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ZIP'R v1.8 Copyright 1993 by Stevenson Technical Services, Inc. (STSI) 108 Second Avenue West Bertha MN 56437-0297 Phone: (218) 924-2050 FAX: (218) 924-2050 (Ext. 11) The Bertha BBS: (218) 924-2060 ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ │ Disclaimer: │ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ Users of ZIP'R must accept the following disclaimer of warranty: "ZIP'R is supplied as is. The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of ZIP'R." ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ │ Registration: │ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ ZIP'R is distributed under the shareware concept. You may try ZIP'R for a period of two weeks. After this period, you must either discontinue using ZIP'R, or register it. For registration information, please read the REGISTER.DOC file included with ZIP'R. ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ │ Technical Support: │ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ Technical support is available to ZIP'R users via The Bertha BBS. New versions of ZIP'R will be posted here as soon as they are available. The Bertha BBS uses a U.S. Robotics Dual-Standard, which is capable of V.32bis, V.32, HST, and 2400 baud connect speeds. The access number for The Bertha BBS is (218)-924-2060. Technical support questions should be addressed to SYSOP. ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ │ What is ZIP'R? │ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ ZIP'R is a program designed to use an existing compression program, such as PKZIP/PKUNZIP, ARJ, or LHA, to automatically compress and decompress entire directories when programs are executed. ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ │ Why was ZIP'R created? │ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ My business never seems to have enough hard drive space. Even on-the- fly data compression utilities such as SuperStor and Stacker aren't sufficient, since the compression ratios achieved are not as high as any of the archiving utilities. Since neither SuperStor or Stacker will work on a Novell file server, disk space there is especially tight. By utilizing the network/multitasker version of ZIP'R (ZIPRN), seldom used, but necessary programs can be stored in a tightly compressed form, taking up far less hard drive space. This effectively increases the storage capacity of the server hard drive, extending its useful life. ZIP'R is also useful on local hard drives, even if they are already using SuperStor or Stacker. ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ │ How does ZIP'R work? │ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ ZIP'R works in combination with existing compression programs to compress directories, sub-directories, and the files they contain into one smaller, compressed file on the hard drive. This allows an entire directory filled with files to be stored in compressed form when not in use, saving a substantial amount of hard drive space. When a program is executed, ZIP'R invokes the proper compression program to decompress the desired directory, and executes the requested program. During this time ZIP'R swaps itself to disk or EMS memory, leaving behind only about 2.5K plus the size of the command processor and its environment. This usually is less than 10K. When the program is exited, ZIP'R invokes the chosen compression program to compress the entire directory. ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ │ What are the benefits of using ZIP'R? │ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ ZIP'R can save a typical computer user a substantial amount of hard drive space. Most users have several programs on their hard drives that are seldom used, but take up a tremendous amount of hard disk real-estate. Rather than deleting these programs completely, ZIP'R allows these programs to be accessed when needed, storing them in a compressed form when they are not in use. The amount of hard drive space saved depends totally on the effectiveness of the compression program used by ZIP'R. As compression programs improve, so will the ratios that ZIP'R is able to achieve. The compression programs used by ZIP'R do not provide "on-the-fly" data compression. As a result, there is a time delay during the compression and decompression processes. However, ZIP'R does not require 50K of valuable memory, either. In addition, ZIP'R does not degrade the