:Defining Archivers Defining Archivers Choosing this option allows you to define new archivers, edit existing archivers, and delete archivers. When you select this option, a list of the currently defined archivers will be displayed. At this point the following options are available: - Define new archiver. - Delete selected archiver. - Edit selected archiver. Tips: - The easiest way to define a new archive would be to print out the command line help for the archiver first. For example type:'ARJ -? >lpt1' for ARJ. Then you can look up the information you will need as you fill in the dialog box. Also, try testing out your selections by creating some test archives. This way you can be sure that AC will operate properly when you convert to/from the new archive. :Defining DeArchivers Defining DeArchivers Choosing this option allows you to define new dearchivers, edit existing ones, and delete dearchivers. When you select this option, a list of the currently defined dearchivers will be displayed. At this point the following options are available: - Define new dearchiver. - Delete selected dearchiver. - Edit selected dearchiver. :Registration Registration This option allows you enter the registration number you recieve when you license AC. Simply enter the number and press . From this point on, AC and ACS will be fully functional. :Defaults Defaults <<<>> This option allows you change the defaults for AC. Most defaults are toggles, either ON or OFF. Registered users of this program can modify these toggles to customize how they would like AC to operate by default. If you modify these toggles, you should remember that command line options that modify these defaults TOGGLE the value. What this means is that if you set recursion to ON, and you include the recursion option in the command line, it will actually turn recursion OFF. :Defaults...Archive Default Archive This tells AC what archive to convert to by default. The available archives are those that are defined as archivers. :Defaults...Recursion Recursion Recursion means to support sub directories inside of archive files. When this switch is on, AC will automatically recursively convert archive files. NOTE: If this switch is ON, and you convert a recursive archive to an archive that does not support recursion, you WILL lose data! :Defaults...Timestamp TimeStamp Timestamping means that when an archive is converted, it will use the most recent date of the file dates INSIDE the archive. Not all archivers support this feature, and if not, this toggle will simply be ignored. :Defaults...Keep When Keep is ON, AC will NOT delete the original archive. It will retain the old archive and create the new one, leaving you with 2 archives. :Defaults...Scan When Scan is ON, AC will scan archives for viruses during conversion. The method would be to extract, scan, clean if virus found, compress. :Defaults...Logg When Logg is ON, AC will write information to a text file for each file converted. See AC.DOC for specific information on the format. :Defaults...Update Update When Updating is ON, AC will properly convert archives of the same type. If you wish to update an archive to a newer version, you must set this switch to ON. It is NOT recommended to set this switch to ON by default, rather to turn it on only when needed, since you will probably only update archives intermittently, and it alters the way AC converts archives. :Defaults...Sound SOUND When Sound is ON, AC will make a short beep whenever a window is opened or closed. :Defaults...Explode EXPLODE When Exploding is ON, all windows in AC will explode when opened, and implode when closed. When this feauture is off, windows will appear immediatly. :Defaults...Nest When you set nesting to ON, AC will automatically convert any archives it finds inside the main archive you are converting. When Nesting is OFF, AC will treat any archives found inside the archive as an ordinary file. NOTE: You should use this option with care. If you convert nested archives in an archive, and the program that is contained in the archive has an installation routine that expects to find archives of a specific type, you may be forced to manually install the program or to re-convert the archives back to their original format. :Defaults...Video Video This option allows you to set the default video mode when running AC in UI mode. The available options are: AUTO,25,28,43, and 50. AUTO would use whatever video mode was set when you start AC. 25,28,43 and 50 will cause AC to start up with the appropriate number of lines no matter what mode was set before. AC always restore the video mode to what it was before execution. Command Line mode will ALWAYS be set to AUTO. If you want to have 50 lines in command line mode, you must set that mode manually before running AC. :Creating a new Database Creating a new Database This option will create a new database in the event that the file AC.DB becomes damaged or is deleted. If possible, you should retrieve the database that came with AC, because this option will ONLY create a database with 1 archiver and 1 dearchiver defined. You will have to enter all the other archivers manually. :Archive Executable Archive Executable This would be the name of the DOS program that would create an archiver. Be sure to add the extension at the end (IE .EXE). When you finish entering all information in the dialog box, and press to save it, ACS will check to see if the archive executable can be found in your DOS path. If it cannot locate it, you will be warned that it was not found, and asked if you would like to add the archive definition anyway. :DeArchive Executable De-Archive Executable This would be the name of the DOS program that would extract an archiver. Be sure to add the extension at the end (IE .EXE). When