╔F YOU'RE READING THIS TEXT FILE, THEN YOU'VE PROBABLY ALREADY GONE THROUGH THE PROCESS OF DISSOLVING THE ARCHIVE THAT WAS USED TO DISTRIBUTE IT. ╨RETTY EASY HUH? ╫ELL, THATS WHAT SELF-DISSOLVING ARCHIVES (╙─ARC'S) ARE ALL ABOUT. ╔T TAKES THE PAIN (OR CONFUSION) OUT OF DISSOLVING ARCHIVES.
╬OT ONLY ARE ╙─ARC'S EASY TO USE, BUT SINCE THE ARCHIVES CREATED ARE SELF DISSOLVING, IT IS NO LONGER NESSESSARY FOR PEOPLE RECIEVING SUCH FILES TO HAVE ┴╥├ INSTALLED AND RUNNING BEFORE THEY CAN DISSOLVE THEM. ┴LL YOU HAVE TO DO IS ╠╧┴─ AND ╥╒╬ AN ╙─ARC. ╘HIS IS PROBABLY WHAT MOST PEOPLE DO TO DOWNLOADED PROGRAMS ANYWAY, SO INSTRUCTIONS ARE NOT EVEN NESSESSARY. ╞OR THOSE OF YOU THAT HAVE ONLY A SINGLE 1541 OR 1571, YOU'LL APPRECIATE THE CONVENIENCE OF JUST ╠╧┴─ING THE ╙─ARC INTO ╥┴═, SWITCHING DISKS, AND DEPOSITING THE UN-┴╥├ED FILES ON A FRESH DISK.
╙─ARC'S ARE ALSO VERY EASY TO CREATE. ┴LL YOU HAVE TO DO IS ATTACH THE SHORT 4 BLOCK ╙─┴ PROGRAM TO THE BEGINNING OF THE ARCHIVE AS OUTLINED BELOW.
┬UT, CONVENIENCE HAS A PRICE. ╔N ORDER TO KEEP THE ╙─┴ PROGRAM AS SHORT AS POSSIBLE, WE'VE MADE A FEW SIMPLIFYING ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE ARCHIVES THEY ARE TO DISSOLVE. ┴FTER ALL, ONE OF THE NICE THINGS ABOUT ┴╥├ IS THAT IT SAVES YOU DISK SPACE AND UP/DOWNLOAD TIME. ╔F THE ╙─┴ HEADER WERE TOO LARGE, WE'D LOSE THAT ADVANTAGE. ╘HE LIMITATIONS IMPOSED BY THESE ASSUMPTIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS:
║LM10:AI-3
1) ╘HE ╙─ARC MUST BE CREATED USING AN ┴╥├ PROGRAM NUMBERED 2.XX ╘HAT IS, IT MUST BE A VERSION 2 ARCHIVE.
2) ╘HE ╙─ARC áMUST ╬╧╘ CONTAIN ANY CRUNCHED FILES. ╔T MAY áCONTAIN ANY COMBINATION OF STORED,PACKED SQUEEZED, OR SQUASHED FILES. ├RUNCHED FILES REQUIRE ABOUT 28╦ OF ╥┴═ AS WORKSPACE, AND THIS WOULD IMPOSE TOO MUCH OF A RESTRICTION ON THE MAXIMUM SIZE OF AN ╙─ARC. ╔T WOULD ALSO DOUBLE (OR MORE) THE SIZE OF THE ╙─┴ HEADER.
3) ╘HE ╙─ARC MUST NOT CONTAIN ANY ╥┼╠ATIVE FILES.
4) ╙─┴ IS MACHINE SENSITIVE. ╘HE 64 VERSION WON'T WORK IN 128 MODE ON THE 128, AND THE ╨┼╘ VERSION ONLY WORKS ON THE ╨┼╘ AND SO ON. ╔NCIDENTALLY, THE ╨┼╘ VERSION IS FOR ┬┴╙╔├ 4.0 ONLY.
