES THE ENTIRE FILE AND STASHES IT AWAY IN THE 1750. ╔T THEN WRITES THE HEADER INFORMATION, AND THEN FLUSHES THE CONTENTS OF THE 1750 TO THE ARCHIVE. ╘HERE ARE ALTERNATIVES TO THIS APPROACH, BUT THEY WERE ALL EITHER TOO SLOW OR TOO COMPLICATED, SO IF YOU DON'T OWN A 1750 YOU'RE ╙.╧.╠. ╙INCE YOU MAY BE USING THE 1750'S ╥┴═ FOR OTHER THINGS, YOU HAVE TO TELL ╠╚┴ WHAT PART OF THE 1750 IS FREE TO BE USED FOR ITS PURPOSES. ─O THIS BY PUTTING A LINE SOMETHING LIKE THIS IN YOUR AUTOEXEC FILE ... POKE DEC("1BCF"), X*16+Y WHERE X IS THE LOWEST 1750 BANK THAT CAN BE USED, AND Y IS THE HIGHEST 1750 BANK PLUS ONE. ╞OR EXAMPLE ... POKE DEC("1BCF"), 4*16+7 TELLS ╠╚┴ ITS OK TO USE 1750 BANKS 4,5 AND 6. ┴LL OTHER BANKS ARE LEFT ALONE. ═ORE OFTEN THAN NOT, ONE OR TWO BANKS WILL BE ADEQUATE. ┴NY FILE WHOSE SIZE WHEN COMPRESSED IS LARGER THAN THE 1750 SPACE AVAILABLE WILL CAUSE ╠╚┴ TO ABORT. ╠╚┴ USES A FAIR BIT OF THE ├128'S MEMORY. ╔T USES PRACTICALLY ALL OF BANK 1 (FROM $4000 UP TO $┼100). ╔F YOU HAVE SOMETHING UP THERE, ╠╚┴ WON'T RUN. ╔T ALSO USES BANK 0 FROM $1├00 UP TO $┬╞╞╞. $├000 AND ABOVE IS NOT TOUCHED. ╓ERSIONS 1.0 AND 1.1 OF ╠╚┴ AND ╠╚╪ DID NOT ALLOW ╥┼╠ OR ╒╙╥ FILES. ╠╚┴ WOULD REFUSE TO ARCHIVE THEM AND ╠╚╪ WOULD EXTRACT THEM AS ╨╥╟ FILES. ╙TARTING WITH VERSION 1.2, ╒╙╥ AND ╥┼╠ FILES ARE ALLOWED. ╙INCE THE ╙╞╪ CODE CANNOT HANDLE ╥┼╠ OR ╒╙╥ FILES, ╠╚┴ WILL STILL REFUSE TO ADD ANY SUCH FILES WHEN CREATING AN ╙╞╪ WITH -S. ╔T SHOULD BE NOTED THAT ╒╙╥ FILES MAY NOT ALWAYS BE HANDLED PROPERLY. (╘HIS GOES FOR ┴╥├128 AS WELL) ╞OR THE MOST PART, ╒╙╥ FILES ARE NO DIFFERENT THAN ╙┼╤ OR ╨╥╟ FILES AND CAN BE ARCHIVED WITHOUT PROBLEMS. ╒╙╥ FILES ARE, BY DEFINITION, ╒╙E╥ DEFINED, OR MORE LIKELY PROGRAMMER DEFINED. ╘HEY MAY NOT BE NORMAL ├OMMODORE FILES AT ALL. ╘HIS PROBABLY ISN'T THE CASE VERY OFTEN, BUT ╔ CAN THINK OF A COUPLE OF CASES OFF HAND WHERE ╒╙╥ FILES WERE A CASE OF "WHAT YOU SEE IS NOT NESSESSARILY WHAT YOU GET". ╔F YOU'RE NOT SURE WHAT YOU'RE DEALING WITH, IT WOULD BE PRUDENT TO DEARCHIVE THE ARCHIVE TO A DIFFERENT DISKETTE AND MAKE SURE THE FILES BEHAVE AS EXPECTED BEFORE ASSUMING