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- JUST GIVE THE "UC -??" COMMAND TO GET INTERACTIVE ACCESS TO THE MANUAL.
-
-
- 0. WHAT IS NEW (overview of changes from revision 3 to 4)
- =========================================================
-
- This chapter describes all differences between UltraCompressor II (tm)
- revision 3 (the June 1 1995 release) and revision 4.
-
- This chapter contains the following paragraphs:
-
- - A. Bug fixes
- - B. Enhancements
- - C. Known problems/issues
-
- When you use the AIP-NL manual viewer you can jump to a chapter or a
- paragraph by pressing the corresponding digit(s) or letter.
-
-
- 0.A BUG FIXES
- =============
-
- The use of PCPs, no longer erroneously causes fatal error 225.
-
- The size of the error logfile is no longer reported erroneously.
-
- Visual UltraCompressor now properly copies system and hidden files
- from disk to disk.
-
- Visual UltraCompressor now properly shows all possible error messages
- when copying from disk to disk.
-
- Visual UltraCompressor no longer leaves temporary directories on disk
- if the current drive and the temporary files directory are on
- different disks.
-
- Visual UltraCompressor no longer complains that UC.EXE is not in the
- PATH if it is in the current directory.
-
- Visual UltraCompressor now properly handles filenames ending with
- international characters.
-
- !DTT (dynamic time travel) can now be used on an archive which is
- managed by VM (version manager).
-
-
- 0.B ENHANCEMENTS
- ================
-
- Visual UltraCompressor has been adapted to cooperate better with
- braille equipped systems.
-
- UC2 now stores and re-stores Windows 95 long filenames. Details on
- Windows 95 support are in chapter 16.
-
- VU now shows and handles Windows 95 long filenames. (use F11 to
- toggle the view mode)
-
- VU now handles Enter/Double-Click as VIEW instead of EDIT which makes
- it much faster inside archives.
-
- UC2SEA now allows specification of volume size per byte.
-
-
- 0.C KNOWN PROBLEMS/ISSUES
- =========================
-
- UC2/UC2SEA/UCEXE and resident virus scanners
- --------------------------------------------
- UC2 can "generate" executables (extraction from an archive), UC2SEA
- and UCEXE also generate executables. Some (resident) virus scanners
- detect that an executable is changed/generated and warn you a virus
- might be active. In many cases UC2 and UC2SEA are capable of avoiding
- this problem but not all virus scanners allow this. This problem is
- not unique, other archivers, compilers and executable compressors
- have similar problems.
-
- SuperOptimizer efficiency
- -------------------------
- The SuperOptimizer could be made about 20% faster by eliminating
- redundant decompression phases. The SuperOptimizer currently uses a
- universal approach capable of handling all archive types. In the
- future some more specialized methods will be used for the
- SuperOptimizer.
-
- UC2 transaction processing and UNDELETE tools
- ---------------------------------------------
- To minimize the risk of data loss in case of e.g. power failures, UC2
- always works 'transaction oriented'. UC2 often uses temporary files
- to achieve this. In some environments deleted files are not really
- deleted, but moved to a different location. This allows better
- recovery of deleted files. Examples of this are the OS/2 DELDIR
- setting and the Norton SmartCan program. Since these tools use a
- first in first out approach, intensive use of UC2 can 'take over' the
- deleted file space. DELDIR, SmartCan, etc. should be disabled before
- UC is executed if this is unwanted.
-
- VU DISK to DISK copy command is "ugly"
- --------------------------------------
- Unlike many other shells, VU uses the XCOPY command to copy files.
- This has a disadvantage and a lot of advantages. The disadvantage is
- the lack of a nice full color progress bar. The advantages are:
-
- - OS/2 extended attributes are fully preserved
- - Windows 95 long filenames and attributes are preserved
- - XCOPY is in most cases the fastest way to copy files
- - all network and file system specific error messages are shown
- - VU will automatically adapt to future operating system revisions
-
-
- 1. INTRODUCTION (how to get started, features, etc.)
- ====================================================
-
- This chapter briefly discusses all the software included in the
- UltraCompressor II PRO package.
-
- For 'commercial' use the UC2 PRO evaluation copy can only be used for a
- period of 30 days. More details on this are in chapter 2. Chapter 2 also
- contains the AIP-NL license agreement. By using this package, you are
- agreeing to be bound by the terms of this agreement.
-
- Please use ORDER.FRM to order a license for our products.
-
- This chapter contains the following paragraphs:
-
- - A. What is UltraCompressor II?
- - B. Support, feedback, dealers, third party tools
- - C. Features, main
- - D. Features, business/corporate use
- - E. Features, developers
- - F. Features, BBS sysops
- - G. Included files
- - H. Credits
- - I. Acknowledgements
- - J. Press release
-
- When you use the AIP-NL manual viewer you can jump to a chapter or a
- paragraph by pressing the corresponding digit(s) or letter.
-
-
- 1.A WHAT IS ULTRA-COMPRESSOR II?
- ================================
-
- UltraCompressor II (tm) from AIP-NL (Ad Infinitum Programs) is an
- archiver. An archiver is a file handling and compression utility. It
- will make most of your files significantly smaller and it can keep
- related files together. When you need the files, you can decompress them
- with the same UC2 utility. UC2 is very easy to use, thanks to its simple
- user interface and has support for all archiving needs.
-
- An archive behaves just like a floppy disk. It has a directory
- structure, you can copy from the archive with extraction and copy to the
- archive by adding. It is also possible to delete files from the archive.
-
- UC2 can also make such an archive DAMAGE PROTECTED (tm), so ALL files in
- the archive are safe, even if there are disk errors (within reasonable
- limits).
-
- With UC2 an archive can contain multiple versions of the same file.
-
- With a clear manual and a limited number of commands, UC2 will turn out
- to be very easy to use. Most of the options are configurable, so the
- commands are very simple and easy to remember.
-
- In general UC2 is very fast, especially when updating archives or
- extracting files from archives. At the same time it has superior
- compression. UC2 can handle near unlimited collections of files, in
- multi-gigabyte archives, even on a XT. For a detailed overview of the
- features of UC2, see paragraph C.
-
-
- 1.B SUPPORT, FEEDBACK, DEALERS, THIRD PARTY TOOLS
- =================================================
-
- Contacting AIP-NL
- -----------------
- Mail : P.O. Box 1432, 3430 BK Nieuwegein, The Netherlands
-
- Phone : +31-30-662107
- FAX : +31-30-616571
- BBS : +31-3402-55707
-
- Internet : desk@aip.nl
-
- CompuServe : 100115,2303
-
- We actively monitor the Internet newsgroup comp.compression.
-
- Up-to-date software is always available from:
-
- CompuServe : GO IBMPRO, LIB 10
- InterNet : ftp://ftp.nl.net/gopher/NLnet-connected/aipnl/...
- BBS : +31-3402-55707
-
- When you have any questions, just ask us or any of our dealers. We
- will answer your questions as soon as possible.
-
- You can also contact desk@aip.nl to become a beta tester, to be added
- to our mailing list or to request uuencoded copies of our software.
-
- Feedback
- --------
- Help us to make this product even better. Tell us what you want us to
- improve in UC2 and all our other products. Comment on the manuals in
- general, or on a manual in a specific language, is also very welcome.
-
- Dealers
- -------
- USA, BMT Micro
-
- Mail : 452 Horn Rd, Wilmington, NC 28412-2411, USA
- Phone : (800) 414-4268 (toll free, orders only)
- (910) 791-7052
- FAX : (910) 350-2937
- BBS : (910) 350-8061 (direct link to AIP-NL)
- Internet : thomas.bradford@bmtmicro.com
- CompuServe : 74031,307
- FidoNet : 1:3628/11
-
- France, SERMEDITECH
-
- Mail : 6 Rue Racine, 02200 Courmelles, France
- Phone : 23.73.98.90
- FAX : 23.73.40.71
- BBS : 23.73.02.51
- Internet : rfrey@sermeditec.win.net
- CompuServe : 100346,1161
- FidoNet : 2:322/12
- SparkNet : 74:322/1
- FrancoMedia : 101:176/106
-
- Singapore, Online Technology
-
- Mail : P.O. Box 0685, Bukit Merah Central, Singapore 9115
- Phone : (65) 298-8634
- FAX : (65) 298-1324
- Internet : 71413.3330@compuserve.com
- CompuServe : 71413,3330
-
- Israel, Magic
-
- Mail : 29 Etzion St., Ra'anana 43562, Israel
- Phone : 09-441-579
- FAX : 09-984-945, 09-916-647
- BBS : 09-916-647, 09-984-945, 09-918-533
- Internet : tammar@chemsg5.tau.ac.il
- FidoNet : 2:405/52
-
- Australia, GeNNeXXuS Pty. Ltd.
-
- Mail : P.O. Box 768, Revesby, NSW 2212, Australia
- Phone : +61-2-725-1862
- FAX : +61-2-725-3259
- BBS : +61-2-725-3541
- Internet : aip-nl@gnxs.com.au
- Fidonet : 3:713/611
-
- Third party tools
- -----------------
- For third parties AIP has implemented a third party interface in UC2
- (UC2-3PI). For documentation and samples sources please contact
- AIP-NL.
-
- The following tools have UltraCompressor II support: (we list the
- lowest version number with UC2 support)
-
- ARCHIVE MANAGER PRO 1.0, Alexander Maltsev, archive manager,
- freeware
-
- Internet : Alexander.Maltsev@p29.f271.n5020.z2.fidonet.org
- FidoNet : 2:5020/271.29 Moscow Russia
-
- Available on any AMP Support BBS. Contact to become an
- Authorized User or Support BBS.
-
- ArcMaster 10.0, New-Ware, archiver shell, shareware $35 USD
-
- Mail : 8050 Camino Kiosco, San Diego, CA 92122-1820, USA
- Phone : (619) 455-6225 (Business hours ONLY please!)
- BBS : (619) 455-5226
-
- AVIEW 4.5, Chris Buijs, archive viewer, freeware
-
- Mail : De Spil 22, 1507 CX Zaandam, The Netherlands
- BBS : +31-(0)75-704890
- CompuServe : 100117,3242
- FidoNet : 2:280/407.16
-
- DOS Navigator(tm) 1.30, RIT S.R.L., DOS shell, shareware $35 USD
-
- Mail : str. Tudor Vladimirescu 18, Chishinau, 277024,
- Republic of Moldova
- Phone : +373 2 26-10-16
- FAX : +373 2 26-14-16
- BBS : +373 2 22-64-83, +373 2 22-85-77
- Internet : AxoNSoft@silk.glas.apc.org
- FidoNet : 2:469/33
-
- Morgul 1.00, Toni Nikkanen, music module player, free/cardware
-
- Mail : Kymenlaaksonkatu 7 D 45, FIN-48100 KOTKA, Finland
- BBS : +358 (9)51 3758236
- Internet : tnikkane@clinet.fi, luovaa@freenet.hut.fi
- FidoNet : 2:221/18
-
- MTA 15.56, DISP, archive converter, shareware $25 USD
-
- Mail : P.O. box 131, 1170 AC, Badhoevedorp, Netherlands
- BBS : +31-(0)1749-48422
- CompuServe : 100120,1146
- FidoNet : 2:281/904.5
-
- REARJ 2.25, ARJ Software, archive converter, part of ARJ 2.41a
-
- Mail : 2606 Village Road West, Norwood,
- Massachusetts 02062
- Internet : robjung@world.std.com
- CompuServe : 72077,445
-
- SHEZ 9.7, CSD, archiver shell, shareware $39 USD
-
- Mail : P.O. Box 15248, Santa Rosa, CA 95402, USA
- Phone : (707) 575-9868
- Internet : jim.derr@kandy.com
- CompuServe : 76266,2634
-
- THD ProScan Version 11.0, File/Upload Tester/Convertor
-
- FidoNet : 1:259/423.0
-
-
-
- If you are aware of a tool which has UltraCompressor II support, but
- which is not included on this list, please let us know.
-
- The products included here are manufactured by vendors independent of
- AIP-NL; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these
- products' performance or reliability.
-
-
- 1.C FEATURES, GENERAL
- =====================
-
- Better compression
- ------------------
- Up to 72% better compression than competing software. (See chapter 4
- paragraph A options TF, TN, TT and the O commands; chapter 6
- paragraph A.)
-
- Speed
- -----
- Compression is fast and configurable to favor compression speed or
- archive size. Extraction is very fast. UC2 is also very fast when it
- UPDATES an archive, even if this archive is large, stored on a
- network server or stored on a slow (floppy) disk. (See chapter 4
- paragraph A options TF and I; paragraph F 'smart skipping'; chapter 6
- paragraph A.)
-
- Reliability
- -----------
- Archives can optionally be protected against damage, allowing them to
- recover from most disk-errors without any loss of data. UC2 always
- works 'transaction oriented' allowing recovery from most crashes
- without any loss of data. It has optional double-verification,
- preventing data loss in case of hardware or software problems. (See
- chapter 4 paragraph A the P command; chapter 6 paragraph A
- 'reliability level'.)
-
- Powerful command line
- ---------------------
- Straightforward, yet powerful command line. If UC2 can figure it out,
- you don't have to specify it. The manual contains 4 separate sections
- on the command line to make sure you get only the information
- relevant for what you want. (See chapters 3,4,5 and 8).
-
- Easy to use graphical user interface
- ------------------------------------
- Good looking, general purpose, graphical shell. VU is highly
- configurable allowing you to tailor it to your personal taste. (See
- chapter 12.)
-
- Integrated help
- ---------------
- UC2 has integrated help (with search) and an, easy to use, integrated
- configuration tool. Only a few commands are needed to manage archives
- with UC. UC can automatically deal with ARC, ARJ, LZH, ZIP, etc.
- archives as if they are UC archives. (See chapter 3; chapter 6.)
-
- Highly configurable
- -------------------
- Many operation details can be configured by built in configuration
- tools and/or by directly changing the readable AIP-NL.INI file. (See
- chapter 6 and chapter 12.)
-
- Ultra-fast self extracting archives
- -----------------------------------
- Self extracting archives can span multiple diskettes. Their operation
- is fully configurable. They work up to 3 times faster than competing
- self extractors. (See chapter 13.)
-
- Full support of OS/2 2.x extended attributes
- --------------------------------------------
- OS/2 2.x extended attributes (such as icons, WPS long icon names,
- WordPerfect 5.2 for OS/2 summary information, etc.) can be kept in an
- archive. They are managed automatically. (See chapter 6 paragraph A
- 'Store OS/2 2.x extended attributes'.)