5) ┘OUáHAVE TO WATCH OUT HOW BIG THE ╙─ARC IS. ╔F YOU TRY TO LOAD A PROGRAM BIGGER THAN ABOUT 200 BLOCKS INTO THE 64, YOU'LL WIPE OUT THE MEMORY MAPPED ╔/╧ AND CRASH THE 64. ╙─ARC'S CAN BE LARGER THAN 200 BLOCKS ON THE ├-64. ╘HE MAXIMUM SIZE IS ABOUT 243 DISK BLOCKS, ($0801-$╞9╞╞) BUT YOU WILL HAVE TO WRITE YOUR OWN BOOT PROGRAM SO THAT IT GETS LOADED INTO ╝╥┴═╛ PROPERLY. ╙EE THE NOTES BELOW FOR SIZE RESTRICTIONS FOR THE VARIOUS VERSIONS OF ╙─┴.
║LM2:AI+1
║FP
├REATION OF ╙─ARC'S IS QUITE SIMPLE.
╞IRST, SELECT THE CORRECT VERSION OF THE ╙─┴ HEADER PROGRAM. ╔F YOU'RE ┴╥├ING 64 STUFF, USE THE 64 VERSION; FOR ╨┼╘ STUFF, USE THE ╨┼╘ VERSION. ┘OU'LL NEED TO MAKE A COPY OF THE ╙─┴ PROGRAM, BECAUSE IT WILL BE 'USED UP' BY THE ╙─-ARCHIVE.
╬EXT RENAME THE COPY OF ╙─┴ TO THE NAME OF THE ARCHIVE YOU WANT TO CREATE. ╘HE NAME YOU CHOOSE WILL HAVE TO END WITH THE FILENAME EXTENSION '.ARC'.
╬EXT USE ┴╥├ 2.30 TO APPEND TO THE ╙─┴ PROGRAM USING ┴╥├/┴┌
╬EXT, RENAME THE ╙─┴ TO WHATEVER YOU FEEL LIKE. ╔TS NOT REALLY AN ARCHIVE, SO AVOID THE '.ARC' FILENAME EXTENSION.
╞INALLY, ╠╧┴─ AND ╥╒╬ IT, AND MAKE SURE IT WORKS BEFORE UPLOADING IT TO A BUNCH OF BULLETIN BOARDS. ═AKE SURE YOU DON'T NEGLECT THIS STEP! ┘OU NEVER KNOW WHAT MIGHT GO WRONG.
┴ SAMPLE SESSION, WITH ┴╥├ ACTIVE, MIGHT GO SOMETHING LIKE THIS. ╫E'LL ASSUME ALL THE NEEDED FILES ARE ON DRIVE A:
>C0:NEWFILE.ARC=0:SDA230.64 (MAKE A COPY)
ARC/AZ NEWFILE WHATEVER YOU WANT IN IT (MAKE THE ARCHIVE)
REN NEWFILE.ARC NEWFILE.SDA (RENAME IT)
DLOAD"NEWFILE.SDA" (CHECK IT OUT)
RUN
┴N ALTERNATE METHOD WOULD BE TO FIRSTáCREATE THE ARCHIVE USING ┴╥├/├┌, AND THEN USE ─╧╙ TO APPEND THE ARCHIVE TO THE ╙─┴ PROGRAM.
╫HEN YOU ╥╒╬ AN ╙─ARC, IT áASSUMES THAT THE ARCHIVE FOLLOWS IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE ╙─┴ PROGRAM. ═AKE SURE THAT YOU AVOID USING ╪═╧─┼═ TO TRANSFER THE ╙─┴ PROGRAM (IN UN-┴╥├ED FORM) BECAUSE THIS WILL CHANGE ITS FILE SIZE AND IT WILL THINK THAT THE ╪═╧─┼═ PADDING IS THE FIRST ARCHIVE ENTRY, AND WILL ABORT SINCE THE HEADER WILL NO DOUBT BE INVALID.