you finish entering all information in the dialog box, and press to save it, ACS will check to see if the dearchive executable can be found in your DOS path. If it cannot locate it, you will be warned that it was not found, and asked if you would like to add the dearchive definition anyway. :Archive Extension Archive Extension The purpose of the archive extension is to tell AC what extension to use when creating an archive. The extension can be anything that you like, just keep in mind that whatever you enter will be the extension of any archive files converted. Hint: To create two different archive definitions that use the same archive program, simply use different extensions. For example PKZIP will normally use .ZIP extensions, however ZIP files that have a verification number will often have extensions of .SDF, even though they are still ZIP files. :DeArchive Extension DeArchive Extension The purpose of the dearchive extension is to tell AC what extensions to search for when it displays file lists in UI mode, and what extensions to search for when you specify a wildcard conversion on the command line. :Archive Switch Archive Switch Archive switches would be any commands that you would normally type on the command line to alter the operation of an archive program. Often times archivers have at least 1 command line switch that is necessary to create an archive. You should NOT combine separate archive switches in the same edit box. You may enter up to 4 separate archive switches. :DeArchive Switch DeArchive Switch De-Archive switches would be any commands that you would normally type on the command line to alter the operation of a dearchive program. Often times dearchivers have at least 1 command line switch that is necessary to extract an archive. You should NOT combine separate dearchive switches in the same edit box. You may enter up to 4 separate dearchive switches. :Archive Command Line Switch Archive Command Line Switch You must define what command line switch you would like to use for an archiver that you wish to define. There are 31 possible switches that can be used when no archivers have been defined. You cannot define the same switch more than once. :Archive Recursive Switch Archive Recursive Switch Archive recursive switches are switches that would tell the archiver to support recursion, or nested directories. As with normal switches, if an archiver requires more than one switch to support recursion, you should enter each switch in the four available recursive switch fields. :DeArchive Recursive Switch DeArchive Recursive Switch De-Archive recursive switches are switches that would tell the archiver to support recursion, or nested directories. As with normal switches, if a dearchiver requires more than one switch to support recursion, you should enter each switch in the four available recursive switch fields. NOTE: - Unlike defining Archivers, that simply append the recursive switch to the normal switches, De-Archivers do NOT. Dearchivers will either use the normal switches or the recursive switches, depending upon wether recursion is set to on. If an archiver does NOT support recursion, then you may want to duplicate the normal switches in the recursive switches. This way AC will still convert the archive even if it does not support recursion. :Archive Timestamp Switch Archive Timestamp Switch Archive Timestamping when enabled in AC will cause the archive program to make the archive file date and time to match the most recent file date and time of the most recent file in the archive. If this option is not enabled, then the current system time and date would be used for the archive file. Some archivers do not support this feature, and if they do not, simply leave this field blank. :Archive Separator Separator This field tells AC how to separate each command line switch. Most archivers expect a space between each switch, but some do not. The two available options are 0 - SPACE, and 1 - NONE. You should normally want 0 - SPACE, but may need to set this to no spaces as is the case with ZOO.EXE :DeArchive Separator Separator This field tells AC how to separate each command line switch. Most archivers expect a space between each switch, but some do not. The two available options are 0 - SPACE, and 1 - NONE. You should normally want 0 - SPACE, but may need to set this to no spaces as is the case with ZOO.EXE :Selecting Colors Selecting Colors When you select an item whose color you would like to change, you are presented with a color box that displays all the possible color combinations. The current setting will initially be shown. To move the cursor, just use the 4 arrow keys. To make a selection, press . To cancel, and keep the original setting intact, press the key. Note: If you modify the color pallettes, ACS will temporarily change the pallette to reflect your current pallette if different from the default. :Selecting Pallettes Selecting the Pallette The color pallette allows for only 16 different colors on the screen at any one time. However, there are many more colors available than the standard 16. AC allows you to change the pallette color for any of the 16 default colors. To change the pallette select the following: 'AC Colors... | Custom Pallette | ' Note: If you make a lot of changes to the pallette and want to restore the pallette to the defaults, select the default program colors and the pallette will also be restored. :Selecting Background Selecting the Background To change the background character, select the following: 'AC Colors... | Custom Colors | Background Character'. A box will appear showing 20 characters at a time, use the left and right arrow keys to select the character you wish to use for the background. Press the key to make your selection, and the to cancel.