performance of the computer system as the "on-the-fly" data compression programs do. A performance comparison of the three compression programs currently supported by ZIP'R is shown in the following table. The test directory consisted of 33 files, plus a sub-directory which contained an additional 17 files. OVERALL COMPRESSION TYPE BYTES COMPRESSION COMPRESSION ------------------------------------------------------------------ Original Baseline 2,980,853 - - MS-DOS 2,980,853 0% 0% New Baseline 2,980,853 - 0% Additional compression obtained using ZIP'R: No Compression (NONE) 2,980,853 0% 0% PKZIP 1.1 Compression (ZIP) 1,536,688 48% 48% PKZIP 2.0 Compression (ZIP) 1,401,026 53% 53% LHA Compression (LHA) 1,428,393 52% 52% ARJ Compression (ARJ) 1,406,625 53% 53% OVERALL COMPRESSION TYPE BYTES COMPRESSION COMPRESSION ------------------------------------------------------------------ Original Baseline 2,980,853 - - DRDOS w/SuperStor 1,992,704 33% 33% New Baseline 1,992,704 - 33% Additional compression obtained using ZIP'R: No Compression (NONE) 1,992,704 0% 33% PKZIP 1.1 Compression (ZIP) 1,551,360 22% 48% PKZIP 2.0 Compression (ZIP) 1,408,512 29% 53% LHA Compression (LHA) 1,444,864 27% 52% ARJ Compression (ARJ) 1,423,872 29% 52% ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ │ Installing ZIP'R: │ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ The first step in testing a new piece of software is to perform a backup and test its integrity. Since ZIP'R will compress entire directories into a single file, your potential losses are much greater if this file becomes lost or corrupted. Create a C:\ZIPR sub-directory and extract all of the ZIP'R related files into this sub-directory. (The single-user version of ZIP'R will only work when executed from the C: drive.) Copy the compression program(s) of your choice into this sub-directory. If you decide to use PKZip, you need the files PKZIP.EXE and PKUNZIP.EXE. If you use ARJ, you need the file ARJ.EXE. If you use LHA, you need the file LHA.EXE. ZIP'R has been tested with PKZip version 1.10, ARJ version 2.30, and LHA version 2.13. ARJ consistently provides the tightest archives, but is not nearly as fast as ZIP. ARJ also has the ability to test the integrity of the archive, which is useful when running ZIP'R under a multitasker, such as DESQview or Windows. (Since my company uses PKZip internally, more extensive testing has been performed with ZIP than with ARJ or LHA.) Preliminary testing has begun with PKZIP v2.04c. The network/multitasker version of ZIP'R (ZIPRN.EXE) can be installed on any drive in your system, including network drives. Be sure to include a SET ZIPR=N:\ZIPR statement (or wherever you put ZIP'R), in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If this environment variable is not found, ZIPRN.EXE defaults to using the C:\ZIPR sub-directory. ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ │ Using ZIP'R: │ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ ZIP'R operates by using command line parameters. To run a program using ZIP'R, you must know the directory in which it resides and the name of the file to be executed. (This must be a file with a .COM, .EXE, or a .BAT extension.) You must also decide whether to compress the program's sub-directory after execution. If you choose to use the compression feature, you must choose between ZIP, ARJ, or LHA, depending on which program you own. The ZIP'R command line structure looks like this: ZIPR(N) DRIVE: \PATH ZIPNAME COMPRESSION FILENAME P1 P2 P3 P4 ZIPR(N) - ZIPR should always be the first entry entered on the command line. All command line entries should be in UPPER CASE, and should be separated by a single space. If you are using the network/multitasker version of ZIP'R, this entry should be ZIPRN. DRIVE: - This entry should contain the drive letter (with colon) of the drive containing the program to be executed. \PATH - This entry should contain the path to the program that will be executed. (The backslash is required!) Do NOT specify the root directory, or you could compress your entire hard disk into one file, which would cause your hard drive to be unbootable. ZIPNAME - This is the name of the compressed file that will be created or used by ZIP'R. Normally, this is the sub-directory name, but this is not a requirement. Do NOT enter an extension after the ZIPNAME. ZIP'R will automatically append the proper extension, depending on the type of compression selected. COMPRESSION - This entry specifies the type of compression that ZIP'R will attempt to use. Valid choices are ZIP, ARJ, LHA, or NONE. If NONE is selected, ZIP'R will decompress an existing compressed file prior to executing the desired program, but will not compress the directory after the program is exited. Advanced compression options are explained in the "Advanced Compression Options" section of the documentation. FILENAME - This entry should contain the name of the file to be executed. Do NOT specify an extension. ZIP'R checks for the existence of a .BAT, .COM, or .EXE file and executes it. P1 - This entry is optional, and contains the first parameter to be passed to the program being executed. P2 - This entry is optional, and contains the second parameter to be passed to the program being executed. P3 - This entry is optional, and contains the third parameter to be passed to the program being executed. P4 - This entry is optional, and contains the fourth parameter to be passed to the program being executed. ZIP'R Examples: ZIPR C: \PFS PFS ZIP PW ZIPR C: \PCTOOLS PCTOOLS ZIP PCSHELL /LCD ZIPR C: \PCTOOLS PCTOOLS ZIP-07 PCSHELL ZIPR C: \PCTOOLS PCTOOLS ARJ DESKTOP ZIPR C: \PCTOOLS PCTOOLS NONE SI ZIPR C: \PSDELUXE DELUXE LHA PSD ZIP'R (Network/Multitasker) Examples: ZIPRN C: \PFS PFS ZIP PW ZIPRN C: \PCTOOLS PCTOOLS ZIP PCSHELL /LCD ZIPRN C: \PCTOOLS PCTOOLS ZIP-07 PCSHELL ZIPRN C: \PCTOOLS PCTOOLS ARJ DESKTOP ZIPRN C: \PCTOOLS PCTOOLS NONE SI ZIPRN C: \PSDELUXE DELUXE LHA PSD ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ │ Using ZIP'R with a menu system: │ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ To use ZIP'R with a menu system, you must modify the location and program name specified for each program that will be run through ZIP'R. QuikMenu Example: OLD Location: C:\PFS Command: PW NEW Location: C:\ZIPR Command: ZIPR C: \PFS PFS ZIP PW AutoMenu Example: OLD C: CD\PFS PW CD\ AUTO NEW C: CD\ZIPR ZIPR C: \PFS PFS ZIP PW CD\ AUTO All programs that are executed through ZIP'R must have C:\ZIPR specified as the path. The actual location of the program to be executed is specified on the ZIP'R command line, as shown above. ZIP'R automatically changes to this directory before executing the desired program. The network/multitasker version of ZIP'R (ZIPRN.EXE) may be located on any drive, or in any sub-directory desired. ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ │ Advanced ZIP'R features: │ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ ZIP'R versions 1.5 and above have the ability to execute a series of commands before and after the desired program is executed. This feature is useful for flushing and disabling a cache or swapping a printer port prior to executing a particular program. After the program is executed, the cache can be enabled or the printer ports can be returned to their original settings. In order to use this feature of ZIP'R, two files must be created in the \ZIPR sub-directory. The file containing the commands to be executed prior to the desired program must have a .IN extension. This extension indicates that the commands in this file are to be used when going "IN" to the program. The file containing the commands to be executed after the desired program is exited must have a .OUT extension. This extension indicates that the commands in this file are to be used when going "OUT" of the program. The filename of the .IN and .OUT files must match the ZIPNAME for the desired program on the ZIP'R command line. The commands within this file should specify the full path to the desired program, unless the program is available on the path. To illustrate this concept more clearly, I will use two real-world examples from my own business. Since my business uses a Novell network, I use the network/multitasker version of ZIP'R (ZIPRN). I run a program called Stowaway, which archives seldom-used files off-line. If Stowaway is run with floppy disk caching enabled, Stowaway can't reliably verify the data written to the floppy disk. To circumvent this problem, the cache must be flushed and disabled prior to executing Stowaway, and enabled after Stowaway is finished. The command line used to execute Stowaway through ZIP'R looks like this: ZIPRN N: \STOWAWAY STOWAWAY ZIP STOW Since the ZIPNAME here is "STOWAWAY", the first file would be called STOWAWAY.IN, and the second file would be called STOWAWAY.OUT. The contents of STOWAWAY.IN are as follows: C:\PCKWIK\SUPERPCK /F /D This command line is