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QAZ v3.09c
by Robert Rothenburg Walking-Owl
Copyright (c)1993,1994 All Rights Reserved
A
No-Frills
User's Guide
and Manual
"No archiver too obscure... almost"
License and Distribution
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Individuals and institutions have the right to use this software freely
so long as it is neither modified nor distributed for profit.
Contacting the Author
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Although no registration is required (as the author is unsure of a per-
manent address for the next couple of years) voluntary donations are
accepted. Preferrably a post-card or e-mail if nothing else.
The author (myself) may be reached at:
(post) Robert Rothenburg Walking-Owl
P.O. Box 1327
South Stony Brook, NY 11790-0951 USA
(electronic) robert.rothenburg@asb.com
robert.rothenburg@woodybbs.com
Legal Miscellanea
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Being free, the author makes no guarantees or warrantees as to the use,
misuse or abuse of this software. The author shall not be held respon-
sible for damage to (or improvement of) data, time, finance, ideologies
et cetera in association with the use of this program (QAZ).
The author also makes no gurantees that QAZ will correctly identify and
handle everything (it's impossible). However, much effort and time has
been put into making QAZ as complete and powerful as possible.
Users of this utility take all responsibility for the licensing requir-
ements of associated software(s) used in conjunction with QAZ.
The various archive formats and utilities, as well as operating systems
and other softwares are the respecting trademarks or copyrights of the
various people and-or corporations that own whatever rights there are to
their respective products, etc.
What is QAZ?
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
"QAZ" stands for Q-A-Z, the leftmost three keys on a standard American
QWERTY-style keyboard (I couldn't think up a better name for it at the
time).
QAZ is an "almost universal archive viewer". It will recognize, if not
view, most compressed- or archive(r)-file formats, specifically in the
DOS platform, although other types (from the Amiga, Macintosh and Unix)
are recognized as well. (See the file WHICHARC.TXT for more details.)
QAZ is also capable of searching a drive for archives which contain a
specified set of files, or of returning exit codes identifying the file
type or attributes of the file (such as whether an archive contains AV
information or password-protected files) which can be used by other
software.
The output of QAZ is to standard-output, which means it can be used as
an online BBS viewing utility. The format of the listing is very cust-
omizable to suit users' individual tastes.
Note that the default date and time format settings should conform to
the DOS defaults on users' native systems.
General Usage:
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
If you run QAZ with no options, you should get a similar display:
Usage: QAZ archivefile [datafiles] [options] [[|pipe] > stdout]
Options:
========
-a[±] ANSI -b[±] Bare List
-c[lm].. Character -w[±] Wide List
-df[dsv][012] Date Format -v[acdinopst] View
-dt[sl] Time Format -m[dinqstx±] List Mode
-sr[0-3] Ratio Format -f[bcfup-] List Format
-wl.. Line Width -p[apv]file Picklist
-d[..][,][..] List by Date -p[o]file Optionlist
-s[..][,][..] List by Size -r[aci±] Return Code
-o[adenopr±] Order List -u[berstvx±] Search Mode
-t[dfp±] Tree List -z[±][..] Time-Zone
-l[s±] Lowercase @file Picklist
QAZ v3.09c Copyright (c)1993,94 Robert Rothenburg Walking-Owl (31-Mar-94)
A Universal Archive Viewing Utility: "No archiver too obscure...(almost)"
QAZ can be run in "vanilla" mode with no options: qaz filename (as an ex-
ample, 'qaz foobar.lzh'. QAZ will also accept wildcards, and given the
options, can even span an entire disk searching for archives which contain
specified files (by names, dates or sizes).
Acceptable wildcards are the standard DOS '*' and '?', as well as the un-
documented variants 'name' (with no extention = 'name.*') or '.ext' meaning
'*.ext'. Also acceptable are 'not'-specs (^filespec = all files except the
given filespec) or sets (ie., '[abc]' or '[0-9,abcd]').
Meaning of the Options:
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Following is a "quick-and-dirty" summary of the options. Since QAZ does
not write to any files (unless redirected), it's safe to play around with
them to get a feel for the program and even discover a few funky things
you can do wuth it.
The option letters can be preceed by either a dash ('-') or a backslash
('/').
Listing in ANSI Color
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-a[±] Enables (-a+) or disables (-a-) ANSI codes for color
(as in online/BBS usage). Requires a suitable ANSI-
driver (like ANSI.SYS) to be installed.