THAT THE CONTENTS OF THE ╒╙╥ FILE REPRESENTS THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH. ┴ WORD OF CAUTION IN REGARDS TO ╥┼╠ FILES. ╞IRST OF ALL, SINCE A ╥┼╠ FILE MAY HAVE BEEN CREATED ON A 1581 AND DISSOLVED ON A 1571, ITS POSSIBLE THE FILE WILL BE TOO LARGE TO FIT ON THE DESTINATION DRIVE. ┼VEN THOUGH THE FILE MAY PHYSICALLY FIT ON THE DESTINATION DISK, ├OMMODORE ─╧╙ RESTRICTS THE MAXIMUM SIZE A ╥┼╠ FILE MAY BE, AND THE MAXIMUM SIZE VARIES FROM ONE DRIVE TO ANOTHER. ╔F IT DOES HAPPEN THAT THE FILE IS TOO LARGE, YOU'LL GET AN ERROR 52,╞ILE ╘OO ╠ARGE,00,00 AND ╠╚╪ WILL SKIP THE FILE AND GO ON TO THE NEXT ONE. ╔ HAVE TESTED ╠╚╪ AND ╠╚┴ WITH ╥┼╠ FILES ON BOTH THE 1571 AND THE 1581 AND HAVN'T ENCOUNTERED ANY DIFFICULTIES. ╬IETHER PROGRAM DOES ANYTHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY, SO ╔ WOULDN'T ANTICIPATE ANY PROBLEMS WITH OTHER DRIVES. ┴S STATED ELSEWHERE, THE ├OMMODORE FILETYPE INFORMATION, INCLUDING THE ╥┼╠ATIVE FILE RECORD LENGTH IS IMBEDDED IN THE ╠╚┴╥├HIVE SUCH THAT THE ┴MIGA─╧╙ AND/OR ═╙-─╧╙ VERSIONS OF ╠╚┴╥├ WILL IGNORE IT. ├ONSEQUENTLY, IF YOU WERE TO DISSOLVE AND THEN RE-ARCHIVE AN ╠╚┴╥├HIVE CONTAINING FILETYPE INFORMATION ON ONE OF THOSE MACHINES, THE FILETYPE INFORMATION AND RECORD LENGTH WOULD BE LOST. ╠╚┴ ALWAYS CHECKS TO SEE IF THE TARGET ARCHIVE EXISTS BEFORE PROCEEDING. ╔F IT DOES, THEN IT WILL APPEND TO IT. ╔F IT DOES NOT, THEN IT WILL CREATE A NEW ONE. ╞OR PORTABILITY, ╠╚┴ CONVERTS THE FILENAME TO STANDARD ┴╙├╔╔ BEFORE PUTTING IT IN THE ARCHIVE HEADER AND CONVERTS BACK TO ├OMMODORE ┴╙├╔╔ ON EXTRACTING THE ARCHIVE. ╧THERWISE THE FILENAME IS LEFT ALONE. ╘HUS SPACES AND OTHER CHARACTERS WHICH WOULD BE ILLEGAL IN OTHER OPERATING SYSTEMS ARE ALLOWED. ╔F YOU ARE PLANNING TO DISSOLVE THE ARCHIVE ON A NON ├OMMODORE MACHINE, IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE THAT THE FILENAMES ARE SUCH THAT THEY WON'T CAUSE PROBLEMS WHEN DEARCHIVED ON THE TARGET OPERATING SYSTEM. ╧N OPERATING SYSTEMS THAT SUPPORT SUBDIRECTORIES, ╠╚┴╥├ ALLOWS YOU TO STORE THE FULL PATH AND FILENAME IN THE ARCHIVE. ╙INCE ├OMMODORE'S ─╧╙ HAS NO SUBDIRECTORY SUPPORT, ╠╚╪ SIMPLY IGNORES'S ANY PATH AND ONLY USES THE FILENAME. ╘HIS HAS A COUPLE OF ADVERSE EFFECTS... 