executed by ZIP'R prior to executing Stowaway, flushing and disabling the cache. After Stowaway exits, the commands in STOWAWAY.OUT are executed. STOWAWAY.OUT contains the following commands: C:\PCKWIK\SUPERPCK /E This command line simply enables the cache, without changing any of its parameters. The second example involves QmodemPro. I use the DOS 5 editor instead of the QmodemPro editor. My computer accesses printers via a Novell network. The network is set up with a laser printer as LPT1: and a dot- matrix printer as LPT2:. Unfortunately, the DOS 5 editor does not have the capability of printing to LPT2:. To circumvent this problem, the Novell CAPTURE utility is used to change the printer port queue assignments. My QmodemPro command line is as follows: ZIPRN N: \QMPRO QMPRO NONE QMPRO Since the ZIPNAME here is "QMPRO", the two files that need to be created are QMPRO.IN and QMPRO.OUT. The contents of QMPRO.IN are as follows: CAPTURE /L=1 /Q=PRINTQ_2 /NB /TI=10 This command routes the LPT1: information to PRINTQ_2, which is the queue for the dot-matrix printer on the server. The contents of QMPRO.OUT are as follows: CAPTURE /L=1 /Q=PRINTQ_1 /NB /TI=10 This command routes the LPT1: information back to PRINTQ_1, which is the queue for the laser printer on the server. Notice in this example that ZIP'R is not being used to compress this particular program. ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ │ The ZIPR.INI File: │ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ The ZIPR.INI file is an ASCII text file, created in the \ZIPR sub- directory. The format of this file is as follows: [Registration] John Doe XYZ-1234-567 [Delays] PrelogDelay=10 EpilogDelay=10 Concurrent_Program_Access] DEA4=4 DEP4=4 There must be a blank line between each section, but the sections can be in any desired order. Each statement in a section must be on a separate line. The [Registration] section contains the name of the individual or company that registered ZIP'R. The name must appear first and the registration number second. Both of these items are CASE SENSITIVE. If a valid registration name and number are not entered here, the remaining items in the ZIPR.INI file will not function. The [Delays] section allows registered ZIP'R users to specify the length of time that the Prelog and Epilog screens are displayed. Most users will likely use EpilogDelay=0, which will force ZIP'R to not display the Epilog screen at all. Experienced ZIP'R users can set PrelogDelay=0, which will prevent ZIP'R from displaying the Prelog screen. Novice users may want to use PrelogDelay=4 to allow a short time to view the information displayed on the Prelog screen. The [Concurrent_Program_Access] section allows network supervisors to limit the number of concurrent accesses to a particular program. The default value for all programs is 1. Only programs that require more than one user to have access at the same time need to be included in this section. The name used in this section should be the name of the executable program, and should match the FILENAME parameter on the ZIP'R command line. ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ │ Advanced Compression Options: │ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ Advanced ARJ options: ARJT = Test archive integrity before deleting files. ARJ0 = ARJ -m0 switch. ARJ1 = ARJ -m1 switch. ARJ2 = ARJ -m2 switch. ARJ3 = ARJ -m3 switch. ARJ4 = ARJ -m4 switch. ARJ5 = ARJ -m1 -jm switches. ARJ6 = ARJ -m2 -jm switches. ARJ7 = ARJ -m1 -jm1 switches. ARJ8 = ARJ -m2 -jm1 switches. These figures were generated with ARJ 2.30. No Compression ARJ Results Compression ARJ0 2,980,853 2,983,500 0% ARJ1 2,980,853 1,406,625 53% ARJ2 2,980,853 1,414,245 53% ARJ3 2,980,853 1,444,400 52% ARJ4 2,980,853 1,593,074 47% ARJ5 2,980,853 1,403,524 53% ARJ6 2,980,853 1,403,524 53% ARJ7 2,980,853 1,404,949 53% ARJ8 2,980,853 1,404,949 53% ARJT is used to provide an extra level of assurance that the files have been stored correctly in the archive. When this switch is used, ARJ will verify the integrity of the archive before deleting any files. Other ARJ options may be used to choose less compression in exchange for more speed, or more compression in exchange for less speed. The default ARJ compression setting is to use the -m1 switch. (Use ARJ or ARJ1.) Advanced ZIP options: ZIP0 = ZIP -e0 switch. (PKZIP 2.0 Only) ZIP1 = ZIP -es switch. (PKZIP 1.1 or 2.0) ZIP2 = ZIP -ef switch. (PKZIP 2.0 Only) ZIP3 = ZIP -en switch. (PKZIP 