-
-
- 1.D FEATURES, BUSINESS/CORPORATE USE
- ====================================
-
- Advanced version management
- ---------------------------
- Multiple versions of file collections (projects) can be managed with
- the included 'Version Manager' (VM) tool. VM supports project level
- version labelling. Also included is UDIFF, an 'unlimited pass' tool
- to compare text files. (See chapter 8 paragraph A and chapter 15.)
-
- Scripts
- -------
- A 'script' file can contain a large list of files (e.g. to be
- compressed). A script file can also be used as a substitute for
- multiple (complex) commands. Scripts can be nested, to allow the
- construction of 'building blocks'. Scripts can be very long
- (multi-megabyte). (See chapter 4 paragraph F 'scripts'.)
-
- Capable of heavy duty tasks
- ---------------------------
- There is almost no limit to the number of files in an archive or to
- the number of files processed in a single command. Where some other
- programs get into trouble with more than 10,000 files, UC2 can easily
- handle a much larger number of files. Even a simple PC-XT can (given
- time) handle this workload. (See chapter 7 paragraph A.)
-
- Error handling and logging
- --------------------------
- UC2 has advanced error handling and logging. This is especially
- important when large collections of files are archived from shared
- (network) disks. In almost all cases UC2 allows you to solve severe
- problems and enables you to continue the operation. (See chapter 4
- paragraph F 'superior error handling' and chapter 8 paragraph F.)
-
- Private compression profiles
- ----------------------------
- This feature allows you to use UC2 as an optimized special purpose
- compressor for a specific kind of data (e.g. text files in a specific
- language). (See chapter 8 paragraph F.)
-
- State of the art encryption
- ---------------------------
- UltraCrypt can protect your data with heavy duty enhanced triple DES
- (Digital Encryption Standard) encryption. Faster encryption is
- included as well. (See chapter 9.)
-
- State of the art authenticity verification
- ------------------------------------------
- UltraSeal and UltraSafe can help you protect your data against
- undetected changes (e.g. virus infections or data falsifications).
- They do not use 'security by obscurity', but they use digital
- signatures based on Lucas functions. (See chapters 10 and 11.)
-
-
- 1.E FEATURES, DEVELOPERS
- ========================
-
- File version management
- -----------------------
- Multiple versions of a file (e.g. the MAY 2 21:33:18 and the MAY 3
- 02:17:22 version) can be kept in an archive. UC2 version management
- is very simple to use. (See chapter 4 paragraph E.)
-
- Advanced version management
- ---------------------------
- Multiple versions of file collections (projects) can be managed with
- the included 'Version Manager' (VM) tool. VM supports project level
- version labelling. Also included is UDIFF, an 'unlimited pass' tool
- to compare text files. (See chapter 8 paragraph A and chapter 15.)
-
- Very fast updates
- -----------------
- UC2 is very fast in updating large archives while maintaining
- superior compression and reliability. No complex commands or options
- are needed for this. (See chapter 4 paragraph A options TF and I;
- paragraph F 'smart skipping'; chapter 6 paragraph A.)
-
- Simple path management
- ----------------------
- With UC2 it is very easy to copy any set of files from anywhere on
- disk to anywhere in the archive and vice versa. (See chapter 4
- paragraphs A and B, the # option.)
-
- Filter on file contents
- -----------------------
- Define a search string and only files containing this string will be
- printed, listed, extracted, added, etc. (See chapter 8, paragraph E.)
-
- Filter on anything else
- -----------------------
- Filter on date/time, attributes, if a file is newer, query for each
- file, etc. (See chapter 8, paragraph E.)
-
- Compress dos executables
- ------------------------
- UCEXE can make DOS executables MUCH smaller, while they remain
- working. On top of that UCEXE compressed executables check their own
- integrity. (See chapter 14.)
-
-
- 1.F FEATURES, BBS SYSOPS
- ========================
-
- Multimedia banners
- ------------------
- UC2 allows you to add multimedia banners (text, graphics, sound and
- music) to an archive, or to a collection of archives. (See chapter 5
- paragraph B.)
-
- Easy conversion combined with virus scanning
- --------------------------------------------
- UC2 can convert collections of archives of almost any kind with just
- one simple command. If preferred, UC2 will scan archive contents for
- viruses during conversion. (See chapter 5 paragraph A.)
-
- Get rid of viruses forever
- --------------------------
- The industrial strength authenticity verification software can help
- you to get rid of viruses forever by protecting archives against
- unauthorized changes. (See chapters 9 and 10)
-
- Needs only 32kb free memory to run
- ----------------------------------
- UC2 can be used together with other large programs, perfect for
- mailers and other (large) programs that need to call UC2. (See
- chapter 5 paragraph C.)
-
- Time stamp
- ----------
- Time stamp (collections of) archives with the date/time of their
- newest file. (See chapter 8, paragraph E.)
-
- Private compression profiles
- ----------------------------
- This feature allows you to use UC2 as an optimized special purpose
- compressor for a specific kind of data (e.g. email). (See chapter 8
- paragraph F.)
-
-
- 1.G INCLUDED FILES
- ==================
-
- Please note UC2PRO.EXE has been protected with UltraSeal. You can use
- UltraSafe to verify whether you have an original version.
-
- General
- -------
- U_MANUAL.TXT the manual
- ORDER.FRM order form
- USEAL.FRM supplement to ORDER.FRM for ordering USEAL
- FILE_ID.DIZ file for BBSes
- AIP-NL.INI configuration file
-
- UltraCompressor II
- ------------------
- UC.EXE command line archive
- US.EXE install UltraStealth
- UUC.EXE use UltraStealth
-
- UC2 Tools
- ---------
- VM.EXE version manager
-
- SAS.EXE simple archive splitter
-
- UCDIR.BAT compress directory
- UEDIR.BAT expand directory
-
- UPROT.BAT protect archive
- ULOCK.BAT lock archive
-
- Other tools
- -----------
- VU.EXE GUI archiver shell
- VU.PIF Program Information File to make MS-Windows run VU.EXE
- in full screen mode
- VU.REG File to add VU.EXE to the Windows 95 registry.
-
- UC2SEA.EXE convert UC2 archive into an executable
- DOS.SEA extraction module for UC2SEA
-
- UCEXE.EXE make DOS executable smaller and self checking
-
- UDIFF.EXE compare two text files
-
- UCRYPT.EXE UltraCrypt executable
- USAFE.EXE UltraSafe executable
-
-
- 1.H CREDITS
- ===========
-
- AIP-NL would like to thank the following people for their involvement,
- work, support, ideas, testing, checking, etc.:
-
- Aarif Rashid Ad Nühn
- Ad Spijkers Allen Koberg
- Andrew Cadach Andy Hakim
- Arjan Bosse Arno Haket
- Arnold Jansen Bernardo Javier Siu Fabry
- Bruce Ray Bruus Antonides
- Charles Evans Charlie Negyesi
- Conny de Vries Damir Lukic
- Danny Bezemer Dejan Markovic
- Dirk Schreib Doug Lamb
- Doug Tooley Ellen de Vries
- Eric Morel Eric Veldhuyzen
- Eugen Woiwod Ewout de Klijne
- Fabian Meuller Forrest Aldrich
- Frank Leene Fred Snijder
- Fred Wijshoff Gary van Beeck
- Geoffrey Broadwell Glenn Evan Copeland
- Graeme Cross Graham Scott
- Greg Roelofs Gregory Flint
- Gudmundur J. Helgason Hans Klunder
- Hans Peer Helen Derks
- Ian Spenser Nelson Ingrid Foster-Dingley-Groot
- Itamar Even-Zohar Jacob Poon
- Jan Kalin Jan van Hees
- Jan van Leeuwen Jan-Pieter Cornet
- Jan-Willem Overbeek Janne Kankaala
- Jasmijn de Vries Jason Buchanan
- Javier Manero Jean-loup Gailly
- Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers Joe Emenaker
- Joe Fortser Joe Negron
- Joergen Hjort John Mitchell
- Joost Pruijt Juan Manuel Ruiz Lopez
- Juha Kivijärvi Kai Uwe Rommel
- Kit Thong Kovács Balázs
- Leonid Yakovlev Leslie Klieb
- Marc Randolph Marco van de Wetering
- Marijke Hoytink Mark Adler
- Mark Kovarski Mark de Boer
- Markus Kaemmerer Marton Anka
- Michael Sumulong Mike Charnock
- Mike Davis Mike Laster
- Mike McCombs Morten Lejboelle
- Ned Crigler Nico de Vries
- Oleg P. Serdjuk Oliver Fromme
- Paul Kocher Peter Oudenhoven
- Piet van Oostrum Pieter de Ruiter
- Rafael Ramirez Reinier de Groot
- Rianne van Leur Richard Foster-Dingle
- Rick Hoorn Rob van Hoeven
- Robbie Vance Robert Lindeman
- Roger Burton-West Ronald Raymond Dippol
- Roy Alexander Ryan Oakley
- Ryan Watkins Sjuck Brongersma
- Soeren Fisker Stefan Hermansson
- Stefano Zamprogno Terry Chan
- Thaddaeus Kong Theo Boersma
- Thomas Wolff Timothy F. Sipples
- Tomas Hajny Udo van den Heuvel
- Victor T. Ng Vincent van Wichen
- Wes Nakamura Willem Verloop
- Wong Ling
-
- We especially want to thank YOU, the reader of this manual, for
- considering the use of our products.
-
- Help us to make this product even better. Tell us what you want us to
- improve in UC2 and all our other products. AIP-NL applications are
- always designed in close cooperation with the people who use them.
- Comment on the manuals in general, or on a manual in a specific
- language, is also very welcome.
-
-
- 1.I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- ====================
-
- UltraCompressor II is a trademark of AIP-NL (Ad Infinitum Programs).
-
- Most mentioned brand and product names are trademarks or registered
- trademarks of their respective companies.
-
-
- 1.J PRESS RELEASE
- =================
-
- AIP-NL releases UltraCompressor 2.4 with FULL Windows 95 support
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
-
- UTRECHT, The Netherlands, August 24, 1995. AIP-NL today released a new
- revision of UltraCompressor II PRO. Revision 4 adds FULL support for
- Windows 95 long filenames. Both the command line and the GUI (SHELL)
- version now have full Windows 95 long filename support.
-
- Included into UC2 PRO are:
-
- UltraCompressor II revision 4, a general purpose archiver
- - up to 72% better compression than competing products
- - up to 10 times faster archive updating than competing products
- - DAMAGE PROTECTION (tm) allows recovery from disk errors
- - capable of managing very large (>1,000,000 files) archives
- - full OS/2 extended attribute support
- - full Windows 95 long filename support
-
- Visual UltraCompressor, a high speed general purpose shell
- - fastest graphical shell in the world
- - unique two phase user interface to allow easy AND powerful access
- - fully customizable
-
- UC2SEA, converts UC2 archives into UltraFAST standalone executables
- - the generated executable can span multiple (floppy) disks
- - up to 3 times faster than competing products
- - a fixed fee allows unlimited distribution
- - source code availability allows full customization
-
- UCEXE, makes a DOS executable MUCH smaller and self-checking
-
- Version Manager, project level version management
-
- UltraDIFF, file compare tool with unique 'unlimited pass' method
-
- Requirements: MS/PC-DOS 2.1 or higher, IBM Compatible 8088 or higher,
- 640k RAM, 1Mb hard disk space. UC2 detects and utilizes EMS/XMS,
- 386/486/Pentium, MS-Windows, OS/2, Novell-DOS, DesqView, etc.
-
- AIP-NL intends to keep improving its products at a high rate, keeping
- ahead of its competitors at following customer and market demands. UC2's
- open architecture has already enabled more than 50 third parties to add
- full UC2 support to their applications.
-
- CONTACT: USA : Thomas Bradford, BMT-Micro, (910) 791-7052
- Europe : Nico de Vries, AIP-NL, +31-(0)30-(2)662107
- InterNet : desk@aip.nl
- CompuServe: 100115,2303
-
- An evaluation copy can be obtained from
-
- CompuServe IBMPRO, LIB 10
- InterNet FTP ftp.nl.net/gopher/NLnet-connected/aipnl/uc2r4p.exe
- World Wide Web http://www.xs4all.nl/~aipnl
- BBS +31-3402-55707
-
- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
-
- Benchmark
- ---------
-
- This is a benchmark made by AIP-NL with 'Dean Cooper's comparer program,
- Version 1.02'. The benchmark compares UC2r4 PRO with PKZIP 2.04g and ARJ
- 2.41. Of course, the user can perform the best benchmarks by comparing
- the tools in 'real life' situations. The test has been performed on a
- 486/33 PC with MS-DOS, QEMM and Norton Cache (flushed before each test)
- loaded.
-
-
- | Program Compression mode
- +---------------------------------------------------------------
- | UC2r4 PRO (UC) O25 (SuperOptimize archive) *** NEW ***
- | UC2r4 PRO (UC) -TT (type tight/multimedia)
- | UC2r4 PRO (UC) -TN (type normal)
- | PKZIP 2.04g (PKZIP) -EX (extra compression)
- | ARJ 2.41 (ARJ) -JM1 (faster Maximum compression)
-
-
- | Test Description Bytes Files
- +-----------------------------------------------------------------------
- | source Borland C++ 3.1 ..\CRTL\CLIB\*.* (C & ASM) 1,294,460 373
- | exe+doc PKZIP 1.10 distribution package 302,272 17
- | sound MS-Windows 3.1 *.WAV files 80,304 6
- | UPDATE Add BGIDEMO.C to source.uc2/zip/arj (floppy) +40,382 +1
-
-
- | Test Program Compress time Archive size % Decompress time
- +----------------------------------------------------------------------
- | source UC O25 238,540 bytes 100% 29.8 sec
- | UC -TN 46.7 sec 264,550 bytes 111% 29.9 sec
- | ARJ 42.1 sec 399,111 bytes 167% 29.1 sec
- | PKZIP 22.0 sec 412,316 bytes 172% 23.5 sec
- |
- | exe+doc UC O25 111,134 bytes 100% 2.4 sec
- | UC -TN 8.8 sec 114,738 bytes 103% 2.4 sec
- | PKZIP 5.1 sec 127,753 bytes 115% 1.9 sec
- | ARJ 7.4 sec 128,188 bytes 115% 3.4 sec
- |
- | sound UC O25 36,824 bytes 100% 1.3 sec
- | UC -TT 6.9 sec 37,216 bytes 101% 1.3 sec
- | PKZIP 1.7 sec 41,143 bytes 112% 0.4 sec
- | ARJ 1.9 sec 41,658 bytes 113% 0.5 sec
- |
- | UPDATE UC -TT 14.3 sec 100%
- | PKZIP 66.5 sec 465%
- | ARJ 146.3 sec 1023%
-
-
- 2. LICENSE (the license agreement, warranty, etc.)
