OS/2 Shareware BBS: 9 Archive/09-Archive.zip/ZIPENG10.ZIP/ZIPENG.DOC

Text File | 1993-03-21 | 39KB | 654 lines

     The Zip Engine

     A Shareware Graphical Front-End for File Compression/Decompression

     Midlands OS/2 Enhancement Society (MOSES)
     Kari Jackson and Bart Toulouse

     March 1993

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS:

     To use this Program, you must have:

     -an IBM-compatible PC with OS/2 Version 2.0 (we have not tested with
     the beta version of OS/2 2.1, but it may work just fine, perhaps) and
     REXX support, preferably the REXX20 fix that came out around June of
     1992, or the Service Pak which included that fix and was released in
     October of 1992

     -VREXX Visual REXX for Presentation Manager (free IBM Employee-
     Written Software)

     -PKZip or another compression/decompression utility that uses
     IDENTICAL command-line syntax and switches (preferably PKZip version
     1.10 or 2.04g)

     -the ATTRIB command available on the PATH in your config.sys file,
     and if your zip/unzip program is a DOS version, then ATTRIB must
     also be on the autoexec.bat file's PATH

PKZip is a trademark of PKWare, Inc.  PKUnzip is part of the PKZip
program.  OS/2 is a trademark of IBM Corporation.  Other product names
and company names are trademarks of their respective owners.

INTRODUCTION:
     Welcome to The Zip Engine.  This Program was developed specifically
     to provide a graphical way to use command-line based compression/
     decompression programs.  The original version of the Program was
     developed around PKWare, Inc.'s PKZip suite of file compression/de-
     compression software.

     What's especially unusual about this Program is that it not only
     makes it easy for you to perform any function that PKZip/PKUnzip can
     do, but it also makes it easy for you to learn how to use these
     PKWare programs on your own.  Virtually every time you choose an
     option from a Zip Engine menu, it shows you what your choice will end
     up looking like on the command line.  After you've used Zip Engine
     for a while then, you'll find that whenever you're forced to use
     PKZip or PKUnzip from the command line, you'll have a better
     understanding of what, where, when, why, and how it's done.

INSTALLATION:
     -Copy the files ZIPENG.CMD, ZIPVIEW.CMD, ZIPEDIT.CMD, ZIPENG.TEX, and
     ZIPENG.ICO to a directory on your OS/2 Path.  Create a program object
     for the ZIPENG.CMD file.  To create a program object, the absolute
     quickest way we've found so far is to open the folder where you want
     the program object to be when you finish (anything BUT a Drives
     folder).  Then, click on the ZIPENG.CMD file icon with mouse button
     2.  On the pop up menu that appears, there is an option for "Create
     Another".  Select this option, and select Default.  A window will
     open with objects for the target of the operation (the reason you
     opened the target folder earlier).  Select your target, and that's
     it.  Note that the program object you've created in this process will
     be named "OS/2 Command File," or something equally useless.  That's
     all right; we'll change it in a moment.

     -Adjust the settings for the Zip Engine program object.  Apply button
     2 to the Zip Engine program object you created in the previous step,
     and from the pop-up menu that appears, apply button 1 to the arrow to
     the right of the word Open.  Then from the cascaded menu, select
     Settings.  Use button 1 to get to the second page (Session), check
     the Start Minimized box, and OS/2 Full Screen.  Next, change the name
     of the program object.  Use button 1 to get to the General page and
     change the name there.  And on page four (Window), check Display
     Existing Window.  Once you start using The Zip Engine, and find you
     can't live without it (we're being facetious, not necessarily
     conceited), you'll probably want to make it your default file
     compression/decompression utility.  Here's how.  Click on the
     Associations page of the Settings notebook.  In the "New name:" box,
     type *.ZIP and click the Add button.  Remember that when you create
     this association, any previous association of this type (*.ZIP) will
     be REPLACED by this one.  Double-click on the system icon at the top
     left corner of the settings notebook to close it.

     -Yes, we could have easily written a .CMD batch file to do all that
     for you.  But since not all programs do so, we think it's more
     important that you know how to do it yourself.  It's better to teach
     a man to fish than to give him a fish.  Therefore, instructions on
     how to create a program object are better than an automatic batch
     file.

