home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Loadstar Extras 2
/
Ex2side1.d64
/
starlynx.zip
/
LYNX.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1996-05-20
|
3KB
|
49 lines
tHE lYNX FORMAT
warning: tHE DESCRIPTION BELOW IS A MERE EXTRAPOLATION FROM THE FILES AND
PROGRAM SOURCES i'VE ENCOUNTERED. tHIS FORMAT DESCRIPTION DOES NOT TAKE lYNX
ARCHIVES CONTAINING RELATIVE FILES INTO ACCOUNT SINCE i'VE NEVER SEEN ONE.
lYNX IS USED TO PUT MULTIPLE FILES INTO A SINGLE ARCHIVE. tHE ARCHIVES START
WITH A SMALL basic PROGRAM THAT DISPLAYS A MESSAGE ON THE SCREEN SAYING THAT
YOU SHOULD USE A lYNX PROGRAM TO EXTRACT ITS CONTENTS. tHEN COMES A DIRECTORY
OF THE FILES IN THE ARCHIVE WHICH IS FOLLOWED BY THE FILES THEMSELVES, ALL
ALIGNED TO SECTOR BOUNDARY. lYNX ARCHIVES ARE IN NO WAY COMPRESSED, THE FILES
ARE SIMPLY LINKED (HENCE THE NAME) AFTER EACH OTHER IN IT.
aLL ENTRIES, STRINGS AND OTHER PARTS OF THE DIRECTORY ARE SEPARATED WITH A
CARRIAGE RETURN. aLL NUMBERS ARE STORED IN A STRING FORM WHICH STARTS AND ENDS
WITH A SPACE.
a TYPICAL basic PROGRAM FOR lYNX ARCHIVES LOOKS LIKE THIS:
10 poke53280,0:poke53281,0:poke646,peek(162):print"<cls><down><down><down>
<down><down><down><down><down>":print" use lynx to dissolve this file":
goto10
tHE basic PROGRAM ENDS WITH THE USUAL THREE ZERO BYTES. tHEY ARE FOLLOWED BY
THE NUMBER OF BLOCKS USED BY THE DIRECTORY, THEN A COPYRIGHT STRING WITH THE
lYNX PROGRAM NAME, VERSION NUMBER AND THE NAME OF ITS AUTHOR, AND FINALLY THE
NUMBER OF FILES IN THE ARCHIVE, E.G.
<cr> 3 *lynx xvii will corley<cr> 18 <cr>
MEANS THAT THE DIRECTORY USES 3 BLOCKS, HOLDS 18 ENTRIES AND THE ARCHIVE WAS
CREATED BY lYNX VERSION 17 WHICH IS COPYRIGHTED BY wILL cORLEY.
eNTRIES IN THE DIRECTORY ARE MADE UP BY THE FILENAME, THE LENGTH OF THE FILE
IN BLOCKS, THE FILETYPE, AND THE NUMBER OF BYTES + 1 IN THE LAST BLOCK, E.G.
(UNDERSCORES REPRESENT sHIFT-sPACES THAT FILL UP THE NAME TO 16 CHARACTERS)
hashmon_________<cr> 17 <cr>p<cr> 35 <cr>
MEANS THAT THE CURRENT FILE IS A PROGRAM, IT'S CALLED "HASHMON", IT'S 17
BLOCKS LONG AND THE LAST BLOCK CONTAINS 34 BYTES (THE REMAINING PART OF THAT
BLOCK IS PROBABLY FILLED WITH GARBAGE).
tHE FIRST FILE STARTS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE BLOCK THAT FOLLOWS THE LAST
BLOCK OF THE DIRECTORY. aLL FILES ARE SIMILARLY ALIGNED SO THAT THEY START AT
THE BEGINNING OF A BLOCK. tHIS METHOD HAS THE ADVANTAGE THAT THE EXTRACTOR
PROGRAM RUNNING ON A REAL cOMMODORE MACHINE DOESN'T HAVE TO MOVE DATA ONLY
SPLIT THE ARCHIVE INTO THE ORIGINAL FILES.