- ==================================================
-
- Some of the essential contents of this chapter:
-
- All rights are reserved by AIP-NL (Ad Infinitum Programs the
- Netherlands).
-
- You are permitted to use the evaluation package for a 30 day
- evaluation period. You must buy it if you continue using it.
-
- You are permitted to use the evaluation package for longer periods
- provided all use is strictly non-commercial. Please note AIP-NL
- strongly encourages you to buy the software.
-
- The package is supplied 'AS IS'. It is up to you to determine its
- usability.
-
- You may ONLY redistribute a 100% UNALTERED copy of the complete
- package through BBSes etc. as long as you make no money from doing
- this. You can (amongst other methods) use the UltraSafe program to
- determine the authenticity of a package distributed by AIP-NL.
-
- You may not alter, reverse engineer, decompile, etc. the program(s)
- or parts of them in any way.
-
- This chapter contains the following paragraphs:
-
- - A. Limited warranty
- - B. Documentation
- - C. Non-commercial use license
- - D. Evaluation license
- - E. General license agreement
- - F. Distribution restrictions
-
- When you use the AIP-NL manual viewer you can jump to a chapter or a
- paragraph by pressing the corresponding digit(s) or letter.
-
-
- 2.A LIMITED WARRANTY
- ====================
-
- AIP-NL (Ad Infinitum Programs the Netherlands) warrants the physical
- diskette(s) and physical documentation, provided with registered
- versions, to be free of defects in materials and workmanship, for a
- period of ninety days from the date of registration. If AIP-NL receives
- notification within the warranty period of defects in materials or
- workmanship, and such notification is determined by AIP-NL to be
- correct, AIP-NL will replace the defective diskette(s) or documentation.
-
- The entire and exclusive liability and remedy for breach of this limited
- warranty shall be limited to replacement of defective diskette(s) or
- physical documentation and shall not include or extend to any claim for
- or right to recover any other damages, including but not limited to,
- loss of profit, data, or use of the software, or special, incidental, or
- consequential damages or other similar claims, even if AIP-NL has been
- specifically advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event
- will AIP-NL's liability, for any damages to you or any other person,
- ever exceed suggested list price or actual price paid, whichever is the
- lower, for the license to use the software, regardless of the form of
- the claim.
-
- All rights not expressly granted here are reserved by AIP-NL.
-
-
- 2.B DOCUMENTATION
- =================
-
- Information in the documentation is subject to change without notice and
- does not represent a commitment on the part of AIP-NL. No part of the
- documentation may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
- means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording,
- for any purpose without the express written permission of AIP-NL.
-
- All rights not expressly granted here are reserved by AIP-NL.
-
-
- 2.C NON-COMMERCIAL USE LICENSE
- ==============================
-
- The supplied software contains NO public domain program(s). The software
- and all accompanying documentation is Copyright (c) 1991-1995 by AIP-NL.
- All rights reserved.
-
- This software and accompanying documentation is protected by the
- Copyright laws of the Netherlands and also by International Treaty
- provisions. Any use of this software in violation of Copyright law or
- the terms of this limited license will be prosecuted to the best of our
- ability. The conditions under which you may copy this software and
- documentation are clearly outlined below under 'Distribution
- Restrictions' (see paragraph F).
-
- AIP-NL hereby grants you a license to use this software for personal,
- non-commercial use. Personal use should always be "away from the
- office". Use by non-profit organizations (e.g. non-commercial bulletin
- board systems) is considered to be non-commercial use. Please note
- AIP-NL strongly encourages you to buy the software.
-
- You shall not use, copy, emulate, clone, rent, lease, sell, modify,
- decompile, disassemble, otherwise reverse engineer, or transfer the
- licensed program, or any subset of the licensed program, except as
- provided for in this agreement. Any such unauthorized use shall result
- in immediate and automatic termination of this license.
-
- All rights not expressly granted here are reserved by AIP-NL.
-
-
- 2.D EVALUATION LICENSE (only valid during 30 days evaluation period)
- =====================================================================
-
- The supplied software contains NO public domain program(s). The software
- and all accompanying documentation is Copyright (c) 1991-1995 by AIP-NL.
- All rights reserved.
-
- This software and accompanying documentation is protected by the
- Copyright laws of the Netherlands and also by International Treaty
- provisions. Any use of this software in violation of Copyright law or
- the terms of this limited license will be prosecuted to the best of our
- ability. The conditions under which you may copy this software and
- documentation are clearly outlined below under 'Distribution
- Restrictions' (see paragraph F).
-
- AIP-NL hereby grants you a limited license to use this software for
- evaluation purposes for a period not to exceed thirty (30) days. If you
- intend to continue using this software (and/or its documentation) after
- the thirty (30) day evaluation period, you must make a registration
- payment to AIP-NL.
-
- Using this software after the thirty (30) day evaluation period, without
- registering the software is a violation of the terms of this limited
- license. The only exception to this is when the package is solely used
- for non-commercial purposes in a non-commercial environment (see 2.C).
-
- You shall not use, copy, emulate, clone, rent, lease, sell, modify,
- decompile, disassemble, otherwise reverse engineer, or transfer the
- licensed program, or any subset of the licensed program, except as
- provided for in this agreement. Any such unauthorized use shall result
- in immediate and automatic termination of this license.
-
- All rights not expressly granted here are reserved by AIP-NL.
-
-
- 2.E GENERAL LICENSE AGREEMENT (not valid during evaluation period)
- ==================================================================
-
- This license becomes valid after you have received proof of license from
- AIP-NL.
-
- The supplied software contains NO public domain program(s). The software
- and all accompanying documentation is Copyright (c) 1991-1995 by AIP-NL.
- All rights reserved.
-
- This is a non-transferable license for use of the software within your
- home, your company or government agency. This allows internal use and
- copying of the software for as many sites/computers as are contracted
- for. (See ORDER.FRM for site license price schedule.) Distributing,
- repackaging, or reselling of the software to third parties is not
- allowed. All licenses are prepaid only.
-
- This software and accompanying documentation are protected by The
- Copyright laws of the Netherlands and also by International Treaty
- provisions. Any use of this software in violation of Copyright law or
- the terms of this limited license will be prosecuted to the best of our
- ability. The conditions under which you may copy this software and
- documentation are clearly outlined below under 'Distribution
- Restrictions' (see paragraph F).
-
- You shall not use, copy, emulate, clone, rent, lease, sell, modify,
- decompile, disassemble, otherwise reverse engineer, or transfer the
- licensed program, or any subset of the licensed program, except as
- provided for in this agreement. Any such unauthorized use shall result
- in immediate and automatic termination of this license.
-
- All rights not expressly granted here are reserved by AIP-NL.
-
-
- 2.F DISTRIBUTION RESTRICTIONS
- =============================
-
- As the copyright holder, AIP-NL authorizes distribution by individuals
- only in accordance with the following restrictions.
-
- The package is defined as the entire file either as 'self extracting
- executable' or an 'archive' as distributed by AIP-NL. The authenticity
- of the package can be verified by contacting AIP-NL, or by running the
- AIP-NL UltraSafe program which verifies the digital signatures AIP-NL
- ALWAYS adds to all its distributed software. If the package is changed
- in any way, distribution is forbidden. Please contact AIP-NL to obtain a
- complete package suitable for distribution.
-
- You are hereby granted permission by AIP-NL to copy the UC2 PRO
- evaluation package for your own use or for others to evaluate, ONLY when
- the following conditions are met:
-
- The package - including all related program files and documentation
- files - CANNOT be modified in any way and must be distributed as a
- complete unchanged package, without exception.
-
- Small supplements to the package, such as the introductory or
- installation batch files, are acceptable. This should always be done
- by supplying EXTRA files, never by altering the package (file) as
- distributed by AIP-NL.
-
- No price or other compensation may be charged for the package. A
- distribution cost may be charged for the cost of the diskette,
- shipping and handling, as long as the total (per disk) does not
- exceed US$ 15. In case ANY compensation is charged, the receiver
- should be notified, in writing, of his obligations concerning the
- Evaluation License.
-
- If you include the package on a distributed CD-ROM, diskette,
- magazine, book or any other item, you must give one such item for
- free and without further obligations to AIP-NL. This must be done
- prior to other distribution of the item.
-
- AIP-NL prohibits the distribution of outdated versions of the
- package, without written permission from AIP-NL. If the version you
- have obtained is over six (6) months old, please contact AIP-NL to
- ensure that you have the most current version.
-
- The package CANNOT be sold as part of some other inclusive package,
- nor can it be included in any commercial or non-commercial software
- packaging offer, without a written agreement from AIP-NL.
-
- The package, program(s) or documentation cannot be 'rented' or
- 'leased' to others.
-
- If you wish to add any of our packages to a CD-ROM or other
- collection, please check the release date of the version you have. If
- the version is over six (6) months old then please contact AIP-NL to
- ensure that you have the most current version.
-
- If you would like to distribute the package as a 'Disk-of-the-Month',
- or as part of a book, subscription or monthly service, then you must
- contact AIP-NL in advance to ensure that you have the most current
- version of the software. Only current versions may be shipped as
- 'Disk-of-the-Month' disks.
-
- You may not list any of our products in advertisements, catalogues,
- or other literature which describes our products as 'FREE SOFTWARE'.
- This is evaluation software, it is not free!
-
- You are hereby granted permission by AIP-NL to distribute executables
- which have been compressed by UCEXE, ONLY when the following conditions
- are met:
-
- You must own (have bought) the full UC2 PRO package (with disk and
- manual) from AIP-NL.
-
- AIP-NL shall not be liable for any damages arising out of your use of
- this software, even if they have been advised of the possibility of
- such damages.
-
- You must indemnify, hold harmless and defend AIP-NL from and against
- any claims or lawsuits, including attorney's, that arise or result
- from the use of files generated by UCEXE, or any modification
- thereof.
-
- You are hereby granted permission by AIP-NL to distribute self
- extracting archives made with UC2SEA, ONLY when the following conditions
- are met:
-
- You must own (have bought) the full UC2 PRO package (with disk and
- manual) from AIP-NL.
-
- You must own (have bought) an 'UC2 Self Extracting Archive
- distribution license' from AIP-NL. This license must specifically
- cover the 'extraction software' you include in the self extracting
- archive.
-
- AIP-NL shall not be liable for any damages arising out of your use of
- this software, even if they have been advised of the possibility of
- such damages.
-
- You must indemnify, hold harmless and defend AIP-NL from and against
- any claims or lawsuits, including attorney's, that arise or result
- from the use of the files generated by UC2SEA, or any modification
- thereof.
-
- All rights not expressly granted here are reserved by AIP-NL.
-
-
- 3. UC2 BASIC COMMANDS
- =====================
-
- This chapter describes the most essential commands of UC2. No special
- features are mentioned. UC2 is very easy to use.
-
- All details on ordering UltraCompressor II are in ORDER.FRM.
-
- This chapter contains the following paragraphs:
-
- - A. Decompressing a complete UC2 archive
- - B. Compressing a complete directory(tree) into an archive
- - C. Making an archive damage protected
- - D. Verbose list of the archive
- - Z. Summary
-
- When you use the AIP-NL manual viewer you can jump to a chapter or a
- paragraph by pressing the corresponding digit(s) or letter.
-
-
- 3.A DECOMPRESSING A COMPLETE UC2 ARCHIVE
- ========================================
-
- Command: UC ES archive-name
-
- Put the archive where you want the extracted files to be, and type
- the command UC ES archive-name, where 'archive-name' is the name of
- the archive (e.g. UC ES newsoft). All files in the archive will be
- extracted.
-
- UC ES works cautiously. It will never overwrite files, create
- directories, etc., without first consulting you.
-
-
- 3.B COMPRESSING A COMPLETE DIRECTORY (TREE) INTO AN ARCHIVE
- ===========================================================
-
- Command: UC A archive-name
-
- All files in the current directory are compressed into an archive
- (e.g. 'UC A mydocs' creates mydocs.uc2). If the archive already
- exists, only new and changed files are (re)compressed.
-
- Command: UC AS archive-name
-
- The files in the current directory and ALL subdirectories are
- compressed into an archive (e.g. 'UC AS mydocs' creates mydocs.uc2).
- If the archive already exists, only new and changed files are
- (re)compressed.
-
-
- 3.C MAKING AN ARCHIVE DAMAGE PROTECTED
- ======================================
-
- Command: UC P archive-name
-
- The archive will become damage protected and it will remain damage
- protected if you add files to it or delete files from it etc. A
- damage protected archive can recover from most disk errors without
- losing ANY data. (The disadvantage of making archives damage
- protected is that the archives become a little bit larger).
-
-
- 3.D VERBOSE LIST OF THE ARCHIVE
- ===============================
-
- Command: UC VS archive-name
-
- All files in the archive will be listed. The contents of all its
- subdirectories will be listed as well.
-
-
- 3.Z SUMMARY
- ===========
-
- UC ES name EXTRACT all files from archive name.uc2
-
- UC A name COMPRESS all files in current directory into name.uc2
-
- UC AS name COMPRESS all files in current directory AND its
- SUBDIRECTORIES into name.uc2
-
- UC P name make name.uc2 DAMAGE PROTECTED
-
- UC VS name the full contents of the archive will be LISTED
-
-
- 4. UC2 MAIN COMMANDS
- ====================
-
- One general issue about UC2 is that you can consider an archive in the
- same way as you would a disk. It has a root directory, sub-directories
- and so on. UC2 always stores the full directory structure. With UC2, you
- do not have to deal with 'match path', 'store full path', 'junk
- directory name', etc.
-
- The file extension of UltraCompressor archives is currently .UC2. In the
- future, if our file format changes, the extension will become .UC3. This
- means that there can be no confusion about which version of
- UltraCompressor should be used.
-
- While using UC2, the screen will indicate whether everything is working
- properly. When errors occur they are shown in detail on the screen and
- are also written to an error logfile (if active). When this error
- logfile grows over 25,000 bytes, UC2 will give a warning.
-
- In this chapter the commands and options in the examples are in upper
- case, and parameters are in lower case. In use, however, the case is
- never important. Any mix of upper and lower case can be used.