     -Verify that REXX is properly installed on your system.

     -Verify that VREXX is properly installed on your system.

     -If you want to be able to view the ZIPENG.DOC file from within the
     Zip Engine program, copy it into either a directory on your
     CONFIG.SYS file's PATH command, or else into the directory which will
     always be your current directory while you're running The Zip Engine.
     Then you can access the .DOC file from the "About The Zip Engine"
     dialog box on the main menu.

     This completes the installation process.

USING THE ZIP ENGINE:
     This Program works by building a command line which is sent to the
     compression/decompression software.  This command line is built from
     user input specified through The Zip Engine.  The Zip Engine can be
     started by itself, or in conjunction with a compressed file (.ZIP
     extension) for further processing.  Use the Program in any of the
     following ways:

     DOUBLE-CLICK THE ZIP ENGINE PROGRAM OBJECT:
     Using this method, all command line options will be input from within
     The Zip Engine.  From the OS/2 command line, typing ZIPENG or START
     ZIPENG will produce the same result.

     DRAG AND DROP A FILE ONTO THE ZIP ENGINE PROGRAM OBJECT:
     This option specifies a file for The Zip Engine to process.  This
     option is only applicable to existing compressed files (.ZIP
     extension).  New compressed files cannot be created with this method.
     From the OS/2 command line, typing either ZIPENG FILENAME.ZIP or
     START ZIPENG FILENAME.ZIP will produce the same result.  When doing
     this from the command line, it is possible for you to specify a .ZIP
     file that does not yet exist.  The Program will then create it during
     operation.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:
     The only file you're supposed to drag and drop onto The Zip Engine is
     a .ZIP file (this includes any file that was compressed by a program
     that makes .ZIP files, even one that was created with a different
     extension), and only one at a time!  You cannot drag files you want
     zipped up, because the file that's dropped on The Zip Engine is going
     to be the first filename on the command line, and as far as PKZip is
     concerned, the first file on the command line is the .ZIP file.  No
     matter what you want to have done to the file you drag and drop, The
     Zip Engine and the Zip/Unzip program are going to treat it as the
     .ZIP file to be modified or extracted.  Period.  The Zip Engine will
     never accept a group of files dragged to it as files to zip into a
     .ZIP file.  It won't happen, so don't bother trying.

     And if you drag more than one file onto The Zip Engine at one time,
     what OS/2 is going to do is run one copy of the Program for each
     file.  That isn't going to work, because only one copy of The Zip
     Engine can run at a time.  The first one will run fine, but the
     others will crash, causing OS/2 to give you the famous "A program in
     this session encountered an error and cannot continue" message.  Just
     click on OK there, and as far as we have seen, nothing bad will
     happen at all.  So don't panic if you forget, and drag more than one
     file to The Zip Engine at once.  It won't trash your hard drive or
     anything.  It just won't work, that's all.  Only the first instance
     of The Zip Engine that started up, with the first filename you
     dragged, will work.

     So to summarize, here are two Zip Engine Rules to Live By:
1.)  DON'T EVER DRAG MORE THAN ONE FILE TO THE PROGRAM AT ONE TIME.
2.)  DON'T EVER DRAG A FILE YOU DON'T WANT TREATED AS A .ZIP FILE.

     DOUBLE-CLICK ON THE COMPRESSED FILE:
     If you associate compressed files (.ZIP extensions) by extension in
     the program settings for The Zip Engine (as described above under
     INSTALLATION), double clicking on the compressed file will cause The
     Zip Engine to activate, with the file you double-clicked as the file
     to process.  If the proper association is made, this action emulates
     the drag-and-drop method.

NOTE:
     No matter what method is used to activate The Zip Engine, the Program
     will return the user to its main menu after specified processing is
     complete.  When the first processing session is complete, and the
     user is returned to this menu, the Program will support further
     compression/decompression operations.  Keep in mind though, that no
     matter how you started the Program, each time the main menu shows up
     after your first operation is over it will be "clean."  In other
     words, it won't remember the .ZIP file you used during the first
     session since it has to assume that you're finished working with that
     particular .ZIP file.  We tried, but couldn't get the Program to read
     your mind in cases where you want to perform more than one operation
     on the same .ZIP file.