2.0 Only) ZIP4 = ZIP -ex switch. (PKZIP 1.1 or 2.0) These figures were generated using PKZIP 2.04c. No Compression ZIP Results Compression ZIP0 2,980,853 2,985,751 0% ZIP1 2,980,853 1,535,935 48% ZIP2 2,980,853 1,432,248 52% ZIP3 2,980,853 1,401,026 53% ZIP4 2,980,853 1,392,625 53% These options may be used to trade lower compression for greater speed and vice-versa. In addition to these options, additional parameters may be added to the PKZIP 2.04c command line to solve specific problems. These extra parameters are as follows: 3 -> Disable 32-bit Instruction Usage. ) -> Disable DPMI Support. ( -> Use "Slow" MemCopy. + -> Disable EMS Usage. - -> Disable XMS/UMB Usage. ~ -> Disable Network Detection. Each of these parameters is explained completely in the troubleshooting section of the PKZIP documentation. The format that must be used to pass these parameters to ZIP'R is ZIP- ??. The question marks should be replaced by a two digit code chosen from the following table. The code is selected based on the combination of parameters necessary to run PKZIP reliably on your machine. For example, to disable 32-bit instruction usage and use "slow" memcopy, the code "07" would be chosen. The command line parameter for ZIP'R would be ZIP-07. ZIP'R / PKZIP v2.0 Parameter Matrix ┌──────────────┬──────────────┬──────────────┬──────────────┐ │ 00 > 3 │ 10 > 3(- │ 20 > 3)(+~ │ 30 > )(+~ │ │ 01 > ) │ 11 > 3(~ │ 21 > 3)(-~ │ 31 > )(-~ │ │ 02 > ( │ 12 > 3+- │ 22 > 3)+-~ │ 32 > )(+-~ │ │ 03 > + │ 13 > 3+~ │ 23 > 3(+-~ │ 33 > (+ │ │ 04 > - │ 14 > 3-~ │ 24 > 3)(+-~ │ 34 > (- │ │ 05 > ~ │ 15 > 3)(+ │ 25 > )( │ 35 > (~ │ │ 06 > 3) │ 16 > 3)(- │ 26 > )+ │ 36 > (+- │ │ 07 > 3( │ 17 > 3)(~ │ 27 > )- │ 37 > (+~ │ │ 08 > 3+ │ 18 > 3)+- │ 28 > )~ │ 38 > (-~ │ │ 09 > 3- │ 19 > 3)+~ │ 29 > )(+ │ 39 > (+-~ │ │ 0A > 3~ │ 1A > 3)-~ │ 2A > )(- │ 3A > +- │ │ 0B > 3)( │ 1B > 3(+- │ 2B > )(~ │ 3B > +~ │ │ 0C > 3)+ │ 1C > 3(+~ │ 2C > )+- │ 3C > +-~ │ │ 0D > 3)- │ 1D > 3(-~ │ 2D > )+~ │ 3D > -~ │ │ 0E > 3)~ │ 1E > 3+-~ │ 2E > )-~ │ │ │ 0F > 3(+ │ 1F > 3)(+- │ 2F > )(+- │ │ └──────────────┴──────────────┴──────────────┴──────────────┘ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ │ Using ZIP'R with DESQview: │ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ ZIP'R has been tested under DESQview. However, caution is advised since it is possible under any multi-tasker to have two or more windows attempting to compress or decompress the same file at the same time. This scenario can cause data corruption. The network/multitasker version of ZIP'R (ZIPRN.EXE) has additional features which limit simultaneous access during the compression and decompression phases. DESQview .DVP Example: OLD Program...: PW Parameters: Directory.: C:\PFS NEW Program...: ZIPRN Parameters: C: \PFS PFS ZIP PW Directory.: C:\ZIPR If you are a TAME user, copy the files TAME-RES.COM, and TAME.EXE into the ZIP'R sub-directory. Use the ZIPRTAME.BAT file supplied with ZIP'R to invoke TAME-RES.COM before executing ZIP'R. To run the previous example program, the .DVP command lines would be changed as shown below: DESQview .DVP Example (Invoking TAME): OLD Program...: ZIPRN Parameters: C: \PFS PFS ZIP PW Directory.: C:\ZIPR NEW Program...: ZIPRTAME Parameters: ZIPRN C: \PFS PFS ZIP PW Directory.: C:\ZIPR Since ZIPRTAME.BAT is a batch file containing an EXIT statement, you should also make the following change to your .DVP: Change a Program Advanced Options OLD Close on exit (Y,N,blank)......: [Y] NEW Close on exit (Y,N,blank)......: [N] This change allows control to return to the ZIPRTAME.BAT file after ZIP'R completes its operation. ZIPRTAME.BAT is a modified TAME-RUN.BAT batch file containing the proper paths to TAME-RES.COM and TAME.EXE. Stay tuned! There will be more ZIP'R enhancements working in combination with TAME. ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ │ DESQview Tips & Techniques: │ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ Allocating about 200K of EMS memory to programs executed through ZIP'R will allow ZIP'R to swap itself to EMS memory, rather than disk. This speeds up the swapping process somewhat. If you are already allocating EMS memory to the program, increasing the amount by 200K will provide extra room for the swap file. The opening ZIP'R screen will indicate how much EMS memory is available to ZIP'R. If this figure is less than 200K, increase the amount of EMS memory allocated. Since PKZIP 2.0 can also use EMS memory, additional memory should be set aside as swap space for PKZIP. (Since ZIP'R does not swap itself out to execute PKZIP, the 200K set aside for ZIP'R is normally sufficient.) When using ZIPRN (without TAME), you can save about 8K of memory by specifying the .EXE extension for ZIPRN as shown in the following example: DESQview .DVP Example (Saves about 8K of memory.): OLD Program...: ZIPRN Parameters: C: \PFS PFS ZIP PW Directory.: C:\ZIPR NEW Program...: ZIPRN.EXE Parameters: C: \PFS PFS ZIP PW Directory.: C:\ZIPR This saves about 8K of memory by allowing DESQview to execute ZIP'R directly, rather than loading a secondary command processor. ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ │ Using ZIP'R with Windows: │ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ ZIP'R is only effective when running DOS programs under Windows. It will NOT work with Windows specific programs! ZIP'R has been tested under Windows, but the same cautions that apply to DESQview apply to Windows. Since Windows is a multi-tasker, it is possible to have two or more windows attempting to compress or decompress the same file at the same time. This scenario can cause data corruption. The network/multitasker version of ZIP'R (ZIPRN.EXE) has additional features which limit simultaneous access during the compression and decompression phases. Windows Program Item Properties Example: OLD Description: PFS Pro-Write Command Line: PW Working Directory: C:\PFS NEW Description: PFS Pro-Write Command Line: ZIPRN C: \PFS PFS ZIP PW Working Directory: C:\ZIPR Windows .PIF Example: OLD Program Filename: PW.COM Window Title: PFS Pro-Write Optional Parameters: Start-up Directory: C:\PFS NEW Program Filename: ZIPRN.EXE Window Title: PFS Pro-Write Optional Parameters: C: \PFS PFS ZIP PW Start-up Directory: C:\ZIPR TAME may also be used in combination with ZIP'R under Windows. If you are a TAME user, copy the files TAME-RES.COM, and TAME.EXE into the ZIP'R sub-directory. Use the ZIPRTAME.BAT file supplied with ZIP'R to invoke TAME-RES.COM before executing ZIP'R. To run the previous example program, the Windows command lines would be changed as shown below: Windows Program Item Properties Example (Invoking TAME): OLD Description: PFS Pro-Write Command Line: ZIPRN C: \PFS PFS ZIP PW Working Directory: C:\ZIPR NEW Description: PFS Pro-Write Command Line: ZIPRTAME ZIPRN C: \PFS PFS ZIP PW Working Directory: C:\ZIPR Windows .PIF Example (Invoking TAME): OLD Program Filename: ZIPRN.EXE Window Title: PFS Pro-Write Optional Parameters: C: \PFS PFS ZIP PW Start-up Directory: C:\ZIPR NEW Program Filename: ZIPRTAME.BAT Window Title: PFS Pro-Write Optional Parameters: ZIPRN C: \PFS PFS ZIP PW Start-up Directory: C:\ZIPR ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ │ Using ZIP'R with DoorWay: │ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ ZIP'R has been tested in combination with DoorWay. However, the command line structure must be changed slightly. DoorWay requires the .EXE extension to appear on the command line. An example of an actual DoorWay command line is as follows: /P:C:\ZIPR\ZIPR.EXE D: \THEDRAW THEDRAW ZIP THEDRAW ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ │ Cautions! │ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ Do NOT attempt to use ZIP'R to compress any directories containing files that are referenced in your CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT. If you wish to compress the DOS sub-directory, copy any such files to the root directory of the hard drive, and update the paths in your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT. Also be cautious when compressing directories that contain memory managers, caches, and utilities that may be needed to boot your machine. These directories may be compressed, but any files needed for booting the machine must be copied to the root directory, and the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT paths updated. Keep in mind that in order to properly decompress a program, there must be enough free space on the hard drive to contain all the extracted files in addition to the original compressed file. After the files have been successfully extracted, the compressed file is deleted. Likewise, when compressing a program, sufficient space must be available for the original program files and the newly created compressed file. After the compressed file has been successfully created, the original program files are deleted. Multi-taskers such as DESQview and