-
- This chapter contains the following paragraphs:
-
- - A. Commands/options summary
- - B. Adding files, listing contents
- - C. Extracting files
- - D. Other commands and options
- - E. Version management
- - F. Features and automatics
- - Z. Summary
-
- When you use the AIP-NL manual viewer you can jump to a chapter or a
- paragraph by pressing the corresponding digit(s) or letter.
-
-
- 4.A COMMAND/OPTION SUMMARY
- ==========================
-
- General: UC command [option(s)] archive-name [files]
-
- Commands:
- ---------
- A D E ADD/DELETE/EXTRACT files to/from archive.
- (See paragraph B and C.)
-
- L V LIST/VERBOSE LIST contents of archive.
-
- P make archive DAMAGE PROTECTED (approx 1% overhead). Once an
- archive becomes damage protected, it remains damage
- protected, even if it is altered. The P command can be
- combined with other commands (e.g. AP).
-
- U remove damage protection (if present) from archive.
-
- T fully TEST archive. When it is damaged, UC2 will ask if it
- needs to be repaired. In force mode (see options), UC2 will
- repair without asking. If an archive is repaired 100% this
- is reported. If the archive cannot be repaired 100%, the
- problems (such as which files are still damaged, etc.) are
- reported on screen and in the error logfile.
-
- C CONVERT ZIP, ARC, ARJ, etc. archives to UC2 archives. (See
- chapter 5 paragraph A.)
-
- O OPTIMIZE archive can make an archive even smaller without
- deleting anything from the archive. Especially if an
- archive has been updated many times and/or contains many
- versions (revisions) of specific files, optimize can
- significantly reduce the size of an archive.
-
- O<number> SUPER-OPTIMIZE can make archives even smaller than
- OPTIMIZE. SO takes a LOT of time, and it is not always
- capable of making the selected archive smaller. SO works by
- rebuilding the entire archive <number> times, each time
- using a randomly chosen optimization strategy (part of this
- is changing the order of the files). Although SuperOptimize
- takes a LOT of time to make an archive smaller,
- decompression speed remains unchanged.
-
- Please note you can ALWAYS interrupt UC2 (by pressing
- Ctrl-Break) without risks.
-
- R REVISE archive comment. (See paragraph D.)
-
- Options:
- --------
- Options can be concatenated to the command (UC ES arch) or they can
- be prefixed by a - or / (UC E -S arch).
-
- TF TN TT Type-Fast; Type-Normal (default) or Type-Tight/multimedia
- compression.
-
- In TT mode, UC2 will detect whether a file is a multimedia
- file. Special (lossless) multimedia compression will then
- take place.
-
- Please note multimedia compression is not able to compress
- already compressed files (e.g. *.GIF or *.JPG cannot be
- significantly compressed).
-
- TST Type-Super-Tight compresses a bit better that TT
- compression, but takes noticeable more time. Only
- recommended if time is not an issue. TST compression does
- not affect decompression speed, which remains very fast.
-
- S also process all SUB-DIRECTORIES. By default only the files
- in the current directory are processed.
-
- M MOVE mode, after addition/extraction the used source files
- are deleted. UC2 assures the addition/extraction completed
- successfully before it deletes the source file.
-
- F FORCE mode. Using this mode, the program will work
- silently. Almost nothing will be asked during execution. In
- all cases where a question would be asked, the program acts
- as if 'yes' was answered. When not using this mode, the
- program will often ask what you want in case of doubt.
-
- when NOT in force mode
- ----------------------
- - UC2 will prompt you before overwriting files
- - UC2 will prompt you before creating directories
- - UC2 will optionally ask if hidden/system files
- should be processed
- - UC2 will optionally ask permission to convert
- archives
- - UC2 will optionally ask permission to show/play
- multimedia banners
- - UC2 will prompt you before repairing a damaged
- archive (T command)
-
- when in force mode
- ------------------
- - UC2 will overwrite files without asking
- - UC2 will create directories without asking
- - UC2 will add hidden/system files (unless
- the configuration does not allow that)
- - UC2 will always apply auto-conversion
- - UC2 will show/play multimedia banners (unless
- the configuration does not allow that)
- - UC2 will repair an archive immediately, if
- the T (test) command finds a problem
-
- I INCREMENTAL mode, for FAST updates and version control.
- Version control is also called revision management. The
- original archive is not changed, changed files are appended
- to the archive. Previous versions (revisions) of a file
- remain accessible this way. (See paragraph E.)
-
- B BASIC mode (default unless UC2 is configured otherwise).
- This is the opposite of incremental mode. In basic mode UC2
- overwrites files in the archive. No former versions of a
- file are kept in the archive. If there are multiple
- versions of a file only the latest one is overwritten in
- non incremental mode.
-
- ! EXCLUDE file(s). (See paragraph B.)
-
- ;n extract/delete OLDER VERSION of file (See paragraph E.)
-
- !DTT=YYYY-MM-DD/HH:MM:SS
- DYNAMIC TIME TRAVEL, option for accessing older versions
- (revisions) of (large) collections of files. (See paragraph
- E.)
-
- # DESTINATION PATH of files in archive while adding or
- DESTINATION PATH of files on disk while extracting. (See
- paragraphs B and C.)
-
- ## Like #, but the specified source path(s) will be appended
- to the destination path. (See paragraphs B and C.)
-
- & CONCATENATION OF COMMANDS. (See paragraph D.)
-
- @ specifies a SCRIPT which substitutes part of the command
- line. (See paragraph F.)
-
- !@ like @, but puts '!' before all entries (useful to exclude
- a collection of files)
-
- !RELIA= These options allow (temporary) CONFIGURATION of many of
- !ARCON= the values one can configure with the configuration
- !SMSKIP= screen. The exact usage of these options is documented
- !BAN= in chapter 6.
- !VSCAN=
- !SOS2EA= Example: UC A -S !SYSHID=ON arch *.*
- !NET=
- !SYSHID= In this example hidden and system files are also added to
- the archive.
-
-
- 4.B ADDING FILES, LISTING CONTENTS
- ==================================
-
- Examples:
-
- UC A arch *.txt
- All *.txt files in the current directory are compressed into the
- archive arch.uc2. If the archive already exists, the files are
- added to the archive.
-
-
- UC A -TF docs *.* !*.bak
- All (*.*) files except *.bak files are (RAPIDLY) compressed into
- the archive docs.uc2.
-
- UC A -S a:\back c:\doc\*.*
- Create/update archive of complete directory with its
- subdirectories to archive back.uc2 in the root directory of drive
- A:.
-
- When the files to be added are specified with *.*, the command can be
- shortened: 'c:\doc\*.*' can be replaced by 'c:\doc\'. This also
- applies to the exclude file(s) option.
-
- UC A -S a:\back c:\doc\ !c:\doc\old\
- All files in c:\doc and its subdirectories (except for files in
- c:\doc\old and its subdirectories) will be added to back.uc2.
-
- UC A -M arch *.bat
- All *.bat files will be moved from the current directory to the
- archive arch.uc2.
-
- UC A arch #\dir1 *.cpp
- Add all .cpp files from the current directory to directory dir1 in
- the archive arch.uc2. When a subdirectory does not already exist
- in the archive, UC2 will ask you if it has to be created in the
- archive.
-
- UC A arch tools\*.exe drivers\*.drv
- The *.exe files from the tools directory and the *.drv files from
- the drivers directory are added to the root directory of the
- archive.
-
- UC A arch tools\*.c drivers\*.drv ##
- The *.c files from the tools directory are added to the tools
- directory in the archive, the *.drv files from the drivers
- directory are added to the drivers directory in the archive.
-
- UC A arch tools\*.c drivers\*.drv ##specials
- The *.c files from the tools directory are added to the
- specials\tools directory in the archive, the *.drv files from
- the drivers directory are added to the specials\drivers
- directory in the archive.
-
- UC L arch
- List contents of root directory of arch.uc2 without
- subdirectories.
-
- UC V arch
- Verbose list contents of arch.uc2 without subdirectories. Not only
- the files are shown, but also all the versions of the files, with
- their date and time.
-
- UC L -S arch
- List contents of all directories and subdirectories in arch.uc2
-
- When you have a file whose name starts with #, !, @ or & you have to let
- UC2 know that you are referring to a file (and not to something else):
-
- UC A arch .\#file
- Add #file to arch.uc2. The .\ prefix is used to ensure that the
- filename is not interpreted as destination path.
-
- Possible alternative ways to enter commands
- -------------------------------------------
- Options can be put directly after the command or after the previous
- option (no space allowed) or they can be prefixed by '-' or '/'.
-
- Some example alternatives for 'UC A -S -TF docs *.* !*.bak':
-
- UC A -STF docs *.* !*.bak
-
- You can concatenate options.
-
- UC ASTF docs *.* !*.bak
-
- You can append the options directly to the command.
-
- UC -A -S -TF docs *.* !*.bak
-
- It is allowed to precede the command with an '-'.
-
- UC A /S /TF docs *.* !*.bak
-
- UC2 does not care whether you use '-' or '/'.
-
- UC A -S -TF docs !*.bak
-
- If no file specifications are present, UC2 uses *.*.
-
- If you want an archive with a name without extension, type a '.' just
- after the archive name:
-
- UC A sources. *.*
- The archive will become 'sources' instead of 'sources.uc2'.
-
-
- 4.C EXTRACTING FILES
- ====================
-
- Examples:
-
- UC E docs *.doc
- Extract all *.doc files from docs.uc2 into the current directory.
-
- UC E backup \test\main.doc
- Extract main.doc from subdirectory test in the archive, into the
- current directory.
-
- UC E -S backup \test\*.*
- Extract contents of the archive's directory test and all its
- subdirectories, into the current directory.
-
- UC E -S backup \test\*.* #\dir1
- Extract contents of the archive's directory test and all its
- subdirectories into the directory \dir1.
-
- UC E -M arch *.bat
- All *.bat files will be moved from arch.uc2 to the current
- directory.
-
- UC E arch tools\*.c drivers\*.drv
- The *.C files from the tools directory and the *.drv files from
- the drivers directory are extracted into the current directory.
-
- UC E arch \tools\*.c \drivers\*.drv ##
- The *.c files from the tools directory are extracted into the
- tools directory beneath the current directory, the *.drv files
- from the drivers directory are extracted into the drivers
- directory beneath the current directory.
-
- UC E arch tools\*.c drivers\*.drv ##\
- The *.c files from the tools directory are extracted into the
- tools directory in the root directory, the *.drv files from the
- drivers directory are extracted into the drivers directory in the
- root directory.
-
- UC E arch tools\*.c drivers\*.drv ##\specials
- The *.c files from the tools directory are extracted into the
- \specials\tools directory, the *.drv files from the drivers
- directory are extracted into the \specials\drivers directory.
-
- When a directory does not exist, UC2 will ask you if it has to be
- created.
-
- UC D arch *.bak
- Delete all *.bak files from the archive.
-
- UC D arch *.* !*.dbf !*.ntx
- Delete all files except *.dbf and *.ntx files from the archive.
-
-
- 4.D OTHER COMMANDS AND OPTIONS
- ==============================
-
- Examples:
-
- UC O5 arch
- SuperOptimize arch.uc2 5 times.
-
- UC T arch
- Thoroughly test arch.uc2, and if it turns out to be damaged,
- prompt the user for reparation of the archive.
-
- In case the archive is repaired, a new archive is created with the
- name FIX_xxxx.UC2 (xxxx stands for the sequence number of existing
- FIX files), the original arch.uc2 remains unchanged.
-
- UC P arch
- Makes arch.uc2 damage protected.
-
- UC U arch
- Remove damage protection from arch.uc2.
-
- UC C arch.arj or
- UC C arch.zip or
- UC C arch.lzh etc.
- An archive made with another archiver will be converted to an UC2
- archive. The extension (e.g. zip, arj) is optional; UC2 will read
- 'UC C arch' as 'UC C arch.*'.
-
- Note: be sure the other archiver you need is in a directory named
- in the PATH statement of your AUTOEXEC.BAT.
-
- UC A one *.bat & A -S world *.bak & E -S exec *.exe & A world *.cmd
- With '&' multiple commands can be given at once.
-
- In this command all the .bat files from the current directory are
- added to one.uc2, all the .bak files from the current directory
- and all its subdirectories are added to world.uc2, all the .exe
- files from the archive (including subdirectories) are extracted
- from exec.uc2 and all the .cmd files from the current directory
- are added to world.uc2.
-
- For long commands we advise you to use '@'. (See paragraph F.)
-
- UC R arch
- With the editor configured in AIP-NL.INI you can view or edit the
- comment file in the archive arch.
-
-
- 4.E VERSION MANAGEMENT
- ======================
-
- When you want to keep the former versions (revisions) of a file in the
- archive, you can use the -I option to activate 'incremental mode'.
-
- You can use the -B option, to activate 'basic mode', when you do not
- want to keep the older versions of a file in the archive.
-
- In the configuration screen (see also chapter 6) it is possible to
- change the default mode from basic mode to incremental mode or vice
- versa.
-
- In the next examples the default mode of UC2 is basic:
-
- UC A -I -S a:\back c:\docs\*.*
- Incrementally update an archive (a:\back.uc2)
-
- UC E arch filename.doc
- Extracts the most recent version of the file 'filename.doc' from
- arch.uc2.
-
- UC E arch filename.doc;n
- Extracts the requested version of the file 'filename.doc'. 'n'
- represents the number of the version.
-
- Some explanation about 'n':
- ---------------------------
- Different versions of the same file in the archive get a sequence
- number.
-
- The most recent version gets number 0. The oldest version gets the
- highest number. Every time the same file is added to the archive in
- incremental mode, to remain consistent, all versions get a new
- number.
-
- There is no practical limit to the number of versions of a file you
- can keep in an archive.
-
- Now we will look at an archive arch.uc2 after completion of some
- operations:
-
- UC A -I arch test.doc
- The file test.doc is added to the archive arch.uc2. This is the
- first operation on the archive, so it contains only test.doc.
-
- UC V arch
- The verbose list of arch.uc2 shows us:
- TEST DOC 1234 MAR-17-1993 12:24:12
- (name ext nr length date time)
-
- After changing the file test.doc, we again add it to arch.uc2:
-
- UC A -I arch test.doc
- The second version of the same file is added to arch.uc2. The
- archive now contains two files:
-
- UC V arch
- The verbose list of arch.uc2 shows us:
- TEST DOC;0 1245 MAR-17-1993 12:26:26
- TEST DOC;1 1234 MAR-17-1993 12:24:12
- (name ext nr length date time)
-
- After adding some more versions of the file TEST.DOC, the verbose list
- gives:
-
- UC V arch
- TEST DOC;0 1356 MAR-17-1993 14:02:00
- TEST DOC;1 1349 MAR-17-1993 13:50:56
- TEST DOC;2 1298 MAR-17-1993 13:28:32
- TEST DOC;3 1280 MAR-17-1993 13:15:42
- TEST DOC;4 1245 MAR-17-1993 12:26:26
- TEST DOC;5 1234 MAR-17-1993 12:24:12
-
- Now there are six different versions in the archive of the same file
- TEST.DOC.