     The ZIPENG.INI configuration routine allows you to disable the
     feature that takes you back to the main menu after the first zip/
     unzip process is complete, if you so desire.

ZIP SOFTWARE:
     As far as we know, PKWare's PKZip is the only zip/unzip software that
     is completely syntax-compatible with PKZip, but we must assume that
     there's another one out there somewhere, or will be someday.  This is
     why the Program allows you to specify executable files other than
     PKZIP.EXE and PKUNZIP.EXE.

     The Zip Engine assumes that you're using a PKZip version whose number
     starts with 1, such as 1.10.  If you're using PKZip 2.04c or later
     (or the 1.93a alpha version---but that may or may not be compatible
     with Zip Engine), you'll need to use the Edit-the-.INI-File routine
     to tell Zip Engine you have version 2, in order to use any of the new
     features of PKZip 2.04c (or perhaps 1.93a).

     By the way, if you have anything higher than 1.10 which is neither
     1.93a, 2.04c, 2.04e, nor 2.04g, then it's most likely a hacked
     version!  As of 3/21/93, these are the ONLY four versions later than
     1.10 which have ever been released by PKWare.  A hacked version can
     be something that hasn't been modified in any way except to change
     the version number reported, or it can be something dangerous like a
     Trojan or virus.  There is at least one hacked version which claims
     to be PKZip 2.XX, but FORMATS YOUR HARD DRIVE when you try to use it.

     Version 2.04c had several problems that were fixed by 2.04e, and
     2.04e had some small problems that were fixed by 2.04g.  Plus, 2.04e
     (which Zip Engine was updated for) has some options that were not in
     version 2.04c.  So if you use 2.04c there are some Zip Engine options
     (-m- and -&v) that won't work for you.  And an alpha version (like
     1.93a) of any product should never be used for real work.

     So as of 3/21/93, the ONLY PKZip version later than 1.10 which should
     be used (with Zip Engine or any other way), is 2.04g.  No other.

     When PKZip 2.04c was released, we added all of its new options, and
     again for version 2.04e.  These options will show up on the Zip
     Engine menus if you use the Edit-the-.INI-File routine to tell Zip
     Engine that you're using version 2.  If you don't do that, then all
     you'll see is the options that applied to the PKZip 1.10 version.
     Version 2.04g didn't add any new abilities; only improvements upon
     the old abilities.

DOS-BASED ZIP SOFTWARE:
     Since only a finite number of characters are allowed on a DOS-
     emulation command line, the shorter the names of the directories
     you're using are, the more stuff you can jam into a command line.
     This applies to the path to your zip software too.  (This only
     applies to users of DOS-based zip software, so we couldn't really
     make it an official Zip Engine Rule to Live By.)  So if you often run
     into the command line length limit, you might move your zip/unzip
     programs to a directory that's closer to the root, or has a shorter
     name, or even to the root directory itself.  Then get the OS/2
     version of the new PKZip as soon as PKWare releases it.

OS/2-BASED ZIP SOFTWARE:
     As of this writing, the Program has been tested with PKWare version
     1.02 for OS/2, which is the latest OS/2 version of PKWare we know of
     so far.  The following problems are associated with this version:

     Version 1.02 for OS/2 will only run in full screen mode.  The Zip
     Engine prefers a windowed version.  The Zip Engine is going to tell
     OS/2 to start an OS/2 windowed session in which to run the PKWare
     program, but when the PKWare program starts it tells OS/2 that it
     can't run in a window.  So OS/2 gives it a full screen session in-
     stead, and it runs there.  You're on the Desktop watching Zip En-
     gine's dialog boxes, but your zipping and unzipping is happening in
     a full screen session in the background where you can't see it at
     all.  Then when the PKWare program is done running, OS/2 immediate-
     ly closes that full screen session and returns to the windowed
     session that Zip Engine had originally told OS/2 to open.  Whatever
     PKWare output was on the screen in the full screen session, for you
     to see, is long gone!  This could sometimes be a problem.