1) ╙INCE THE FORWARD AND BACKWARD SLASH ARE LEGAL IN ├OMMODORE FILENAMES, ANY SUCH NAMES WILL BE MISHANDLED. ╘HE ONLY SOLUTION IS TO RE-NAME THE OFFENDING FILE BEFORE OR AFTER ADDING OR EXTRACTING IT FROM THE ARCHIVE. 2) ┴ FILE WITH THE SAME NAME MAY EXIST IN MORE THAN ONE SUBDIRECTORY. ╙INCE THE SUBDIRECTORY NAME IS STRIPPED OFF, THE SECOND ONE WILL OVERWRITE THE FIRST ONE. ╘O AVOID THIS USE THE -R OPTION WITH ╠╚╪. ╘HIS WILL CAUSE ╠╚╪ TO RENAME ALL FILES WHICH ALREADY EXIST. ╠╚╪ WILL WRITE A BATCH FILE CALLED "─UPLICATES" WHICH YOU CAN EDIT AND EXECUTE WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE. ╠╚┴ SHOULD WRITE A NULL HEADER TO MARK THE END OF THE ARCHIVE, BUT IT DOES NOT SINCE BOTH THE ┴MIGA AND ═╙-─╧╙ ╠╚┴╥├ PROGRAMS CORRECTLY DETECT THE END OF THE ARCHIVE WITHOUT IT. ╘HIS MEANS THAT YOU CAN CONCATENATE TWO ╠╚┴╥├HIVES TOGETHER TO GET A VALID ╠╚┴╥├HIVE PROVIDED THAT BOTH WERE CREATED WITH ╠╚┴ AND NO ╪═╧─┼═ OR OTHER PADDING HAS CHANGED THE FILE'S LENGTH. ╘HIS IS ALSO WHY ITS ╧╦ TO APPEND TO AN EXISTING ╠╚┴╥├HIVE. ╚OWEVER, IF THE ╠╚┴╥├HIVE WAS DOWNLOADED VIA ╪═╧─┼═ OR CREATED ON AN ┴MIGA OR ╨├, YOU SHOULD NOT TRY TO APPEND TO IT AS THE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION MAY BE LOST WHEN ╠╚╪ SEE'S THE ╬╒╠╠ HEADER AND THINKS IT REACHED THE END OF THE ARCHIVE. ╘HERE IS A SOLUTION TO THIS, BUT ITS A FAIR BIT OF WORK AND PROBABLY NOT WORTH THE EFFORT. ╫HEN ITS FINISHED, ╠╚┴ TELLS YOU THE TOTAL NUMBER OF BYTES IT HAS READ FROM, AND THE TOTAL NUMBER OF BYTES IT HAS WRTTEN TO DISK. ╔F YOU'RE CREATING A NEW ARCHIVE THESE NUMBERS REFLECT THE TOTAL CONTENT OF THE ARCHIVE INCLUDING THE ╙╞╪ HEADER IF ITS AN ╙╞╪. ╔F YOU'RE APPENDING TO AN EXISTING ARCHIVE THESE NUMBERS REFLECT ONLY THE NEW INFORMATION ADDED. ╠╚┴ SAVES THE FILETYPE IN THE ARCHIVE, SO ╙┼╤ AND ╨╥╟ FILETYPES ARE RETAINED WHEN EXTRACTED. ╧F COURSE, THIS IS ONLY TRUE IF THE ╠╚┴╥├HIVE WAS MADE WITH ╠╚┴. ╔F FILETYPE INFORMATION IS PRESENT IN THE ARCHIVE, IT WILL