-
- When you want to extract the most recent one, type the next command:
-
- UC E arch test.doc or
- UC E arch test.doc;0
- The most recent version of TEST.DOC is extracted from arch.uc2.
-
- When you want to see another version you have to include the version
- number in the command:
-
- UC E arch test.doc;3
- There are three more recent versions in the archive than the
- version extracted.
-
- (Of course the archive is unchanged after extracting a file.)
-
- Deleting a version from the archive is possible with the next command:
-
- UC D arch test.doc
- The most recent version of the file is deleted from arch.uc2.
-
- The verbose list will give the next information:
-
- UC V arch
- TEST DOC;0 1349 MAR-17-1993 13:50:56
- TEST DOC;1 1298 MAR-17-1993 13:28:32
- TEST DOC;2 1280 MAR-17-1993 13:15:42
- TEST DOC;3 1245 MAR-17-1993 12:26:26
- TEST DOC;4 1234 MAR-17-1993 12:24:12
-
- Also an older version of the file can be deleted:
-
- UC D arch test.doc;2
-
- The verbose list will give the next information:
-
- UC V arch
- TEST DOC;0 1349 MAR-17-1993 13:50:56
- TEST DOC;1 1298 MAR-17-1993 13:28:32
- TEST DOC;2 1245 MAR-17-1993 12:26:26
- TEST DOC;3 1234 MAR-17-1993 12:24:12
-
- When you want to remove all versions of TEST.DOC from the archive you
- type the following command:
-
- UC D arch test.doc;*
-
- When you want to remove all the older versions from the archive but keep
- the most recent one, you type:
-
- UC D arch test.doc;* !test.doc or
- UC D arch test.doc;* !test.doc;0
-
- When the archive contains more files with different versions and you
- only want to keep the most recent version of these files, you type:
-
- UC D arch *.*;* !*.* or
- UC D arch *.*;* !*.*;0
-
- As you can see in the examples, for the most recent version of a file,
- you can just type the file name without number, or the filename with
- ';0'.
-
- Dynamic Time Travel (!DTT=YYYY-MM-DD/HH:MM:SS)
- ----------------------------------------------
- Time travel simulates the status of the archive, as it was at the
- specified moment in the past.
-
- This feature is included for compatibility with older versions of
- UC2. Our new version manager (chapter 8 paragraph A) is a much better
- choice to manage collections of files.
-
- Time travel is only available for the extract (E) and the list (L and
- V) commands. Its syntax is !DTT=YYYY-MM-DD/HH:MM:SS with YYYY being
- the year (e.g. 1993), MM being the month, DD being the day, HH being
- the hour (e.g. 21), MM minute, SS second. The year MUST be 4 digits,
- all other numbers MUST be two digits.
-
- You can supply only the left part of the arguments, UC2 will fill in
- the rest:
-
- e.g. !DTT=1993-03-17 will be expanded to 1993-03-17/00:00:00
- !DTT=1991 will be expanded to 1991-01-01/00:00:00
- !DTT=1992-01-22/18 will be expanded to 1992-01-22/18:00:00
-
- Please note the -/:'s are optional, e.g. !DTT=19930317 can be used
- instead of !DTT=1993-03-17. (Actually UC2 ignores the -/:'s
- completely, their only purpose is to make the entered command more
- readable.)
-
- For the next two examples, assume the archive contains:
-
- TEST DOC;0 1349 MAR-17-1993 13:50:56
- TEST DOC;1 1298 MAR-17-1993 13:28:32
- TEST DOC;2 1280 MAR-17-1993 13:15:42
- TEST DOC;3 1245 MAR-17-1993 12:26:26
- TEST DOC;4 1234 MAR-17-1993 12:24:12
-
- An example:
- UC E !DTT=1993-03-17/13:30 arch test.doc
-
- In this case a 'time travel' to 17 march 1993, 13:30 is executed.
- Since at that moment the 13:28:32 version of test.doc was the one
- last added to the archive, THAT version will be extracted.
-
- Another example:
- UC V !DTT=1993-03-17/13:20 arch
-
- TEST DOC;0 1280 MAR-17-1993 13:15:42
- TEST DOC;1 1245 MAR-17-1993 12:26:26
- TEST DOC;2 1234 MAR-17-1993 12:24:12
-
- Note two versions have 'disappeared' and all other versions have got
- a new index.
-
- Please note Dynamic Time Travel NEVER alters the contents of an
- archive, it only creates a different viewpoint.
-
- Important notes
- ---------------
- Especially where an archive has been updated many times and contains
- many versions of specific files, optimize can significantly reduce
- the size of an archive.
-
- A just optimized archive, which contains multiple versions of files,
- will often be only a little bit larger than an archive which contains
- only the last version of all files.
-
- Move mode only moves the specified versions. If 6 versions of test.c
- are present in arch.uc2, then 'UC E -M arch test.c' will move
- test.c;0 and all other versions (5) will remain in the archive.
-
-
- 4.F FEATURES AND AUTOMATICS
- ===========================
-
- Many advanced features are automatic in UC2. The following topics are
- covered in this paragraph:
-
- - Smart skipping
-
- - Error handling
- - Control-break handling
- - Ensure mode
- - Crash management
-
- - Auto-Conversion of other archives
- - Virus scan during conversion
-
- - Scripts
- - Wildcards in archives specification
-
- - OS/2 2.x extended attributes
- - Multimedia banners
-
- Smart skipping
- --------------
- Smart skipping means: do not do unnecessary things. While updating an
- archive, files can be changed or not. Unchanged files will be
- skipped, when smart skipping is on. This makes updating faster. UC2
- compares name, size, time and date to determine if a file can be
- skipped. In the configuration, smart skipping can be on or off.
-
- Error handling
- --------------
- UC2 allows you not only to notice the error but also to do whatever
- is needed (including going to DOS!) to solve the problem. UC2 does
- not just stop, undoing all the work it has already done for you. E.g.
- when a floppy turns out to be write protected, you can remove the
- write protection and continue.
-
- Control-break handling
- ----------------------
- When you interrupt UC2, you do not just stop it, canceling all
- valuable work you have done. Instead, you are given the opportunity
- to go to DOS to do whatever you like (after which UC2 can continue
- where it left off). You can of course also abort the program.
-
- If you press control-break while UC2 is adding files to an archive,
- you get an extra option which allows you to skip all pending
- additions. All additions already performed, remain in the archive.
- (Since smart-skipping will automatically skip files which are already
- in the archive (when unchanged), you can continue the interrupted
- command later.)
-
- Ensure mode
- -----------
- For those who need absolute reliability, e.g. mission critical data
- compression tasks, UC2 has an ENSURE operation mode. In this mode UC2
- handles all updates to an archive as transactions. A transaction can
- only be confirmed if PROOF has been gathered that the transaction was
- completed 100% without problems. When a problem has occurred,
- irrespective of the cause, e.g. hardware failures, software
- conflicts, they will never get by unnoticed and the operation can be
- reversed.
-
- Crash management
- ----------------
- When adding files to an archive in basic mode, crashes can do no
- harm, because UC2 works with a temporary file. Only when everything
- has been completed successfully will the temporary file, which
- contains the new archive, be renamed to the archive file. To prevent
- data loss while adding files to an archive in incremental mode, UC2
- creates a new file with recovery information of the archive. This
- file is called arch.UR2 (UltraRecover).
-
- When everything goes right, this .UR2 file will be deleted
- automatically and you will never notice it ever existed, but when
- your computer crashes during adding files to the archive in
- incremental mode, this .UR2 file will mostly still exist after the
- crash.
-
- If you try to do anything with the archive now, you will get a
- message to repair the archive with 'UC T'. After the repair, the
- files arch.UC2 and arch.UR2 will still exist. The repaired archive is
- stored in the file named FIX_xxxx.UC2 (xxxx stands for the sequence
- number of existing FIX files). Before you can use the archive again,
- you have to rename FIX_xxxx.UC2 to arch.UC2 and delete the file
- arch.UR2. Now the situation is similar to the one before the crash.
-
- Auto-Conversion of other archives
- ---------------------------------
- Archives made by other archivers can be converted by UC2. The
- automatic conversion can be set ON in the configuration (see also
- chapter 6 paragraph A option D).
-
- Adding a file to the archive or any other operation on it, starts
- automatically with the conversion of it. It is important to know
- that, when using an archive made with another archiver, you have to
- type the archive name with the extension (e.g. arch.zip, arch.arj).
-
- Note: be sure the other archiver you need is in a directory named in
- the PATH of your AUTOEXEC.BAT.
-
- Virus scan during conversion
- ----------------------------
- The archive to be converted can be optionally scanned for viruses. In
- the configuration this virus scanning can be switched ON or OFF. You
- can change AIP-NL.INI and use different virus scanners (see chapter 6
- paragraph D).
-
- Scripts
- -------
- A 'script' can contain a large list of files (e.g. to be compressed).
- A script can also be used as a substitute for multiple (complex)
- commands. Scripts can be nested, to allow the construction of
- 'building blocks'. Scripts can be extremely long (multi-megabyte).
-
- There are several ways to define a script. If you have entered
- '@exam' UC2 will look for:
- (1) an environment variable called EXAM_USC
- (2) the file 'exam.usc' (current or PATH directory)
- (3) the file 'exam' (current or PATH directory)
-
- UC @exam
- The contents of 'exam': A arch *.bat & V arch
- The .bat files are added to the archive arch.uc2 followed by a
- verbose list of arch.uc2.
-
- In this example multiple commands are concatenated by '&'.
-
- UC A arch @names
- The contents of 'names': *.bat *.cpp *.doc
- The .bat, .cpp and .doc files are added to the archive arch.uc2.
- In this example the files to be added are substituted by 'names'.
-
- UC @toback *.cpp
- The contents of 'toback': A c:\back
- All .cpp files are added to c:\back.uc2.
-
- UC @a arch *.cpp
- The contents of 'a': A -TST -SMSKIP=OFF -F
- This is an example of a 'personalized' add command.
-
- !@ works like @, but puts '!' before all entries. It can be used to
- exclude a collection of files.
-
- UC A arch *.* !@names
- The contents of 'names': *.bat *.cpp *.doc
- All files except .bat, .cpp and .doc files are added to the
- archive arch.uc2. In this example the files to be excluded are
- substituted by 'names'.
-
- Wildcards in archives specification
- -----------------------------------
- Instead of adding a file or a group of files to different archives in
- different commands, it is possible to work with wildcards.
-
- UC V *
- Gives the verbose list of all the archives at once.
-
- UC A * filename
- The file 'filename' will be added to all the UC2 archives in the
- current directory. Using a wildcard is the only way to access more
- archives in one command. Only one archive description is allowed
- in a command.
-
- UC A * *.cpp *.bas
- Of course more wildcards may be used for the files to be added.
- All .cpp and .bas files will be added to all archives in the
- current directory.
-
- The commands P, U, T, O and C accept multiple archive specifications.
- Here the archive specification cannot be confused with the files
- specification because there is none. Also for all these commands the
- -S option can be used to include archives in subdirectories.
-
- UC C *.zip *.arj *.lzh
- All zip, arj and lzh archives will be converted.
-
- UC T -S C:\*
- All archives on drive C: (including those in subdirectories)
- will be tested.
-
- OS/2 2.x extended attributes
- ----------------------------
- When the option 'Store OS/2 2.x extended attributes' (see chapter 6
- paragraph A) is active, UC2 gets the capability to store OS/2
- extended attributes. For example if you attach an icon to a file,
- compress it and extract it somewhere else, the file will still have
- its icon. Of course this is only possible on an OS/2 system. When you
- extract a file from an archive, the extended attributes will be the
- same as when you put the file in the archive. An archive optimized on
- a machine without extended attribute support (e.g. a plain DOS
- machine) will still contain extended attributes.
-
- Multimedia banners
- ------------------
- Music, graphics and text banners can be added to an archive. (See
- chapter 5 paragraph B.)
-
-
- 4.Z SUMMARY
- ===========
-
- SYNTAX: UC command [option(s)] archive-name [files]
-
- COMMANDS: A D E add / delete / extract
- L V list / verbose list
- P U damage protect / unprotect
- T test (& repair)
- C convert archive to .UC2 archive
- O optimize (especially with many versions of files)
- R revise archive comment
-
- OPTIONS: (directly after command, or preceded by '-' or '/')
- TF TN TT fast / normal / tight-multimedia
- S include subdirectories
- M move mode
- F force mode (never ask, always yes)
- I B incremental mode (keep versions) / basic mode
-
- ;n specify version !DTT=YYYY-MM-DD/HH:MM:SS dynamic time travel
- !exclude files #destination ##+sourcepath & concat @script
-
-
- 5. UC2 BBS COMMANDS (special features for sysops)
- =================================================
-
- This chapter contains the following paragraphs:
-
- - A. Archive conversion (with virus checking)
- - B. Multimedia banners
- - C. UltraStealth (run UC2 with only 32k free memory)
- - Z. Summary
-
- When you use the AIP-NL manual viewer you can jump to a chapter or a
- paragraph by pressing the corresponding digit(s) or letter.
-
-
- 5.A ARCHIVE CONVERSION (with virus checking)
- ============================================
-
- Conversion of archives to UC2 archives can be done fully automatic.
- Perfect for the event list of your BBS. Conversion includes the optional
- calling of one or more virus checking programs. Any virus checking
- software can be used. You can define any extraction, checking or
- processing software you would like, to be called by UC2.
-
- The convert command
- -------------------
- Command: UC C archives
-
- C is the convert command. ARJ/ZIP/LZH etc. archives are converted
- to UC2 archives.
-
- Example: UC C *.ARJ *.ZIP *.ARC
-
- All ARJ, ZIP and ARC archives in the current directory are
- converted to UC2 archives.
-
- Command: UC C -S archives
-
- Include archives in subdirectories as well.
-
- Example: UC C -S C:\*.ARJ C:\*.ZIP C:\*.ARC
-
- All ARJ, ZIP and ARC archives on the C: drive (including all its
- subdirectories) are converted to UC2 archives.
-
- VOLUME LABELS, BANNERS, MULTIPLE VERSIONS OF A FILE AND COMMENTS ARE
- NOT CONVERTED.