     The Zip Engine was developed using mainly the PKZip DOS Version 1.10,
     so it supports all of the options provided by PKZip Version 1.10.
     Earlier versions of PKZip don't support all of these options, so
     obviously if you use PKZip version 1.02 you won't be able to use all
     of the options supplied by the Zip Engine menus.

STICKY ALT KEY:
     If your mouse appears to have no effect on anything all of a sudden,
     don't worry, that just means OS/2's Sticky Alt Key problem has
     cropped up for a moment.  Just hit the Left Alt key and whatever
     button you'd been clicking on will immediately take effect.

THE MURPHY EFFECT:
     For reasons we can't really explain, the dialog boxes generated by
     Zip Engine seem to be the first things to head to the bottom of the
     heap when some other window is brought to the foreground.  If your
     Alarms applet pops up a dialog box or if you leave Zip Engine for a
     moment to do something else, you'll probably lose the Zip Engine
     dialog box you had been looking at.  If that happens, just Alt-Tab or
     Alt-ESC through your open windows until it comes back to the fore-
     ground.

     We've even heard of one case (a beta tester who had the System Editor
     open on his desktop) where the Zip Engine dialog box didn't come to
     the foreground even when it was first started up!  He double-clicked
     on the Zip Engine object and waited, and waited, and finally he moved
     his System Editor window out of the way and there was the Zip Engine
     main menu, waiting for him in the background all that time!  So if
     you ever start Zip Engine and it never comes up, look around on your
     desktop if you have other windows open that are large enough to hide
     Zip Engine's main menu.

COMMAND LINE (Ugh) USERS AND THE MURPHY EFFECT:
     If you run the Program from the command line, don't look for the
     dialog box in the command line session.  The Zip Engine program is
     running in that session but the dialog boxes are not.  They're on the
     desktop, like any other Presentation Manager program.

          KARI'S DISCLAIMER:
          I apologize to anyone who may be offended by the phrase "command
          line (Ugh)" which is scattered so profusely throughout this
          document.  I love the command line.  I live in the command line.
          Bart hates the command line.  We tease each other about it.
          It's just friendly banter.  I let him get away with typing
          "(Ugh)" every time he typed "command line" because he lets me
          get away with most everything I want.  (Oh, he's gonna give me a
          nasty look for saying that.)  Anyway "command line (Ugh)" is
          supposed to be funny.  Please, don't anybody think that we're
          putting down command-line-lovers!  It's a joke.  After all, The
          Zip Engine is mainly aimed at people who don't like to zip and
          unzip files from the command line.

WINDOW LIST AND THE MURPHY EFFECT:
     The Zip Engine dialog boxes do not show up in the Window List.  What
     does show up in the Window List with the "Zip Engine" name is the
     session the ZIPENG.CMD file is running in.  All it is, is a big black
     blank screen.  Switching to it with the Window List won't help you
     find your dialog box.  We're sorry, but we don't know of anything
     that can be done about it.  VREXX just does not tell OS/2 to add the
     dialog box windows to the Window List.

WANTON MINIMIZERS:
     If you start The Zip Engine from the Command Line (Ugh), remember to
     leave the window that command line is in open while the Program runs.
     If you close or minimize the window while the Program is running,
     you'll most likely have problems.  The window can be minimized
     between steps in The Zip Engine, but if you forget to bring it back
     up before your next interaction with a Zip Engine dialog box, don't
     blame us for the results.

VREXX SPECIFICS:
     If you've never used a VREXX application before, you should know that
     VREXX needs to be initialized and shut down just like OS/2 does.  The
     Zip Engine takes care of this process for you, as long as you
     properly exit from it.  If you shut the Program down externally
     (through the Window List, for example), VREXX won't work properly
     with any program again until you reboot your system or use a
     process-killing utility to kill VREXX.  And if you try to do a
     shutdown while VREXX is in this state, it won't work.  You'll have to
     do a Ctrl-Alt-Del reboot instead.  (DON'T do a Reset since that
     doesn't flush the disk cache!  Ctrl-Alt-Del at least does that even
     though it doesn't close the Desktop "folder" and save your icon
     positions.)  Do not close the "Watch the Command Line Being Built"
     window either!  If you don't want to see it, just use the mouse to
     drag it down to the bottom of the screen where you can't see it.  But
     you really shouldn't do that, because important messages are shown in
     that window from time to time.