For this version of QAZ, the colors can't be changed.
Bare Listing
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-b[±] Enables (-b) or disables (-b) Bare-listing format.
This is similar to the /b option is DOS dir. It can
be used to generate picklists along with the -mq op-
tion (ie., 'qaz foo -mq -b').
Character Codes
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-c[lm]code Changes the ASCII code for the cutline (-cl) or mark
(-cm) characters: ie., use '-cl61' for '=' as the cut-
line.
This option may be used to tweak the display.
Searching files by Date
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-d[..][,][..] Lists files between dates. The date is formatted based
on -df or native country-code settings of your machine,
ie., MM-DD-YY, DD-MM-YY or YY-MM-DD; corresponds to the
same format QAZ will output a listing of the archive as.
ie., the same format generated by the DOS date command.
'-d1-1-91' to view all files dated 1-1-91.
'-d1-1-91,' to view all files dated 1-1-91 and after.
'-d,1-1-91' to view all files dated up to 1-1-91.
'-d1-1-91,1-31-91' to view all files between 1-1 and
1-31-91.
The above examples assume American-style dates.
Setting the Date Format
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-df[dsv][012] Sets the date format.
'-dfd' for defaults.
'-dfv' for verbose dates (month as abbreviated name,
not number, as in 'Jan' rather than '01'.)
'-dfs' for short dates (year as YY not YYYY).
'-df0' for American-style dates (MM-DD-YYYY).
'-df1' for European-style dates (DD-MM-YYYY).
'-df2' for Japanese-style dates (YYYY-MM-DD).
Note that the -d[..][,][..] option will expect the dates
to be formatted as defined by the -df option.
Setting the Time Format
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-dt[sl] Sets the time format.
'-dts' for HH:MM
'-dtl' for HH:MM:SS (default).
Miscellaneous Formatting
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-f[bcfup-] Miscellaneous list formatting.
'-f-' for defaults.
'-fc' to clip filenames lonfer than field length.
'-ff' to two-line display of archiver name & type.
'-fu' for *Nix-style pathnames
'-fp' for filename shown as path+file.
'-fb' to show the path as a seperate line (use w/ '-op').
Case Settings
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-l[s±] Lowercase.
'-ls' for defaults (no changes).
'-l-' for uppercase.
'-l+' for lowercase.
Miscellaneous Functions
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-m[dinqstx±] List Mode (Miscellaneous functions).
'-md' for defaults.
'-mi' for identification only.
'-mn' for suppression of messages.
'-mq' for quiet mode (no headers).
'-ms' to show only if selected filenames are in archive.
'-mt' to examine ASCII files for AR7 or BinHex archives.
'-mx' for external 'debug' mode. The listing is given
as a series of hexidecimal numbers which external
programs can read easily. When combined with the
-ra or -ri switches allow for shells and catalog-
utilities to use QAZ powerfully.
Ordering (Sorting) the Listing
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-o[adenopr±] Order List - defines the sorting order of the display,
'-o-' to disable (natural).
'-oa' to sort by archived file size.
'-od' to sort by date.
'-oe' to sort by extention.
'-on' to sort by name.
'-or' to sort by compression ratio.
'-op' to sort by the file-path.
'-o-n' to sort by name in descending order.
'-o-d' to sort by date in descending order, etc...
Load Picklists
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-p[apv]file Load picklists.
'-pafile' is equivalent to 'qaz @file'
'-ppfile' is equivalent to 'qaz archive @file'
'-pvfile' loads a void-list of files that QAZ will not
view (as in fluke files which may cause QAZ
to crash, or also with the -ri option to flag
files that are in the list).
Loading Options
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-p[o]file Optionlist.
Loads an option file: ie., 'qaz archive -poQAZ.SYS'.
Functions as an alternate to (or in combination with)
defining default options in the QAZCMD variable.
Return Code Options
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-r[aci±] Return exit code information about the archive.
'-r-' for defaults (no exit code unless damaged file).
'-ra' for code flags if archive contains authenticity
info or security codes, password-protected files,
is self-extracting or is damaged.
'-ri' to return an identifying code.
'-rc' to return a count of the number of files in archive
that match given specs.
See the later section of this document for info on codes.
Searching Files by Size
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-s[..][,][..] List by Size. Similar in format to the '-d' option,
filters the listing by original file-sizes.