OVERRIDE THE DEFAULT FILETYPE USED BY ╠╚╪. ╘HE FILETYPE BYTE IS BURIED IN THE FILENAME IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT WILL BE IGNORED BY THE ═╙-─╧╙ OR ┴MIGA ╠╚┴╥├. ┴S THE ARCHIVE GETS BUILT, ╠╚┴ TRIES TO IMPRESS YOU BY BUILDING A BAR GRAPH OF THE FILE'S SIZE BEFORE AND AFTER COMPRESSION. ┼ACH VERTICAL BAR IS 1/4 OF A CHARACTER WIDE AND REPRESENTS 256 BYTES. ╘HUS EACH CHARACTER REPRESENTS 1╦. ┴S THE FILE IS COMPRESSED, THE BAR REPRESENTING THE ORIGINAL SIZE IS BUILT. ╠ATER, WHEN FLUSHING THE 1750 TO DISK, THE BAR REPRESENTING THE COMPRESSED SIZE IS BUILT OVERTOP OF THE ORIGINAL BAR, BUT IN A DIFFERENT COLOR LEAVING YOU WITH A VISUAL IMAGE OF WHAT'S GOING ON. ╫ITH THE DATA COMPRESSION ALGORITHM EMPLOYED, THE BETTER THE COMPRESSION RATIO, THE SLOWER THE COMPRESSOR RUNS. ╙O, IF ╠╚┴ SEEMS TO BE TAKING A RATHER LONG TIME GOING ABOUT ITS BUSINESS, THE FILE BEING ARCHIVED IS PROBABLY COMPRESSING RATHER WELL. ┴LSO, THE DECOMPRESSOR WILL RUN FASTER THE HIGHER THE COMPRESSION RATIO. ╘HUS IF ╠╚┴ TAKES A LONG TIME ON PARTICULAR FILE, ╠╚╪ WILL TAKE LESS TIME THAN NORMAL FOR THAT FILE. ╥ATHER THAN SPECIFY ALL OF THE FILENAMES TO BE ARCHIVED ON THE COMMAND LINE, ╠╚┴ ALSO ALLOWS YOU TO SPECIFY THEM IN A FILE. ╞OR EXAMPLE THE COMMAND ... ╠╚┴ TEST @A:NAMES WOULD TELL ╠╚┴ THAT THERE IS A FILE "A:NAMES" WHICH CONTAINS A LIST OF THE FILES TO BE ADDED TO THE ARCHIVE. ╘HIS WOULD BE USEFUL, FOR INSTANCE, IF YOU'RE WORKING ON SOME PROJECT AND WANT TO PERIODICALLY BACKUP YOUR WORKING FILES. ┘OU COULD SAVE A BIT OF TYPING BY PUTTING A LIST OF THE FILES YOU WANT TO ARCHIVE IN A BACKUPLIST FILE. ╘HE MAIN REASON FOR THIS OPTION, HOWEVER, IS TO ALLOW ╠╚┴ TO INTERACT WITH OTHER PROGRAMS. ╙UCH PROGRAMS (SOME SORT OF MENU DRIVEN FILE SELECTOR FOR INSTANCE) COULD SAVE THE FILENAMES THEY WANT ARCHIVED IN A FILE AND THEN INVOKE ╠╚┴ FROM A BATCH FILE. ╘HE FORMAT OF THE @NAMES FILE IS AS FOLLOWS. ╠╚┴ WILL IGNORE ANY LINES WHICH DO NOT CONFORM OR BEGIN WITH A SEMI-COLON. ┼ACH LINE IS OF THE FORM.. D:NAME,T ;ANYTHING AFTER THE T IS IGNORED NAME - MUST BE 16 CHARACTERS OR LESS AND CANNOT