     It is also possible that some extreme error in the Zip Engine program
     could cause it to abort without cleaning up VREXX.  (You know what
     they say, "no program can ever be completely bug-free", but we surely
     have tried!)  If The Zip Engine ever aborts and your next attempts at
     running it or any other VREXX application fail, then just reboot or
     use a process-killing utility to kill VREXX and then things will be
     fine again.  And if you feel like it, we'd appreciate it if you could
     remember everything you'd done that led up to the problem, and tell
     us about it, so we can fix it before it happens to anyone else.

     The message "A program in this session encountered an error and
     cannot continue" just happens sometimes on exiting a VREXX program.
     This applies to Zip Engine and all the other VREXX programs we have,
     so we believe it's VREXX's fault, not Zip Engine's.  Anyway we've
     never seen any sort of harm come from it.  Just click on OK.

     For some reason it is apparently not always possible to get two VREXX
     programs to run at the same time.  In our experience, it usually
     works if one of them was started from the command line, and it
     usually doesn't work if both were started from WorkPlace Shell
     program objects.  But we have friends who have totally different
     experiences with this question.  So we don't know what causes it or
     what to do about it.  It looks like a person who has a VREXX program
     running constantly for some purpose, just will not be able to use Zip
     Engine or any other VREXX program.  Or perhaps they will.  Try it,
     and see.  If you get "A program in this session has encountered an
     error and cannot continue" every time you try to run Zip Engine with
     some other VREXX program running, then you know that you're one who
     can't.

     For some strange unknown reason, when you go to modify an existing
     .ZIP file, the text in the "Watch the Command Line" window changes
     color as soon as you choose the .ZIP file you want to modify.  It
     changes to the same color as the text in the dialog boxes, instead
     of remaining the color that Window text is supposed to be.  I can
     only assume that it's a bug in VREXX that's causing this, because
     other functions which use the exact same subroutine in the Program
     with every other variable exactly the same, do not have this prob-
     lem.

HPFS VS. DOS:
     The Zip Engine can work quite well with long filenames with strange
     characters and spaces in them.  However, DOS-based zip programs
     can't.  If you're planning to use The Zip Engine as a front end for a
     DOS-based utility, keep this limitation in mind.

HPFS AND QUOTATION MARKS:
     Don't forget to type filenames that have spaces with quotation marks
     around them, in the places where you actually have to do any typing
     in Zip Engine.  For example, "C:\DIRNAME\THIS FILE.NAME" will work
     properly.  C:\DIRNAME\THIS FILE.NAME would not.  The Zip Engine will
     see that as one file named C:\DIRNAME\THIS and one named FILE.NAME.
     The quotation marks really need to be there.

4OS2 AND 4DOS USERS:
     This Program was developed on a system using JPSoftware's 4OS2 rather
     than IBM's CMD, and 4DOS rather than IBM's COMMAND, as the command
     interpreters.  It has been extensively tested with CMD and COMMAND
     also.  It works either way.

VIEWING TEXT FILES WITHIN A .ZIP:
     The Zip Engine allows you to view text files within a .ZIP file
     without actually unzipping it.  The Program unzips the file into a
     temporary directory and lets you choose which files to view, and then
     shows you the FIRST 630 LINES of each of your chosen files, and then
     when you're through viewing, the Program deletes that temporary
     directory, leaving no messy temp files on your drive or anything.  We
     have no idea why VREXX will not show more than the first 632 or 628
     lines of a file, so we gave up and told Zip Engine to not even
     attempt going higher than 630.  Serious problems resulted from trying
     it on very large files (over 1250 lines long) so this seemed like the
     best way to assure that those serious problems never happen to
     anyone.  The problems don't occur unless more than 1250 lines are
     attempted, so why bother attempting that many lines when only around
     630 of them will show up anyway?  That would be a waste of CPU time.