-
- The original archive will be NEVER be deleted by UC2. This is
- different from previous releases of UC2.
-
- Customizing archive conversion
- ------------------------------
- To convert archives to UC2 archives the original archiver's software
- will be used. AIP-NL.INI determines which archivers will be used.
-
- UC2 uses advanced swapping techniques to swap UC2 out of memory while
- execution of the other archiver takes place. This assures the
- archivers have enough memory available.
-
- Currently supported formats include: ARC, ARJ, LZH, PAK, ZIP and ZOO.
-
- UC2 conversion also supports the 'UCN' format. This format is exactly
- the same as UC2, but it denotes 'N'ew files. It can be used to mark
- files new to your BBS, allowing 'conversion' to UC2 archives. This is
- useful since conversion can also include virus scanning etc.
-
- *** WARNING *** Please note than conversion from UCN to UC2 will only
- keep the newest versions of all contained files, older versions will
- be removed.
-
- Virus checking during conversion
- --------------------------------
- When you activate virus checking (see chapter 6 paragraph A item E)
- during conversion, the virus checkers defined in AIP-NL.INI are used.
- If you want another virus scanner to be used, or use more scanners in
- the check, you are free to change AIP-NL.INI. Just be sure the virus
- scanner called is available on your system.
- (See chapter 6 paragraph D.)
-
- Automatic changes during conversion
- -----------------------------------
- The AIP-NL [VARIOUS] AFTER-CONVERT command can be used to make
- automatic changes to archives contents during their conversion. Such
- a change could include the addition of multimedia banners.
- (See chapter 6 paragraph D.)
-
-
- 5.B MULTIMEDIA BANNERS
- ======================
-
- UC2 gives you the opportunity to add (multimedia) banners to archives.
- Five file types are supported:
-
- U$~BAN.GIF GIF image
- U$~BAN.JPG JPEG image
- U$~BAN.MOD MOD music files (playable with e.g. Modplay)
- U$~BAN.TXT Standard text
- U$~BAN.ASK Special file (determines if UC2 asks 'Continue?' after
- showing/playing the banners. The content of this file is
- of no importance.)
-
- If you want to add a banner to an archive, you will have to specify the
- banner file explicitly. No wild cards can be used, e.g. 'UC A arch
- U$~BAN.*' will not work.
-
- Example: UC A arch U$~BAN.TXT
-
- A text banner is added to the archive arch.
-
- You can add multiple banner files (e.g. U$~BAN.GIF, U$~BAN.MOD and
- U$~BAN.ASK) to a single archive.
-
- The AIP-NL.INI file contains the default software to show or play
- banners. See chapter 6 paragraph D for more information on this file.
-
- The banners are shown/played when files are extracted from the archive.
-
- Under 4DOS ~ is sometimes used as 'compound character'. To resolve
- conflicts, you can change this with the 4DOS 'SETDOS /C^' command.
-
-
- 5.C ULTRA-STEALTH (run uc with only 32k free memory)
- ====================================================
-
- With help of UltraStealth, you can run UC2 with only 32 kilobytes of
- free memory available.
-
- Suppose you have a huge program (e.g. a word processor or a mailer).
- When this huge program has the ability of starting another DOS program
- only a small amount of memory will be free. UltraStealth allows you to
- have this huge program call UC2. To achieve this you need to do two
- things:
-
- (1) the (huge) program has to be started with US (UltraStealth)
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
- Just put US in front of the normal command you use to start the
- (huge) program. So if the normal command is:
-
- bigprog /a /q
-
- You now have to use:
-
- US bigprog /a /q
-
- (2) use UUC instead of UC
- -------------------------
- Instead of using UC from your (huge) program, you should call UUC.
- UUC behaves exactly like UC. The only difference is that US and UUC
- together solve the memory problem the (huge) program causes.
-
- It is also possible to start US with no command behind it. In this case
- the DOS command processor is started and UUC can be used anytime. The
- command processor (and US) can be stopped with the EXIT command.
-
- When UUC is called, while US is not active, UUC starts UC2 anyway. In
- this case there is no difference in the amount of memory needed for UUC
- and for UC2.
-
- US and UUC together use about 32k of free memory, most of this will be
- claimed by US.
-
- Due to the complex nature of UltraStealth, it is recommended you
- test-drive UltraStealth thoroughly in your specific environment before
- you start using it.
-
-
- 5.Z SUMMARY
- ===========
-
- UC C *.ARJ *.ZIP *.LZH
- Convert archives to UC2 archives.
-
- US <command>
- Executes <command> and installs UltraStealth (needed to use UUC)
-
- UUC ...
- Exactly the same as UC ..., but much less memory is needed. Will only
- work with a small amount of memory if UltraStealth is active.
-
-
- 6. UC2 CONFIGURATION
- ====================
-
- When UC2 is started without parameters there is the option to configure
- UC2 (by pressing the 'C' key).
-
- General options are:
-
- A -> Default compression method
- B -> Default operation
- C -> Reliability level
- D -> Automatic archive conversion
- E -> Virus scan during conversion
- F -> Smart skipping
- G -> Amount of output/information
- H -> Show (multimedia) banners
- I -> Store OS/2 2.x extended attributes
- J -> Store system/hidden files
-
- System options are:
-
- M -> Video mode
- N -> Dynamic program swapping
- O -> Use EMS
- P -> Use XMS
- Q -> Use 386/486/Pentium features
- R -> Advanced networking
- S -> Location for temporary files
- U -> Error logfile
-
- Quick setup options are:
-
- 1 -> default
- 2 -> max speed
- 3 -> max compress
- 4 -> max safe
- 5 -> UNDO
-
- The configuration you choose here will be your default configuration
- when using UC2. All options are stored in the AIP-NL.INI file. Some of
- the options in the configuration screen can also be temporary set on the
- command line. The command line options are also described in this
- chapter.
-
- This chapter contains the following paragraphs:
-
- - A. General options
- - B. System options
- - C. Quick setup
- - D. AIP-NL.INI
- - E. Optimizing performance
-
- When you use the AIP-NL manual viewer you can jump to a chapter or a
- paragraph by pressing the corresponding digit(s) or letter.
-
-
- 6.A GENERAL OPTIONS
- ===================
-
- A -> Default compression method
- -------------------------------
- Equivalent command line options: -TN, -TT, -TST, -TF
-
- The compression type can be NORMAL, TIGHT, S-TIGHT or FAST. When
- installing UC2, the default compression type is normal.
-
- In TT and in TST mode, UC2 will detect whether a file is a multimedia
- file. Special (lossless) multimedia compression will then take place.
-
- B -> Default operation
- ----------------------
- Equivalent command line options: -I, -B
-
- The add operation can be in BASIC MODE or INCREMENTAL MODE. In basic
- mode files that already exist in the archive will be replaced by a
- new version.
-
- In incremental mode more versions of a file can be kept in the
- archive. When an already existing file is added to the archive, the
- newer version of the file will be added. This mode increases the
- speed of the addition significantly, especially for slow disks and/or
- large archives.
-
- Another advantage of the incremental mode is the possibility of
- keeping multiple versions of a file in the archive. If, for example,
- you want to see what is changed in the file, just compare it to a
- previous version.
-
- C -> Reliability level
- ----------------------
- Equivalent command line options: !RELIA=DETECT, !RELIA=PROTECT,
- !RELIA=ENSURE, !RELIA=CHECK
-
- The reliability level can be DETECT, PROTECT or ENSURE.
-
- Detect means errors will be reported, but no action will be taken.
-
- Protect means errors will be avoided, by using damage protection.
-
- Ensure mode means UC2 will make as sure as technically possible,
- everything will go perfect. First the existing archive will be
- tested. Then the command given will be executed. The third step
- includes a complete test on the new archive. When something went
- wrong, a 'rollback' will take place, and the original archive will be
- restored. To ensure correct storage on your hard disk, diskcache
- flush commands will be called at appropriate moments during execution
- of your command. (See paragraph D.)
-
- Check mode means the thorough testing from ensure mode will be used
- without making all archives damage protected.
-
- D -> Automatic archive conversion
- ---------------------------------
- Equivalent command line options: !ARCON=ON, !ARCON=OFF
-
- Automatic conversion of other archiver's archives can be ON or OFF.
- When automatic conversion is on, any operation can be done on other
- archiver's archives. UC2 will automatically start rebuilding the
- archive to an UC2 archive. After rebuilding, the command will be
- executed.
-
- When automatic conversion is off, UC2 will not automatically convert
- archives, but prompt the user, asking permission to convert the
- archive.
-
- E -> Virus scan during conversion
- ---------------------------------
- Equivalent command line options: !VSCAN=ON, !VSCAN=OFF
-
- Virus scan can be ON or OFF during the conversion of another
- archiver's archive (also see paragraph D).
-
- F -> Smart skipping
- -------------------
- Equivalent command line options: !SMSKIP=ON, !SMSKIP=OFF
-
- Smart skipping can be ON or OFF.
-
- When smart skipping is on, unchanged files (already in the archive)
- are skipped during addition. This makes updating much faster.
-
- G -> Amount of output/information
- ---------------------------------
- The amount of output/information can be MINIMAL, VERBOSE or NORMAL.
-
- UC2 shows all kinds of information while it is executing your
- command. Minimal information mode only shows the filenames being
- processed, no progress indicators are given. Verbose information mode
- shows in great detail what UC2 is doing. For instance the file name
- in process is followed by blocks indicating progress. Normal
- information mode shows what UC2 is doing, but does not give undue
- attention to details which are not directly related to the given
- command.
-
- In some environments (e.g. Chinese/Japanese/Russian) the behavior of
- UC2 to print 'high ASCII' characters is unwanted. In those cases you
- can use the 'SET UC2_NO_HIGH_ASCII=ON' environment setting to disable
- high ASCII in UC2 output. Please note UC2 already uses an ISO 9241
- compliant subset of IBM high ASCII to avoid conflicts with e.g. IBM
- OS/2 2.x XGA systems.
-
- H -> Show (multimedia) banners
- ------------------------------
- Equivalent command line options: !BAN=ON, !BAN=OFF, !BAN=ASK
-
- You can choose if the banners added to the archives are shown/played
- automatically (ON), only when you agree (ASK) or never (OFF).
-
- I -> Store OS/2 2.x extended attributes
- ---------------------------------------
- Equivalent command line options: !SOS2EA=ON, !SOS2EA=OFF
-
- By putting this option ON, OS/2 EAs will be stored when UC2 finds any
- during compression, when this option is OFF UC2 will not store OS/2
- 2.x EAs. OS/2 2.x extended attributes (such as icons, WPS long icon
- names, WordPerfect 5.2 for OS/2 summary information, etc.) will be
- retained in an archive when the option is ON. Please note that OS/2
- 2.x EAs will ALWAYS be extracted, when present in an archive.
- Extended attributes are preserved by the optimize command, even if
- this is performed on a machine which does not run OS/2.
-
- J -> Store system/hidden files
- ------------------------------
- Equivalent command line options: !SYSHID=ON, !SYSHID=OFF,
- !SYSHID=ASK
-
- You can choose if you want 'system' and 'hidden' files to be added
- ON, OFF or if you want UC2 to ASK you how to deal with them.
-
-
- 6.B SYSTEM OPTIONS
- ==================
-
- M -> Video mode
- ---------------
- If your card is not compatible with MDA, HERCULES, CGA, EGA, VGA,
- SVGA, XGA, etc. (very unlikely but possible for some older computers)
- choose BIOS mode. If you have a monochrome monitor (or laptops etc.)
- choose MONO instead of COLOR. Please note that if UC2 detects
- DesqView (which prefers BIOS video on 286 computers) it will use BIOS
- video, even if UC2 is not configured to use BIOS video.
-
- N -> Dynamic program swapping
- -----------------------------
- Dynamic program swapping can be ON (in which case UC2 will be swapped
- to EMS or disk if it invokes DOS) or OFF.
-
- O -> Use EMS
- ------------
- In general '4.0+ ONLY' is the best option. Most modern EMS drivers
- behave in a reliable way. Some older versions can cause unwanted
- conflicts and this mode will not use those older versions. Switch EMS
- OFF if your EMS (emulator) is not compatible with the
- Lotus/Intel/Microsoft specifications. Switch EMS to 'ANY VERSION' if
- you have an EMS driver lower than 4.0, which you verified to work
- correctly with UC2. Compressing and decompressing a large collection
- of files is a good way to verify this.
-
- Default, UC2 allocates all available EMS. By setting the environment
- variable 'SET UC2_MAX_EMS=xxx', you can specify in kilobytes how much
- EMS UC2 should use.
-
- P -> Use XMS
- ------------
- Switch XMS OFF if your XMS (emulator) is not compatible with the
- Lotus/Intel/Microsoft specifications. This is not likely since UC2
- uses XMS very conservatively.
-
- Default, UC2 allocates all available XMS. By setting the environment
- variable 'SET UC2_MAX_XMS=xxx', you can specify in kilobytes how much
- XMS UC2 should use.
-
- Default, UC2 allocates all available UMB (upper memory blocks) from
- the UMA (upper memory area). By setting the environment variable 'SET
- UC2_MAX_UMB=xxx', you can specify in kilobytes how much UMB UC2
- should use.
-
- It is also possible for UC2 to use "raw" extended memory (without a
- XMS driver). With the environment variable 'SET UC2_RAW_EXT=xxx' you
- can specify in kilobytes how much extended memory UC2 should use.
- Please note this option is VERY dangerous. We strongly advise you to
- use a XMS driver (like HIMEM.SYS) instead.
-
- Q -> Use 386/486/Pentium features
- ---------------------------------
- Switch off use of 386/486/Pentium options. AIP-NL is not aware of any
- situation where this feature had to be disabled. UC2 does not suffer
- from Pentium processors with the infamous 'FDIV bug'.
-
- R -> Advanced networking
- ------------------------
- Equivalent command line options: !NET=ON, !NET=OFF, !NET=AUTO-SKIP
-
- Network Support. If you have a version of DOS which does not support
- DOS network calls (e.g. 2.0), or if you have a network which behaves
- very differently from IBM, Lantastic, Microsoft, Novell or Vines
- networks, you can set this option to OFF. Sharing archives is then no
- longer possible.
-
- When UC2 attempts to compress a locked file, it allows the user to
- skip this file by hand. When auto-skip mode is active, locked files
- will be skipped automatically. A warning is reported and logged if
- files are skipped.
-
- S -> Location for temporary files
- ---------------------------------
- The location for temporary files can be configured. When everything
- goes well you will never notice the temporary files. Please make sure
- the directory configured exists on your disk.