'-s1,' to view only files > 1 byte.
'-s10k,16k' to view only files betw. 10K and 16Kbytes.
'-s10240,16384' (same as above.)
'-s17347' to view files only of 17347 bytes.
'-s,1m' to view all files under 1MByte.
'-s,70384' to view files <= 70384 bytes.
Set the format of the Ratio
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-sr[0-3] Set the format of the ratios (if viewed).
'-sr0' for defaults (bytes-per-byte ratio).
'-sr1' for Zip-style percent compressed.
'-sr2' for Lha-style percent of original.
'-sr3' for bits-per-byte ratio.
Viewing the Directory Tree
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-t[dfp±] Tree List
'-t' for tree view of directories.
'-tf' for tree view, including files.
Similar to the DOS tree command.
Setting Search Options
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-u[berstvx±] Search Mode, miscellaneous functions.
'-u-' for defaults.
'-ub' for a bell when done.
'-ue' to load search specs from QAZSPEC variable.
'-ur' to recurse iin subdirectories.
'-us' to load search specs from an internal list of
common archive specs (See later section).
'-ut' to give approximate search time.
'-uv' for verbose searches.
'-ux' to search for files outside of archves as well.
ie., to search a disk drive for archives which contain
a file, use:
qaz drive\ -ursv -msi
Defining the View
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-v[acdinoprst] View format, for defining alternate listings.
'-vc' to show archiver comment.
'-v[dinoprst]' for altering listing fields. ie., to
have a listing which shows the name (16 chars, left-
justified), original & archived sizes (9 chars, right-
justified), ratio, date, time and CRC/CheckSum, use:
qaz archive -vn+16o-09a-09r_dt_s
the 'n' field means filename.
the 'p' field means file path (if -fp option is not used).
the 'o' field means original size.
the 'a' field means archived size.
the 'r' field means ratio.
the 'd' field means date.
the 't' field means time.
the 's' field means CRC.
the '_' field means to insert a space between fields.
All fields can be followed by a +xx or -xx, where 'xx' is
a two-digit decimal number referring to the number of
spaces in the field. '-xx' means to right-justify. '+xx'
means to left-justify the field.
Wide Listings
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-w[±] Wide List - for a wide, multi-column listing. Normally
five names per line, unless filenames are longer, in
which care the number of names per line will be auto-adjusted.
Line Width
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-wl.. Line Width: Use -wlxxx to set the width of the cutline to
'xxx' characters. ie., '-wl069' to set to 69 characters.
(Default is 79 characters.)
Time Zone
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
-z[±][..] Time-Zone - Set the Timezome.
'-z+' enables use of TZ variable (Default)
'-z0' disables (sets to GMT).
'-z5' sets to EST5 (GMT-5).
Useful for Unix or Mac formats which set the time rel-
ative to GMT.
Picklists
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
@file Picklist. QAZ will read the file as a list of filespecs
to use. If it is the first argument, QAZ will assume it
is a list of archiver-specs. If another argument, QAZ
will assume it is a list of specs for within the file.
Setting the Default Options
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Environment variable of default options. Use,
set qazcmd=[options]
ie., 'set qazcmd=-ls -ffcb -dfs'
'set qazcmd=/poQAZ.SYS /pvQAZ.BAD'
Setting Extra Specifications
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Specs for use with -ue option. ie.,
set qazspec=*.sdn *.spl
(Useful for obscure filespecs not included with the -us
option.)
Default QAZSPECS with the -us option:
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
*.??Z Unix Compress/GZip *.AR[CJ] ARC/PKARC/PKPAK/ARJ
*.CP[TZ] CompactPro/CPShrink *.DWC DWC
*.EXE DOS Self-Extractors *.GZ GZip
*.HA HA *.H[AY]P Hamarsoft HAP/Hyper
*.[HZ]PK HPACK or ZiLike *.ICE ReeveSoft Freeze/LHIce
*.LHA LHArc (Amiga_ *.[PS]IT PackIt/StuffIt
*.L[AB]R Novosielski Libraries *.LI[BFM] Codec/Knowledge Dynamics/Limit
*.LZ[HS] LHArc/LArc *.[CM]D MDCD
*.PAK PAK *.SEA Mac Self-Extractors
*.SHK ShrinkIt/NuFX *.SQZ Squeeze-It
*.TAR Unix TAR *.Z Unix Compress/GZip
*.ZIP Zip *.ZOO Zoo
QAZPATH
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Path for qaz files, default is same path as QAZ.EXE.
if QAZ cannot file the -p[aopv].. files in the current
(or given) path, QAZ then checks the qazpath for the file.