     Since text files are created to be viewed with a text viewer, and The
     Zip Engine views them in graphics mode, text that's supposed to
     appear in columns won't.  Nothing we can do about it.  That's just a
     problem with viewing text in graphics mode.

CANCEL BUTTONS:
     The CANCEL buttons give different results on different dialog boxes.
     Usually, you use CANCEL to skip the operation you were working on and
     return to the main menu.  But there are exceptions, and some things
     that may not be totally intuitive.  They are explained here.
        On the Zip Special Optional Switches and Unzip Special Optional
     Switches dialog boxes, clicking CANCEL means you want to return to
     the main menu.  If you just don't want to select any optional
     switches, click on OK, not CANCEL.  If no switches are checked, then
     none will be used.  No need to CANCEL just to avoid the use of
     switches.  (If you check a switch that you didn't mean to check, just
     click on it again to uncheck it.  No need to CANCEL there either.)
        On dialog boxes UNDER the Special Optional Switches boxes (for
     example, if you check the Zip -m switch you'll get a further dialog
     box asking WHICH files you want to move into the .ZIP file), CANCEL
     means just to skip using the switch that the dialog box is asking
     about.  It does not mean cancel the entire operation and return to
     the main menu.
        There are situations in which you might be confronted with a
     checkbox of filenames (for example, if you choose to delete files
     from within a .ZIP, or view text files within a .ZIP).  There are ten
     filenames per checkbox, and more checkboxes keep coming until you've
     seen every filename available.  If you find all the files you want
     right on the first page and you know that there are several more
     pages to go, you can avoid clicking on OK on every one of those pages
     by clicking on CANCEL on the first page that doesn't contain any
     files you want, or any page thereafter.  DO NOT click on CANCEL on a
     page that contains files you've checked, because the Program does not
     receieve input from a dialog box where CANCEL is chosen, even if
     something on that dialog box is checked.  Click OK on any page that
     contains filenames you're selecting.  You can click on CANCEL on any
     page thereafter to continue with the operation without being
     subjected to any further filenames.
        When viewing text files within a .ZIP file, and you've chosen more
     than one file to view, and you find everything you wanted to see
     before you get done viewing all the files you'd chosen, you may click
     on CANCEL to continue without viewing the rest of the files you'd
     checked.
        On Password boxes, if you're using PKZip version 2, you're allowed
     to leave them BLANK and yet still use the -s switch in your command.
     (PKZip then asks you during execution of the command, to supply the
     password.)  If you don't want to use the -s switch, then you need to
     click CANCEL on the Password boxes, rather than OK.  Whereas with
     PKZip version 1, clicking OK on a blank Password box drops the -s
     switch entirely, since PKZip version 1 doesn't allow you to specify
     the password during execution.  WARNING:  If you do use PKZip version
     2 and click on OK without typing a password, the PKWare program is
     going to stop and wait for you to supply a password.  You have to
     switch to the PKZip session and type a password (or just type
     anything at all and hit Enter if you didn't mean to use the -s
     switch) before the PKWare program will do anything.  At any rate, you
     need to use CANCEL instead of OK on password boxes if you want to use
     PKZip version 2 without the -s switch, and that's the reason why the
     password dialog box comes up so far to the left--so that the CANCEL
     button is closer to where your mouse pointer is.

CLOSING PKZIP WINDOWS:
     By default, The Zip Engine automatically closes the windows in which
     PKZip/Unzip runs as soon as PKZip/Unzip is finished with them.  If
     you want them to stay open so you can read what the PKWare program
     has to say, you can make that happen by saying so in the Edit-the-
     .INI-File routine of The Zip Engine.  But then you'll always have to
     switch to the PKZip/Unzip window and type EXIT to make it close.
     That can get a bit irritating, so I want to give you a tip on how to
     make that easier.

     If you're using a DOS version of PKZip, make sure the line
          DEVICE=d:\OS2\MDOS\ANSI.SYS
     is in your OS/2 config.sys file (where "d" is the letter of the drive
     where you have OS/2 installed).  If it isn't, put it there, at the
     end, and reboot your computer.  Don't worry; DOS devices loaded via
     config.sys do not take up any memory inside your DOS sessions!  Now
     you want to edit your OS/2 autoexec.bat file.  Insert the following
     lines BEFORE your PROMPT command:
          ECHO ON
          @PROMPT $e[0;68;"EXIT";13p    << This command is case-sensitive!