CONTAIN ANY WILDCARD CHARACTERS ( * OR ? ) ,T - MUST BE PRESENT, AND 'T' MUST BE 'P' OR 'S' FOR ╨╥╟ AND ╙┼╤ RESPECTIVELY D: - IS OPTIONAL ╘O GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF HOW FAST (OR SLOW) ╠╚┴ AND ╠╚╪ ARE, HERE ARE SOME SAMPLE TIMES. ┴LL TESTS WERE DONE USING THE IDENTICAL ARCHIVE. ╘HIS ARCHIVE WAS 112 ├┬═ DISK BLOCKS WHEN ARCHIVED WITH ┴╥├128, BUT ONLY 82 DISK BLOCKS WHEN ARCHIVED WITH ╠╚┴. ╠ISTING OF ARCHIVE : '╘┼╙╘.╠┌╚' ╬AME ╧RIGINAL ╨ACKED ╥ATIO ─ATE ╘IME ┴TTR ╘YPE ├╥├-------------- -------- -------- ------ -------- -------- ---- ----- ---- ╠╚┴ 11580 7468 64.5% 90-01-11 9:22:56 A--W -LH1- 6322 ╠╚┴╥├15.┴╙═ 11650 2718 23.3% 90-01-11 9:28:16 A--W -LH1- 82┴5 ╠╚╪ 10982 6977 63.5% 90-01-11 9:23:18 A--W -LH1- 503┬ ╠┌╚╒╞.├ 10021 3442 34.3% 89-11-26 7:28:10 A--W -LH1- 55─3-------------- -------- -------- ------ -------- -------- 4 FILES 44233 20605 46.6% 90-01-11 9:28:36 ╙AMPLE ╘IMING------------- ├OMPUTER ╨ROGRAM ╙OURCE ─ESTINATION ╘IME IN ╙ECONDS TO-------- ------- ------ ----------- ------------------ ├REATE ─ISSOLVE ------ --------20 ═╚Z 386 ╠╚┴╥├ FLOPPY SAME FLOPPY 13.7 21.2 1.13C HARD DISK HARD DISK 6.2 5.0 4.77 ═╚Z ╪╘ ╠╚┴╥├ FLOPPY SAME FLOPPY 90.7 89.0 1.13C HARD DISK HARD DISK 54.1 29.8 ┴MIGA 500 ╠╚┴╥├ 1.0 FLOPPY SAME FLOPPY 110.5 56.8 HARD DISK HARD DISK 96.9 29.0 ├128 ╠╚┴/╠╚╪ 1571 1581 175.4 105.5 1581 SAME 1581 171.5 118.0 ├128 ┴╥├128 1571 1581 205.7 121.0 1581 SAME 1581 149.3 103.2 ╙O, ALTHOUGH THE 128 IS NO SPEED DEMON, THE TIMES ARE IN LINE WITHWHAT YOU MIGHT EXPECT FOR AN 8 BIT MACHINE AT 2 ═╚Z. ╞ORMAT OF AN ╠╚┴╥├ ARCHIVE:--------------------------- ┴N ╠╚┴╥├HIVE CONSISTS OF ONE OR MORE ENTRIES OF THE FOLLOWING FORM... ╞IELD ─ESCRIPTION ╚EADER╙IZE 1 BYTE. ╘HE LENGTH OF THE HEADER.╚EADER├HECKSUM 1 BYTE. ╙UM, IGNORING CARRY OF ALL THE BYTES IN THE HEADER EXCEPT ╚EADER╙IZE AND ╚EADER├HECKSUM╚EADER╔─ 5 BYTES. "-╠╚1-" FOR COMPRESSED FILES, OR "-╠╚0-" FOR STORED╨ACKED╙IZE 4 BYTES. ╘HE LENGTH IN BYTES OF DATA WHICH FOLLOW THE HEADER.╧RIGINAL╙IZE 4 BYTES. ╘HE FILE'S ORIGINAL LENGTH╘IME 2 BYTES. ╘HE FILE'S CREATION TIME─ATE 2 BYTES. ╘HE FILE'S CREATION DATE┴TTRIBUTES 2 BYTES. ╘HE FILE'S ATTRIBUTES.