Windows put additional stress on the disk I/O systems of the computer. If you have any doubts about the stability of your system, either don't use ZIP'R in the first place, or use the ARJT option to force ARJ to verify the integrity of the archive before files are deleted. When running on a network, or using a multitasker, ZIPRN should be used to reduce conflicts when compressing and decompressing files. When upgrading to PKZIP 2.0, test the reliability of the compression and decompression processes before trusting it with your data! PKZIP 2.0 has some documented problems with fast machines (486/25 and up) using external CPU memory caches. Read the troubleshooting section of the PKZIP 2.0 documentation for more information. ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ │ Troubleshooting / Common Problems: │ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ Problem #1: The most common problem among ZIP'R users is incorrect command line parameters. In order to effectively use ZIP'R, you need to know five things: 1. The drive that the program you wish to run is located on. 2. The directory that the program you wish to run is located in. 3. The name of the compressed file that will be created or used. 4. The type of compression you want to use. 5. The name of the executable file that you want to run. As an example, suppose that you want to run the program PCSHELL.EXE, which is located in the PCTOOLS sub-directory on the D: drive. After this program is executed, you want the entire PCTOOLS sub-directory (and all of its sub-directories) compressed using PKZIP. Fill in the required five parameters as follows: 1. D: (Colon required.) 2. \PCTOOLS (Backslash required.) 3. PCTOOLS (This is a name you make up. No extension.) 4. ZIP (This is the type of compression you want to use.) 5. PCSHELL (No extension. ZIP'R searches for an executable file.) So, in this example the final ZIP'R command line would be: ZIPR D: \PCTOOLS PCTOOLS ZIP PCSHELL If you were using the network/multitasker version of ZIP'R (ZIPRN), the command line would be: ZIPRN D: \PCTOOLS PCTOOLS ZIP PCSHELL Problem #2: If you receive the error message, "Unable to run COMMAND /C ...", you are probably running DR DOS, and do not have COMMAND.COM available on your path. For some reason, DR DOS does not copy COMMAND.COM into the \DRDOS sub-directory at installation time, making it unavailable on the path. The solution here is simply to copy COMMAND.COM from the root directory into the \DRDOS sub-directory. Another alternative is to add the root directory to the PATH= statement in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Version 1.7 and later versions of ZIP'R detect this problem and issue a warning message. Problem #3: If ZIP'R won't compress the program's files and sub-directories after it is exited, check the ZIP'R command line parameters. If these are all correct, check the \ZIPR sub-directory for any files with a .U00 or .U01 extension. These are token files created by ZIPRN to track concurrent access to a compressed file. Normally, these files are deleted when the program is exited. However, if the computer hangs, these files will not be deleted, and will prevent ZIP'R from compressing the program's files and sub-directories. The filename will match the name given to the compressed file on the ZIP'R command line. For example, the command line "ZIPRN C: \PCTOOLS6 PCTOOLS6 ZIP PCSHELL" would create a file called PCTOOLS6.U00 or PCTOOLS6.U01. To make ZIP'R operate correctly, make sure that the program is not being used, and delete either or both of these files from the \ZIPR sub-directory. Problem #4: If you are using PKZIP v2.04c, and are getting unexplained CRC errors during compression and decompression, use the ZIP-02 switch on the ZIP'R command line to force PKZIP to use "Slow MemCopy". This problem is explained in the troubleshooting section of the PKZIP documentation. ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ │ Programs mentioned: │ ■─────────────────────────────────────────■ TAME is copyrighted by PowerSoft, Inc. and David G. Thomas. ARJ is copyrighted by Robert K Jung. AutoMenu is copyrighted by Magee Enterprises. DESQview is copyrighted by Quarterdeck Office Systems. DoorWay is copyrighted by Marshall Dudley. LHA is copyrighted by Haruyasu Yoshizaki. PKZIP is copyrighted by PKWARE, Inc. PKUNZIP is copyrighted by PKWARE, Inc. QuikMenu is copyrighted by OSCS Software Development, Inc. Windows is copyrighted by Microsoft.