          @ECHO OFF
     Make sure to leave that blank line in there between @PROMPT and @ECHO
     just like that!  Those commands will cause your F10 key to execute
     the EXIT command for you all by itself!  The F1 key is 0;59 and F10
     is 0;68 and the other F key codes are in order between those two
     numbers, so you can use a different number in place of 68 in that
     @PROMPT command if you don't want to use your F10 key for this
     purpose.  And this will work for ALL of your DOS sessions, not just
     the PKZip/Unzip ones.  You'll be able to close any DOS window or full
     screen session by hitting your F10 key (or whichever one you assign)
     at the prompt.  Don't worry, it won't cause any problem for your
     programs.  Nearly all programs (one exception is Prodigy) ignore
     ANSI key reassignments and use the function keys for their own
     purposes.  This will cause your F10 key to execute EXIT only when you
     are at the command line.  Almost nowhere else.

     If you're using an OS/2 version of PKZip, this is not nearly so easy.
     You'd have to have the KEYS command turned OFF (which is just not
     acceptable to most people) and have the ANSI command turned ON (which
     is the default) and add the $e[0;68;"EXIT";13p part to the end of the
     PROMPT command in your OS/2 config.sys file and reboot.  That's the
     only way you could use ANSI to reassign a function key in ALL OS/2
     sessions.  Remember it wouldn't do any good to do it just in the Zip
     Engine session because the PKZip/Unzip action does not occur in the
     Zip Engine session!  It has its own session.  But there are other
     ways to assign commands or keystrokes to function keys, besides just
     by using ANSI.  One example is 4OS2's ALIAS command, if you're using
     4OS2.  If you're not, you should look into it.  Greatest thing since
     even before sliced bread.  Here's my 4OS2 ALIAS that makes my F5 key
     execute the EXIT command for me:
          ALIAS @F5=`EXIT <up><up>r`
     That goes into startup.cmd after 4OS2's SHRALIAS command and of
     course those <up> symbols mean 4OS2's ESC command which looks like an
     up arrow.

PKZIP.CFG FILE:
     Yes, there are a FEW limitations in The Zip Engine.  We're sorry.
     The Program does not offer you any way to use the switches which
     override PKZIP.CFG options, the way you can do at the command line,
     except to just manually add them to Zip Engine's command when it
     offers you the chance to edit the command before executing it.  So
     PKZIP.CFG should not be used with Zip Engine.  The Zip Engine does
     allow you to configure default options that are to be used with every
     Zip/Unzip command, however.  For example if you need to use the -)
     switch to get PKZip 2.04c to work on your system, you can tell Zip
     Engine's configuration-file-editing routine to put -) onto all of
     your Zip/Unzip command lines.

DIRECTORY NAMED $:
     Since The Zip Engine uses $ as the symbol that tells it to extract a
     .ZIP file into a directory with the same name (for example, if you
     want Zip Engine to create a directory named \THISFILE to extract
     THISFILE.ZIP into, you can type \$ when Zip Engine asks you what
     directory to extract into), it is not possible to extract a .ZIP file
     into a directory that really is named $.  Sorry.  Hopefully no one
     will ever want to.

SVGA:
     Some of my beta testers tell me that the Zip Engine dialog boxes
     don't look good at SVGA resolution, because the dialog box stays the
     same while the text gets smaller.  I don't have access to any mach-
     ine that runs SVGA, so I can't get a look at it or figure out what
     to do about it.  When Bart gets home from Saudi, perhaps he can get
     his video card to do SVGA and then we'll be able to work on it.  So
     in the next version of Zip Engine, look for dialog boxes that look
     good at VGA and SVGA resolutions.  On the other hand, I have a feel-
     ing that it just might be a VREXX problem that we can't do anything
     about.  We'll see.