Return Codes given by the '-r' option(s).
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
When using the -ri option, QAZ will return an exit code indicating the file
type. External programs (such as batch files) can use this information to
determine what utilities to use on the file.
The following is a list of the return codes:
Code Meaning (or archive type) QAZ Version
---- ------------------------ -----------
0 Unknown file type
1 An error has occured (possibly a bad archive)
2 Memory overflow
15 * Unidentified/Miscellaneous (Reserved)
16 Possibly an ASCII (7-bit) text file
17 AR (Use AR or LHA-compatable)
18 AR7
19 ARC
20 ARJ
21 Compress (Unix)
22 Compact Pro (Mac .CPT)
23 Central Point Shrink (CPSHRINK)
24 Diet v1
25 DWC
26 MiscroSoft Compress (Use EXPAND)
27 Freeze v2 (Unix)
28 GNU-Zip
29 HA
30 Hamarsoft HAP
31 Hyper
32 HPACK
33 ReeveSoft Freeze v1.0 (for Windows)
34 * (Reserved)
35 KBoom v1.1
36 Novosielski Libraries (LBR files)
37 * LArc (Amiga .LHA - Use LHArc)
38 Knownledge Dynamics .LIF File
39 LHArc
40 PAK
41 PGP-Encrypted (.PGP)
42 PackIt (Mac .PIT)
43 * PUT (Use LHA-compatable)
44 Queasy (.QEZ)
45 SLIM
46 StuffIt! (Mac .SIT)
47 Squeeze-It! (.SQZ)
48 UltraCompressor II (.UC2)
49 CP/M Squeeze (SQ)
50 ZIP
51 ZOO
52 Zi-Lite/ZPack (Usu. SFX)
53 TAR
54 SAR
55 Codec3
56 JRchive
57 LArc (Use LHArc to decompress)
58 BinHex 4.0
59 * Mac Self-Extracting Archive
60 Mac DiskDoubler Archive
61 Amiga DMS Files (?)
62 AMG Archive
63 LIMIT Archive
64 Yabba File (.Y)
65 NuFX (ShrinkIt!) Archive
66 MDCD Archive
67 Splint File (.SPL) - QAZ v3.09c
128 .. 140 Formerly Graphics formats prior to
QAZ v2.60a. They are no longer
recognized by QAZ.
254 Filename is in -pvfile list
255 Syntax Error (Bad Option)
Note: Formats marked with an asterisk (*) are reserved for future
versions of QAZ. Formats marked with a version number are
not returned by earlier versions of QAZ.
StuffIt! or Compact-Pro files encoded with BinHex should return an
exit code for BinHex.
To suppress output using the -r switch, one can do either of the
following:
QAZ archname -ri -mq ^*
QAZ archname -ri -mqi
QAZ archname -ri > nul
For an example of how to use the -r switch from a batch file, look
at the included file UNQAZ.BAT. This file uses QAZ to identify the
archive type and then attempts to unarchive the file.
Added in this version of QAZ is the -ra option which will return an
exit code if the file contains authentication information, password-
protected files or is part of a multi-volume archive.
In other words, if QAZ returns an exit-code other than 0 for -ra
then one probably does not want automated system utilities to
tamper with the archive. The codes returned by -ra are:
Bit 0 set (1) = Archive may contain AV info.
Bit 1 set (2) = Archive may contain encrypted files.
Bit 2 set (4) = Archive may be part of multi-volume.
Bit 3 set (8) = Self-Extracting archive (DOS).
Bit 7 set (128) = Archive may be damaged.
QAZ v2.60a will no longer return an exit code of 0x01 for the -ri
option is the archive is damaged, but instead return the identifying
code. Use the -ra switch to determine if an archive may be damaged.
Thanks & Ackowledgements
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
A partial listing of people who've tested, commented on, contributed
information, requested copies or replied to my requests:
Timm Erickson
Harald Feldmann
Peter Gutmann
Hari Hirvola
Joe Jerszynski
Rob Jung
Todd Kempf
Joe Negron
Brian Niegocki
Walter Scott
Jorj Strumolo
Nico de Vries