╞ILENAME╠ENGTH 1 BYTE. ╘HE LENGTH OF THE FILENAME IN BYTES.╞ILENAME ╘HE FILE'S FULL PATH\NAME├╥├ 2 BYTES. ╘HE FILE'S CYCLICAL REDUNDANCY CODE CALCULATED USING THE SAME ALGORITHM AS ╨╦┴╥├ '╨ACKED╙IZE' BYTES OF DATA FOLLOW, FOLLOWED BY THE NEXT FILE IN THE ARCHIVE. ╬OTES: 1) ╠╚╪ IGNORES THE ╘IME, ─ATE AND ┴TTRIBUTES FIELDS.2) ╠╚┴ SETS THE ┴TTRIBUTES FIELD TO 0, THE ╘IME FIELD TO 1:00 AND THE ─ATE FIELD TO THE DATE YOU SET FOR ├╙-─╧╙3) ╘HE ═╙-─╧╙ AND ┴MIGA ╠╚┴╥├ PROGRAMS STORE JUST THE FILENAME WITHOUT ANY TERMINATING ╬╒╠╠ CHARACTER. ╠╚┴ STORES THE FILENAME FOLLOWED BY A TERMINATING ╬╒╠╠ FOLLOWED BY A 'S','P','U' OR AN 'R' FOR ╙┼╤, ╨╥╟, ╒╙╥ OR ╥┼╠ FILETYPES RESPECTIVELY. ╔N THE CASE OF A ╥┼╠ FILE, AN ADDITIONAL BYTE CONTAINING THE RELATIVE RECORD LENGTH FOLLOWS THE 'R'. ├OMPRESSOR ╨ERFORMANCE---------------------- ┴FTER CONVERTING A FEW MEGABYTES OF ┴╥├128 ARCHIVE TO ╠╚┴╥├HIVES IT LOOKS LIKE A TYPICAL SAVINGS IS IN THE ORDER OF 25-30% ╘HERE ARE SEVERAL WAYS OF LOOKING AT THAT. ╔F YOU HAVE A 1581 FLOPPY FULL TO THE BRIM WITH ARCHIVES, AND YOU CONVERT THEM ALL TO ╠╚┴╥├HIVES, YOU'D LIKELY GAIN ABOUT 200-250╦ OR ABOUT 800-900 BLOCKS FREE. ┴T $1.00 A FLOPPY, ITS LIKE PAYING ONLY $0.70-$0.75 A FLOPPY. ╔F YOU'VE GOT ALOT OF FLOPPIES, IT ADDS UP. ╔F YOU DON'T ITS NO BIG DEAL. ╔F YOU RUN A ┬┬╙ ON A 128 WITH A 20 MEG HARD DRIVE THAT COST YOU $1000.00, IT WOULD BE EASY TO GAIN A HUNDRED OR SO BUCKS WORTH OF HARD DRIVE SPACE BY CONVERTING SOME FILES. ╔F YOU DOWNLOAD FROM ╟┼NIE AT $6.00 PER HOUR, ITS LIKE GETTING $1.50 AN HOUR REBATE IF YOU CHOOSE ╠┌╚ OVER ┴╥├. ╔F YOU DOWNLOAD FROM ├OMPUSERVE AT $12.50 AN HOUR, ITS LIKE A $3.25 AN HOUR DISCOUNT. ╔F YOU DOWNLOAD FROM A LOCAL ┬┬╙ AND YOU HAVE A ONE HOUR TIME LIMIT, ITS LIKE HAVING YOUR TIME LIMIT EXTENDED TO AN HOUR AND TWENTY MINUTES. ╔F YOU'RE A DEVELOPER, AND YOU DISTRIBUTE YOUR PRODUCT IN ARCHIVED FORM, IT COULD MEAN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ONE DISK PER CUSTOMER OR TWO. ╔N ANY CASE, ITS NOT TOO DIFFICULT TO JUSTIFY A $20.00 SHAREWARE CONTRIBUTION.