DISCLAIMER:
     While this Program has been thoroughly reviewed and tested, it is
     provided solely "as is" and without warranty of any kind.  MOSES,
     Kari Jackson, and Bart Toulouse specifically disclaim all warranties,
     expressed or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties
     of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose with respect
     to defects in any portion of the package.  In no event shall MOSES,
     Kari Jackson, or Bart Toulouse be liable for any loss of profit or
     any other damage, including but not limited to special, incidental,
     commercial, consequential or other damages of any kind resulting from
     defects in this software or its documentation.  USE THIS PROGRAM AT
     YOUR OWN RISK.

SHAREWARE:
     This Program is shareware, not freeware.  What that means is this:
     It may be freely distributed to anyone as long as all of its files
     and documentation are distributed together.  It may be freely used
     for evaluation purposes, to decide whether you like it.  If you do
     like it and want to continue using it, you are supposed to register
     it.  We will not have you arrested or sue you if you don't, but you
     should feel guilty about it if you have a conscience.

     To avoid these guilty feelings, register the shareware you use.  To
     register Zip Engine, just send $10 to Kari Jackson
                                           3201 Monroe Street
                                           Omaha NE 68107-4048
     Yes, you betcha I'll give half of it to Bart.  I sure wouldn't steal
     from my best friend.  I'd give you his address too, so you could send
     some to him instead to make sure I don't keep it all, but he's in
     Saudi protecting us from The Evil Saddam right now so I haven't asked
     him for permission to publish his address.  Besides, being in the Air
     Force, who knows how long he'll have his present address anyway?

BUG REPORTS:
     If you find any bugs in this Program, please let me know on Prodigy
     (DWDP74A), GEnie (K.JACKSON26), or the OS/2 conference on RIME (Kari
     Jackson), or write me a letter.  Try to give me as much detail as you
     can---what kind of system you have, how much memory, how much free
     hard drive space, what version of Zip/Unzip program you're using,
     what version of OS/2 (the original GA release, or the Service Pak, or
     the 2.1 beta with Windows 3.1 support, etc.), exactly what you were
     doing when the problem occurred, exactly what happened during the
     problem, whether the same thing happens in other circumstances too,
     etc.  If you send me $3 along with the bug report, I'll consider you
     a registered user (no guilty feelings) and mail you a new copy of Zip
     Engine as soon as I fix that bug.  If I can't reproduce that bug on
     my system or any of my friends' systems, or if your bug is only
     something that's already explained in this .DOC file, then I'll
     return your $3 to you or send you a new version with someone else's
     reported bugs fixed (if anyone else finds any bugs--ha ha!), as you
     desire.  So if you're not positive that it's an absolute definite
     BUG and you send the $3, then please let me know what you want me to
     do with your $3 if your bug turns out not to be a bug.  Because re-
     member, the $3 is not for registration.  It's for the disk, postage,
     and mailer for the bug fix.  If you find a real bug, then you're
     registered.  If not, then not.

     And if you do find a bug, please go easy on me.  This is the first
     version of Zip Engine, and Zip Engine is the first major REXX
     program I've ever written.  It has been strenuously beta tested for
     MONTHS by several people including two who REALLY enjoyed doing it,
     which means they tested it inside out and upside down with every
     imaginable permutation of every imaginable command, and they even
     tested really crazy things like using directory names that don't
     exist and all sorts of things that no one should ever do, but they
     tried it anyway.  I mean they SERIOUSLY tried to idiot-proof this
     program!  Their names are Chris Alumbaugh and Steve Weeks and I thank
     them profusely!  But anyway, there's a chance that there's something
     that EVEN THEY did not think of testing.  Doubtful, but possible.  We
     sure did TRY to make Zip Engine as perfect as possible.

FUTURE VERSIONS:
     The next version of The Zip Engine will be written with a REAL
     Visual REXX program, and compiled into an .EXE file, and every-
     thing.  So if by chance you don't like this Program in its current
     form, please don't give up on it.  When you see a new version in a
     few months, try it out.  It will be a lot different.

     After that, I intend to add support for .LZH, .ARJ, .ARC, and maybe
     even .ZOO and .PAK files, along with the .ZIP files.

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