-
- You can override this setting with the environment variable UC2_TMP
- e.g. 'SET UC2_TMP=F:\'.
-
- The temporary files location will also be used by the virtual memory
- manager. Default, UC2 will use up to 8192 kilobytes of virtual
- memory. This amount can be changed with 'SET UC2_VMEM=xxx' to a value
- from 4096 to 49192 (kilobytes). UC2 needs 1 byte of base memory for
- each kilobyte of virtual memory.
-
- U -> Error logfile
- ------------------
- The error logfile will register all errors and warnings that appear
- while executing UC2. You can also disable error logging by specifying
- * as logfile.
-
-
- 6.C QUICK SETUP
- ===============
-
- 1 -> default
- ------------
- The default setup changes the following settings:
-
- GENERAL OPTIONS:
-
- default compression mode into normal
- default operation into basic mode
- reliability level into detect
- automatic archive conversion into off
- virus scan during conversion into off
- amount of output/information into normal
- show (multimedia) banners into ask
- store OS/2 2.x ext. attributes into off
- store system/hidden files into ask
-
- SYSTEM OPTIONS:
-
- video mode into color
- dynamic program swapping into on
- use EMS into 4.0 and higher only
- use XMS into on
- use 386/486/Pentium features into on
- advanced networking into on
- all locations will be set to the same location as UC.EXE
-
- 2 -> max speed
- --------------
- The max speed setup changes the following settings:
-
- GENERAL OPTIONS:
-
- default compression into fast
- default operation into incremental
- reliability level into detect
- automatic archive conversion into on
- virus scan during conversion into off
- amount of output/information into minimal
- show (multimedia) banners into off
-
- SYSTEM OPTIONS:
-
- video mode No matter whether the video mode is color or
- mono, this configuration will turn off BIOS
- usage
- use EMS into 4.0 and higher only
- use XMS into on
- use 386/486/Pentium features into on
- advanced networking into auto-skip
-
- 3 -> max compress
- -----------------
- The max compress setup changes the following settings:
-
- GENERAL OPTIONS:
-
- default compression into s-tight
- default operation into basic mode
- reliability level into detect
- automatic archive conversion into on
-
- 4 -> max safety
- ---------------
- The max safe setup changes the following settings:
-
- GENERAL OPTIONS:
-
- default operation into incremental mode
- reliability level into ensure
- automatic archive conversion into off
- virus scan during conversion into on
- smart skipping into off
- show (multimedia) banners into off
-
- SYSTEM OPTIONS:
-
- video mode No matter whether the video mode is color or
- mono, this configuration will turn on BIOS usage
- use EMS into off
- use XMS into off
- use 386/486/Pentium features into off
- only if advanced networking was auto-detect:
- into on
-
- 5 -> UNDO
- ---------
- The configuration will be reset to the state it was before you
- started the configuration screen.
-
-
- 6.D AIP-NL.INI
- ==============
-
- All UC2 settings are kept in the AIP-NL.INI file.
-
- Please note the AIP-NL.INI file contains settings for ALL AIP-NL
- products.
-
- All AIP-NL products use the PATH environment variable (usually set in
- AUTOEXEC.BAT) to locate AIP-NL.INI, thus allowing multiple people to use
- the same executable file, while they each have their own configuration
- file.
-
- AIP-NL.INI consist of sections each containing a number of settings.
-
- EXPANDERS
- ---------
- This section specifies how archives should be extracted for use by
- the convert command.
-
- For example "ARC = ARC xzw % *.*/h/a, PKXARC % *.*, PAK e %"
- specifies that files with the ARC extension should be extracted by
- ARC, PKXARC or PAK. If more than one of those is available, the first
- one in the list will be used.
-
- UC2-GENERAL-OPTIONS, UC2-SYSTEM-OPTIONS
- ---------------------------------------
- These sections contain all settings from the configuration menu.
-
- VARIOUS
- -------
- TEMPORARY-FILES specifies which directory UC2 uses for temporary
- files.
-
- PRINT-FILE specifies how $PRF prints a file.
-
- FLUSH-CACHE specifies how ensure mode flushes the disk cache.
-
- VIRUS-SCAN specifies how convert can check for viruses.
-
- AFTER-CONVERT specifies a command to be executed during archive
- conversion.
-
- VIEWERS, EDITORS
- ----------------
- These sections are mainly used by Visual UltraCompressor. UC2 does
- use them for the R (revise comment) command and for showing
- multimedia banners.
-
-
- 6.E OPTIMIZING PERFORMANCE
- ==========================
-
- In general UC2 will automatically utilize available resources (RAM,
- microprocessor) in an optimal fashion. Please note UC2 does not stretch
- beyond the limits of your system to achieve this. It only uses
- officially documented methods to access XMS, EMS, DOS, Windows, OS/2,
- etc. In many cases the methods UC2 uses have been double checked with
- IBM, Microsoft, QuarterDeck, Novell and others. And of course everything
- has been extensively tested on many different environments.
-
- There are some tips to allow UC2 to work as fast as possible:
-
- - make as much base, EMS and XMS memory available as you can spare
-
- - (but) on systems supporting virtual memory (e.g. Windows NT and
- OS/2) you should not make TOO much memory available for UC2 (to
- prevent swapping)
-
- - select maximal speed in the configuration menu
-
- - or (e.g. if you prefer better compression)
- - enable advanced networking (when applicable)
- - enable EMS/XMS usage
- - enable 386/486/Pentium usage
- - set UC2 information to minimal
-
- - redirect the output of UC2 to the NUL device (e.g. UC X test > NUL)
-
- - install sufficient BUFFERS in your CONFIG.SYS and/or install a disk
- caching utility
-
-
- 7. UC2 TECHNICAL DETAILS (UC2 internals, design, benchmarks)
- ============================================================
-
- Although many aspects of UC2 look simple and straightforward, UC2 is a
- very advanced program.
-
- This chapter contains the following paragraphs:
-
- - A. Inside UC2
- - B. Compression technology
- - C. Damage protection technology
- - D. Benchmarking
-
- When you use the AIP-NL manual viewer you can jump to a chapter or a
- paragraph by pressing the corresponding digit(s) or letter.
-
-
- 7.A INSIDE UC2
- ==============
-
- Here a rough overview of the internals of UC2 is given. It can give
- those who are interested more insight into what is going on INSIDE
- UltraCompressor II.
-
- If you want more detailed technical information (e.g. for making add-on
- tools) you can always contact us. Please note however we do not intend
- to supply the source code of UC2 to third parties. Sample add-on tools
- (including their source code) are available on request.
-
- UC2 is programmed in C++ and assembly language (for the time critical
- sections). It is devised in a number of modules which are briefly
- described in this section.
-
-
- Overview
- --------
- GENERAL CONTROL
- main
- config
- command interpreter
- manager
- archive I/O
-
-
- SYSTEM SERVICES COMPRESSION SERVICES
- video dictionary manager
- low level I/O ultra engine
- memory manager
- virtual memory manager
- RELIABILITY SERVICES
- error handler
- OTHER damage protection
- lister guard
- viewer test
-
-
- General control
- ---------------
- MAIN
- The main module calls all initialization routines.
-
- CONFIG
- This module handles the interactive configuration screen. This
- module also uses and maintains AIP-NL.INI.
-
- COMMAND INTERPRETER
- The command line and script files are interpreted in this module.
-
- MANAGER
- Finds out what should happen (e.g. ask the command interpreter,
- scan the disk and the archive), and makes it happen (call the data
- compressor, etc.). This module is the most complex module of UC2,
- but it delegates a lot of hard work to other modules.
-
- ARCHIVE I/O
- Here the archive file format is managed. Conversion between
- external (compressed flat file) and internal (object database)
- formats, as well as all kinds of integrity checks are performed.
-
- System services
- ---------------
- VIDEO
- The keyboard, screen and output file (in case of redirection) are
- managed here.
-
- LOW LEVEL I/O
- Here low level file specifics and networking are handled. Also
- this module takes care of file caching, an essential issue in
- making UC2 perform fast on (floppy) disk and network access.
-
- MEMORY MANAGER (MM)
- This module manages base memory, XMS and EMS. The MM decides which
- components of the program can get memory, and how much memory they
- can get, to optimize overall performance.
-
- VIRTUAL MEMORY MANAGER (VMM)
- This module manages the 'persistent object database' containing
- the central directory of an archive and numerous links needed to
- make processing as efficient as possible. No matter the amount of
- data in the VMM, it can always work (fast) with only a small
- amount of memory. VMM uses the memory manager to optimize its
- performance wherever possible. The VMM also supplies pipeline
- services for decoupling translation (archive I/O) and compression
- logic.
-
- Compression services
- --------------------
- DICTIONARY MANAGER
- This component makes dictionaries of collections of files. These
- dictionaries allow UC2 to use similarities between different files
- to compress all files even further. The analyzing phase of UC2
- refers to the creation of dictionaries based on found files. The
- optimizing phase (which is different from the optimize command)
- refers to the compression of the dictionaries. One special
- dictionary (the 'master') is built into the compressor. This
- dictionary is used to improve compression of the other
- dictionaries. The master contains information about the general
- structure of common file types such as: documents, spreadsheets,
- databases, sources, etc. Private Compression Profiles (8.F) allow
- you to replace the master with you own dictionary.
-
- ULTRA ENGINE
- The bare high speed compressor/decompressor. Based on a dictionary
- the redundancy of a stream of data is analyzed and compressed.
-
- Reliability services
- --------------------
- ERROR HANDLER
- The error handler traps DOS system errors and handles them in a
- neat and consistent way. It often allows the user to go to DOS,
- solve the problem, leave DOS and continue where UC2 has stopped.
- The error handler makes it impossible for the user to specify
- 'ignore', (an unfortunate option DOS offers if something goes
- wrong).
-
- DAMAGE PROTECTION
- This module handles damage protection, damage detection and damage
- recovery.
-
- GUARD
- The guard continuously checks the internal integrity of UC2. It is
- often able to prevent damage caused by e.g. software conflicts or
- hardware problems.
-
- TEST (only available in beta versions)
- Tests and interrogates various components of UC2 during execution.
-
- Other
- -----
- LISTER
- Shows contents of archive in various formats.
-
- VIEWER
- Online help viewer.
-
-
- 7.B COMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY
- ==========================
-
- UC2 significantly outperforms older data compression technology. For
- those interested in background information, we will discuss WHY and HOW
- UC2 is capable of doing this.
-
- AIP-NL would like to specifically thank Drs. ing. D. Bezemer, Prof. dr.
- J. van Leeuwen, Dr. P. van Oostrum and Drs. ing. N.E. de Vries for their
- significant participation in the design of the UC2 compression engine.
-
- To begin, we will give a brief explanation of AR002. Most modern data
- compressors (ARJ, LHA, ZIP, ZOO) are derivatives of AR002. AR002 was
- designed by Haruhiko Okumura.
-
- AR002, a two phase compressor
- -----------------------------
- DATA <-> (#1, LZ) <-> (grouping) <-> (#2, Huffman) <-> COMPRESSED
-
- In phase #1 (the 'LempelZiv' phase) 'matches' are located. Matches
- are strings of data which are equal. The string 'hello there hello'
- can be converted to 'hello there '(-12,5) since 'hello' is matched.
- In general ARJ, LHA, ZIP and ZOO can find matches with a maximum
- distance of about 32700, and a maximum length of about 500 (rough
- estimates).
-
- In phase #2 (the 'Huffman' phase) the output of phase #1 is divided
- into blocks. For each block statistics are analyzed (for example the
- compressor notices the character 'e' is used much more often than
- 'q'). From this analysis an optimal translation table ('Huffman
- tree') is generated (e.g. 'e'=001 'q'=100100010). The compressed
- block then consists of the Huffman tree and the translated contents
- of the block.
-
- The storage of the Huffman tree, at the beginning of each block, is a
- complicated matter which we will not cover here.
-
- The number of different values phase #1 can generate is very large
- (e.g. all 256 possible values of a byte, and about 32700 * 500
- different match descriptions). Since it is very inefficient to make a
- Huffman tree for all those possible values, the values are grouped,
- and statistics are gathered for the groups instead of the single
- values. LHA, ZOO, ARJ and ZIP all use different methods to realize
- this grouping.
-
- UltraEngine
- -----------
- The UltraEngine is also an AR002 derivative, but with some
- fundamental enhancements. These enhancements can be divided into two
- major features: the core engine and the dictionary manager.
-
- The dictionary manager is the most significant enhancement. Ordinary
- data compression engines always start completely 'blank', knowing
- absolutely nothing about the data they are going to compress. The
- dictionary manager collects generic information about a group of
- files. For example a collection of *.DOC files will all have similar
- characteristics, and share common text strings like 'paper'. The
- dictionary manager collects this common 'knowledge' in a dictionary.
- This dictionary is used to make the core engine much smarter when
- similar files are compressed.
-
- UC2 has a dictionary (the 'master') built into the executable as
- well. This master contains information about common file formats. It
- contains, for example, information about spreadsheets, databases,
- word processors, programming languages and common words in: English,
- French, German and Dutch. This built in information improves
- compression.
-
- The core engine also has some enhancements over the basic AR002
- engine.
-
- The match engine has been replaced by a completely new one. This new
- engine is capable of finding matches at a distance of 64000 and with
- a maximum length of 30000.
-
- Also the way in which blocks of data are gathered for further Huffman
- compression is completely different. Instead of looking at one block
- at a time, the core engine attempts to 'learn' from previous blocks
- so less information is needed to encode statistical information of a
- block.
-
- Alternative
- -----------
- A collection of files can also be compressed more, with the often
- used TAR+COMPRESS 'trick'. First collect all files in a single large
- file, and then compress this single large file at once. Especially
- for large collections of small files, this improves compression
- significantly. This approach can be reached with ARJ as well, by
- first compressing with ARJ -m0, and compressing the resulting archive
- again with ARJ -jm1.
-
- It should be noted, however, that the UltraEngine approach works much
- better. First of all, the compression is better. The dictionary
- manager is much smarter than just a simple concatenation. This can be
- verified by compressing the output of ARJ -m0 with UC -tt. Also the
- core engine is fine tuned for optimal performance in cooperation with
- dictionaries. The 64000 byte match length is one of the essential
- enhancements.
-
- Another reason why the UC2 approach is much better, is random access.
- Try to delete a single file of a collection of 5000 C files when ARJ
- -m0/-jm1 has been used, or try to add or extract SOME files. UC2 will
- mostly do this much faster than ordinary archivers (this is a result
- of better caching and a better file format), and remarkably faster
- than a collect/compress (unit packing, solid) archiver.
