RBBS in a Box Volume 1 #2/RBBS_vol1_no2.iso/014r/larc15.zip/LARC15.DOC

Text File | 1987-03-15 | 6KB | 181 lines

  LARC Utility                                          Version 1.5
  ------------                                           3/15/87

  Purpose:

        To create the smallest possible ARC files.

  Usage:
        LARC d:[\inpath\]filespec  [d:\outpath] [/A] [/P] [/C] [/L] [/R]

        The input drive and/or path is required and specifies the
        location of ARC file(s) to be processed.  The inpath name is
        optional.  You may include wildcards.  The extension defaults
        to ARC.

        The output drive and path are optional. If omitted, the
        original ARC files are replaced with any smaller versions
        created by the LARC process. If supplied, all ARC files
        are newly created in the output directory. This is handy
        for insuring that no ARC files have squashed members.

        At least two disk directories are required.  The first (from
        d:\inpath) contains the original ARC files.  The second (the
        current drive and path) is used for temporary storage where
        all ARC files are extracted and re-created.  A large RAM disk
        is recommended.  Optionally, a third directory (from
        d:\outpath) is used as the destination for all ARC files.

        You MUST not have the d:\inpath the same as the current drive
        and path.  The current drive (and directory) is used for
        temporary work space. You can have the inpath and outpath the
        same to force replacement of all existing ARC files. The smallest
        ARC files - in terms of bytes,  not clusters - is used.

        The /A option specifies that ARCA should be used; /P that
        PKARC should be used, and /C that SEA's ARC.EXE be used.
        If none is supplied, the default is to used ARCA only.

        If an LBR library file is encountered, it is converted to
        an ARC file. You must have LUE.COM available in the DOS path.
        If you plan to just convert LBR files, use an input file
        specification of "*.LBR" to avoid unnecessary processing.
        The LBR file is not deleted unless the /L option is supplied.
        This gives you complete control of the process.

        A summary report is produced at the end of the program. It
        is normally displayed on the screen, but you can have a
        duplicate written to the file LARC.RPT by supplying the /R
        option on the command line.

        You should have ARCA, PKXARC, PKARC, LUE and ARC.EXE accessible
        from the DOS path, preferably in a RAM disk, depending on the
        options supplied pn the command line. Of course, you may
        substitute BAT files for any of those programs.




 LARC Utility                                                          Page 2

                        Operation
                        ---------

        Each ARC file is individually unpacked by PKXARC (so that
        squashed files can be processed), and then ARCed using ARC,
        PKARC and/or ARCA. If any of the resulting ARC files is
        smaller than the original, the original is immediately
        replaced. The original ARC file's date and time are preserved.

        It takes a long time to process several ARC files. Figure
        an hour for 10 megs of ARC files on an AT. LARC beeps when
        it is finished, and displays a summary of the files processed.

        You can eliminate squashed files by using an early version
        of PKARC, or by patching PKARC to disable squashing.

        I use LARC to process newly uploaded files. It is a brute
        force method of testing the integrity of the files, and
        results in saving disk space. Eventually, ARCA will be
        smart enough to do this.



                        Examples
                        --------

     o  There are several ARC files in the directory C:\TEST; drive
        D: is an 800K RAM disk. Any smaller ARC files replace the
        existing files. Only ARC is used.

             d:|cd \
             larc c:\test\*

     o  All ARC files in the directory C:\UPLOADS are copied to a
        new directory, C:\TEST, in their smallest versions. The disk
        directory C:\WORK is the current directory and is used for
        temporarily extracting ARC files. All files in C:\WORK are
        deleted. Both ARCA and PKARC are used.

             c:|cd \work
             larc c:\uploads\* c:\test /A/P

     o  Convert all library LBR files on C:\TEST to ARC files, and
        delete the original library files. Drive d: is used for
        temporary storage.

             d:
             larc c:\test\*.lbr /l

     o  Replace existing ARC file on B:\ with the smallest ARC
        files. Drive C: is used for temporary storage.

             c:
             larc b:\* b:\ /a/p/c




 LARC Utility                                                          Page 3

                        Version History
                        ---------------

|  3/15/87
|       Version 1.5 corrects an overflow (error 6) problem, and adds
|       another check to be sure that the temporary directory is
|       different from the input and output directories. Remember,
|       all files in the temporary directory are deleted.
|
|       Also, DOS 3.1 or later is required for proper operation.
|       There's no guarentee of anything, anyway.



                        Notes
                        -----

        (c) Copyright Vernon D. Buerg 1987. All rights reserved.
                      456 Lakeshire Drive, Daly City, CA 94015.
                      VOR BBS: 415-994-2944, 24 hrs, 300/1200/2400

        Written in MS Quick Basic, version 2.01, using the ADVBAS
        object library by Thomas Hanlin III, 6812 Sydenstricker
        Rd., Springfield, VA 22152.

        The LARC program and materials may be distributed and copied
        with these restrictions:

                - no fee is charged,
                - the material is not modified.