╘HE VERY FIRST FILE IN THE ╙─ARCHIVE IS NOT EXTRACTED TO DISK, BUT IS TYPED TO THE SCREEN INSTEAD. (╔ GET A LITTLE NERVOUS WHEN A PROGRAM STARTS RIGHT OFF WRITING TO DISK WITHOUT ANY EXPLANATION.) ╘HIS FIRST FILE CAN, OF COURSE BE SQUEEZED OR SQUASHED, AND SHOULD CONTAIN INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE USER, COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR WHATEVER YOU THINK IS APPROPRIATE.
┴FTER DISPLAYING THIS FIRST FILE, ╙─┴ WAITS FOR THE USER TO HIT A KEY. ╔F THE KEY IS THEá╥╒╬/╙╘╧╨ KEY,áTHEN ╙─┴ JUST GOES TO THE ╥┼┴─┘ PROMPT AND WON'T EXTRACT THE ╙─ARCHIVE. ╔FáANY OTHER KEY IS PRESSED, IT GOES AHEAD AND EXTRACTS THE REMAINING FILES TO THE DISK IN DRIVE 0 OF UNIT 8.
┴S THE FILE IS EXTRACTED, YOU WILL SEE THE NAMES OF THE FILES BEING CREATED DISPLAYED ONE AT A TIME. ╔F, AFTER EXTRACTION, THE CHECKSUM IS OK ╙─┴ PRINTS "OK" AFTER THE FILENAME. ╔F THERE IS A CHECKSUM ERROR, ╙─┴ PRINTS A QUESTION MARK. (?)
║FP
╙IZE RESTRICTIONS:
$0200-$0230 IS USED BY ╙─┴. (┴LL VERSIONS)
$0100-$0116 IS USED BY ╙─┴. (┴LL VERSIONS)
$╞┴00-$╞┼╞╞ IS USED BY ╙─┴ IN THE ├=64 AND ├=128 VERSIONS.
$7┬00-$7╞╞╞ IS USED BY ╙─┴ IN THE ╨┼╘ VERSION.
$0401-$07╞6 ╙─┴ HEADER IN THE ╨┼╘. ═AX SIZE OF AN ╙─ARCHIVE = 119 BLOCKS.
$0801-$0┬╞6 ╙─┴ HEADER IN THE 64. '' '' '' 201 ''
$1├01-$1╞╞6 ╙─┴ HEADER IN THE 128. '' '' '' 223 ''
╘HIS MEANS THAT IN THE ╨┼╘, YOUR ╙─ARCHIVE CAN BE AS BIG AS $7┴╞╞-$0401, OR A MAXIMUM OF 119 BLOCKS WHEN STORED ON DISK. ╔N THE 64, IT CAN BE $─000-$0801 OR ABOUT 201 BLOCKS ON DISK. ╔F YOU WANT TO CONSTRUCT YOUR OWN ┬╧╧╘ PROGRAM, THEN IT COULD BE AS LARGE AS $╞┴00-$0801, OR ABOUT 243 DISK BLOCKS. ╔N THE ├-128 IT CAN BE $╞┴00-$1├00, OR ABOUT 223 ├┬═ DISK BLOCKS.
╬OTE THAT WE'VE PADDED THE LENGTH OF THE ╙─┴ HEADER TO AN EXACT MULTIPLE OF 254 BYTES. ╘HIS WAY IT WILL TAKE UP EXACTLY FOUR BLOCKS ON DISK. ╔F, FOR SOME REASON YOU WISH TO CONVERT IT TO A REGULAR ARCHIVE, THEN ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS BOOT UP YOUR FAVORITE DISK DOCTOR AND CHANGE THE (TRACK,SECTOR) POINTER TO THE FIRST BLOCK IN THE FILE SO THAT IT POINTS TO THE FIFTH BLOCK IN THE FILE, AND THE JOB IS DONE.