-
-
- 7.C DAMAGE PROTECTION TECHNOLOGY
- ================================
-
- When an archive is 'damage protected' with the P command, it becomes
- resistant to a certain amount of damage. This paragraph explains how UC2
- achieves this.
-
- We will start with a mathematical operator called 'XOR'. XOR has the
- following properties:
-
- 0 XOR 0 = 0; 0 XOR 1 = 1; 1 XOR 0 = 1; 1 XOR 1 = 0
-
- if a1 XOR a2 XOR a3 XOR a4 XOR a5 = xx
- then a1 XOR xx XOR a3 XOR a4 XOR a5 = a2
- and a1 XOR a2 XOR a3 XOR xx XOR a5 = a4
- etc.
-
- This exactly shows the essence of damage protection, a1..a5 are the bare
- data, xx is special (damage recovery) information which can be used to
- restore bare data if it somehow has been destroyed.
-
- In practice UC2 XORs groups of 512 bytes (sectors) instead of single
- bits. To determine if a specific sector is correct or damaged a checksum
- of all sectors is included in the damage recovery information.
-
- About 1% of damage protection information is added to an archive. For
- short files this is a single recovery sector (meaning up to 1 damaged
- sector can be recovered), but if the archive is longer multiple damage
- recovery sectors are added, for example one for odd and one for even
- sectors.
-
-
- 7.D BENCHMARKING
- ================
-
- Benchmarking is a very complicated matter. It is always possible to
- create a legitimate looking benchmark which makes product A or product B
- look better. A nice example of this can be seen by just looking at some
- ads.
-
- We have done a successful attempt to optimize UC2 for daily 'real life'
- use. This means it compresses fast and it decompresses very fast.
-
- But when archives are used intensively, the bare compression/
- decompression speed is only an aspect of the whole picture. What is also
- very important is how efficient updates are performed. Especially when
- 'the going gets tough', for example when a large archive resides on a
- floppy disk, or when the archive is on a network, UC2 can be much faster
- than other products.
-
- An unfortunate problem in benchmarking archivers is the 'Calgary
- Compression Corpus', which is often used to compare data compressors.
- Well, UC2 will do better than other compressors with this test, yet the
- real power of the compression engine is not used in this unrealistic
- test. When collections of 'real life' files (e.g. a large collection of
- documents, or sources, or the average archive one finds on a BBS) is
- compressed the difference between UC2 and other products becomes more
- significant.
-
- Of course, although performance is very important, it is only one aspect
- in the usability of a product.
-
- In general it is our opinion that you, the user, are the best person to
- perform benchmarks. Try the product the way you would actually USE it
- and see for yourself.
-
-
- 8. UC2 EXTENDED COMMANDS
- ========================
-
- On of the toughest decisions to make, in designing a utility like
- UltraCompressor II, is what option should and should not be included.
- The problem is, that different users have a different view on what
- should be included in the tool. Some users prefer simple and clean,
- other users prefer a tool which adapts exactly to their specific wishes.
-
- We decided to split the command line options into sections in order to
- solve this conflict:
-
- BASIC (3)
- This section aims at maximum simplicity. It only describes extraction
- of an entire archive, compression of an entire directory and viewing
- archive contents.
-
- MAIN (4)
- Several goals have driven this section:
- -> smart commands, not needing a lot of complicated options
- -> the entire command description must fit on one screen (UC -?)
- -> it should be simple, clean and consistent
-
- BBS (5)
- Special commands and options aimed at sysops have been put in a
- separate section.
-
- EXTEND (8)
- Simple is no longer an issue here, only power and flexibility count.
- Extended commands always start with $, extended options always start
- with !. Dynamic Time Travel and all options documented in CONFIG (6)
- are therefore extended options as well, although they are not covered
- again in this chapter.
-
- This chapter contains the following paragraphs:
-
- - A. Tools: version manager (vm.exe)
- - B. Tools: lock archive (ulock.bat, uprot.bat)
- - C. Tools: compress/expand directory (ucdir, uedir)
- - D. Tools: simple archive splitter (sas)
- - E. Extended command/option overview
- - F. Private Compression Profiles
- - G. Error messages
- - Z. Summary
-
- When you use the AIP-NL manual viewer you can jump to a chapter or a
- paragraph by pressing the corresponding digit(s) or letter.
-
-
- 8.A TOOLS: VERSION MANAGER (VM.EXE)
- ===================================
-
- UltraCompressor II allows you to keep multiple versions (revisions) of a
- file in an archive. This feature is, however, single file oriented.
-
- Version Manager allows you to manage versions of file collections
- (projects). It allows you to attach a 'version label' to a collection of
- files and to extract or list all file versions having that specific
- label.
-
- This is perfectly suited for marking specific stages of a project to
- allow simple reconstruction of those stages.
-
- Please note that version labels are case and space sensitive.
-
- Commands:
- ---------
- VM Mark "label" archive-name
-
- Attach "label" to the most current file versions (*.*;0). "label" can
- be anything you want, e.g. "REV 1.2.1", "Version for Acme Inc.",
- "LWV" (last working version) etc. One file version can have multiple
- labels. Labels are case sensitive and can be up to 80 characters
- long.
-
- VM Remove "label" archive-name
-
- Remove a specific label from an archive (only the label is removed,
- no files are deleted).
-
- VM LAbels archive-name
-
- List all labels present in the archive in alphabetic order.
-
- VM History archive-name
-
- List all labels present in the archive in chronological order.
-
- VM L "label" [options] archive-name [files]
- VM V "label" [options] archive-name [files]
-
- List/verbose list of all files having the specified label. All UC2
- options can be used.
-
- VM E "label" [options] archive-name [files]
-
- Extract files having the specified label. All UC2 options can be
- used.
-
- 'Special' label names:
- ----------------------
- If a label description ends with $, $$ or # then substitution takes
- place:
-
- $ The $ is replaced by the current date (e.g. "LWV $" becomes "LWV
- NOV-12-1997").
-
- $$ The $$ is replaced by the current date and time (e.g. "LWV $$"
- becomes "LWV NOV-12-1997 22:34:04").
-
- # The # is replaced by an automatic version number (e.g. "KQZ #"
- becomes "KQZ 1.2.6"). VM always searches for labels with a
- similar layout, finds the highest one, and increases the last
- number. For 'major' releases the new version number has to be
- specified.
-
- All labels get an index (e.g. @12) which can be used as abbreviation.
- The index for each label is shown by LABELS and HISTORY.
-
- Examples:
- ---------
- VM MARK "LWV $$" arch
-
- Mark the most current files as the current 'Last Working Version',
- e.g. "LWV NOV-12-1997 12:34:04".
-
- VM M "REV #" arch
-
- Mark the most current files as "REV xxx", where the new version
- number is automatically determined.
-
- VM E "REV 1.2.2" -S arch #c:\build
-
- Extract all files labelled REV 1.2.2 to c:\build.
-
- VM E @12 arch
-
- Extract all files with the label with index @12.
-
- VM Finger printing
- ------------------
- Often an executable should contain its own version label. This version
- label can for instance be shown in the startup screen of the
- application. This allows technical support to determine which version of
- a program a specific user is running.
-
- VM can automate the maintenance of such a version label. It can do this
- by generating an include file which contains a definition for the
- version label. This include file will then be updated automatically when
- the VM MARK or the VM E commands are used.
-
- The generation of this VM include file is controlled by an environment
- variable.
-
- Example:
-
- SET VM_FINGERPRINT_CPP=mylab.h
-
- In this sample the version label is maintained in the C++ include
- file mylab.h.
-
-
- The following filetypes are supported:
-
- Environment variable Type Sample contents
- --------------------------------------------------------------
- VM_FINGERPRINT_ASM Assembly db "..."
-
- VM_FINGERPRINT_BAS BASIC const VM_LABEL$ = "..."
-
- VM_FINGERPRINT_C C #define VM_LABEL "..."
-
- VM_FINGERPRINT_CPP C++ const char* VM_LABEL = "...";
-
- VM_FINGERPRINT_MOD Modula II CONST VM_LABEL = "...";
-
- VM_FINGERPRINT_PAS Pascal CONST VM_LABEL = "...";
-
- VM_FINGERPRINT_RAW ...
-
-
- The file is always generated in the current directory (unless a full
- path is specified).
-
-
- 8.B TOOLS: LOCK ARCHIVE (ULOCK.BAT, UPROT.BAT)
- ==============================================
-
- Example: ULOCK arch
-
- The archive arch.uc2 is protected against all manipulative commands
- (e.g. add and delete). Please note that someone could bypass this lock
- by just expanding all files in the archive, and creating a new one.
-
- Example: UPROT arch
-
- All files in arch.uc2 will be protected against deletion. Incremental
- addition to the archive is still allowed, overwriting or deleting files
- not. Perfect for version management where older file versions should
- never be deleted.
-
- The ULOCK and the UPROT commands can only be reversed by extracting all
- files from the locked/protected archive and building a new one.
-
-
- 8.C TOOLS: COMPRESS/EXPAND DIRECTORY (UCDIR, UEDIR)
- ===================================================
-
- UCDIR
-
- This command moves all files from the current directory and below to
- the archive UCDIRDAT.UC2. If this archive already exists smart
- skipping will skip redundant work. UCDIRDAT.UC2 is always damage
- protected. UCDIR will make UCDIRDAT.UC2 read-only to avoid accidental
- deletion.
-
- UEDIR
-
- This command completely expands UCDIRDAT.UC2 (if it is present in the
- current directory). The archive is not removed to speed up the UCDIR
- command. UEDIR will make UCDIRDAT.UC2 deletable.
-
- Used together UCDIR and UEDIR allow you to keep data readily available
- on disk, while it takes significantly less space than uncompressed, or
- even when compressed with a transparent disk compressor.
-
-
- 8.D TOOLS: SIMPLE ARCHIVE SPLITTER (SAS)
- ========================================
-
- Commands:
- SAS S arch 123 split arch.uc2 in 123kb pieces, 1kb=1024 bytes
- SAS B arch build arch.uc2 from those pieces
-
- When arch.uc2 is split into 5 pieces, those pieces will be named
- arch.p01, arch.p02, arch.p03, arch.p04 and arch.p05. SAS adds a little
- amount of overhead to each piece.
-
- SAS allows basic UC2 archive splitting. This can be used to allow
- archives which do not fit on a single floppy disk to be spread amongst
- more than one diskettes.
-
- For distribution of multivolume archives, UC2SEA (chapter 13) is a
- better choice.
-
-
- 8.E EXTENDED COMMAND/OPTION OVERVIEW
- ====================================
-
- Extended commands always start with $, extended options always start
- with !. Dynamic Time Travel and all options documented in CONFIG (6) are
- all extended options as well.
-
- Add variants (can be used instead of A)
- ---------------------------------------
- $FRE FREshen files in archive (update files, but do not add new
- ones)
-
- Extract variants (can be used instead of E)
- -------------------------------------------
- $EWP Extract Without Path (extract all files to the same
- directory, ignoring their original path). This command
- automatically activates the -S (include subdirs) option.
-
- $PRF PRint Files (how a file should be printed is defined in
- AIP-NL.INI)
-
- Example: UC $PRF arch *.txt
-
- Archive manipulation commands
- -----------------------------
- $RED Remove Empty Directories
-
- Usage: UC $RED archive-name(s)
-
- $TSN Time Stamp archive with date/time of Newest file
-
- Usage: UC $TSN archive-name(s)
-
- Miscellaneous commands
- ----------------------
- $GLF Generate List File (usable as script/list-file). Please note
- that this command does not automatically include
- subdirectories. The -S option is needed to include
- subdirectories.
-
- Usage: UC $GLF listfile-name [options] archive-name [files]
-
- Example: UC $GLF listfile.txt -S arch *.doc
-
- $DOS execute DOS command
-
- Example: UC $DOS del *.bak & A arch *.*
-
- Filter/selection options
- ------------------------
- Filter/selection options can be used for add (A, $FRE), list (L, V,
- $GLF), delete (D) and extract (E, $EWP, $PRF). Please note these
- options only filter out files. They do not change the version number
- of files (unlike Dynamic Time Travel and VM.EXE).
-
- !CONTAINS="..."
- only allow files which contain the specified string, upper
- and lower case characters match for this option (e.g. Test
- matches tEsT)
- Note: the search string can be at most 40 characters.
-
- !EFA=HSRA
- Exclude Files with (Hidden/System/Read-only/Archive)
- Attributes
-
- !ARCA only include files having the ARChive Attribute bit set
-
- !ELD=YYYY/MM/DD-HH:MM:SS
- only include files with Equal or Later Date/time
-
- !EED=YYYY/MM/DD-HH:MM:SS
- only include files with Equal or Earlier Date/time
-
- !QUERY ask permission for each single file
-
- !NEWER (add and extract only)
- only add/extract a file, if the source file is NEWER than a
- (to be overwritten) destination file, or if there is no
- destination file
-
- !NOF (add and extract only)
- Never Overwrite a File
-
- Examples:
-
- UC E !EFA=HS arch
-
- Extract all files from arch, except files having the system or
- the hidden attribute.
-
- UC $GLF listfile !CONTAINS="#include <graph.hpp>" arch
-
- Create a file 'listfile' which contains all files in arch.uc2
- containing the string "#include <graph.hpp>".
-
- UC A !CONTAINS="main" arch *.cpp
-
- Add all *.cpp files containing "main" to arch.uc2.
-
- UC D !CONTAINS="old" arch
-
- Delete all files containing "old" from arch.uc2.
-
- UC VS !CONTAINS="check" *
-
- List all files containing "check" from all archives in the
- current directory.
-
- UC E -S !ELD=1992/07/28 !EED=1993/03/17 arch *.*;*
-
- Extract all files in the archive dated 1992/07/28 - 1993/03/17.
- Notice the *.*;* ensures all versions of a file will be
- considered, not only the newest one.
-
- UC $PRF !CONTAINS="echo off" !QUERY arch
-
- Try to print all files containing 'echo off', ask permission
- for each file.
-
- Miscellaneous options
- ---------------------
- !RAB Reset the Archive attribute Bit after adding a file
-
- !BAK keep BAcKup (.BAK) of updated archives
-
- !TSN Time Stamp archive with date/time of Newest file
-
- !VLAB add: copy Volume LABel from the first mentioned drive to
- archive
- extract: copy Volume LABel from archive to the destination
- drive
-
- !VLAB=X add: copy Volume LABel from drive X: to archive
- extract: copy Volume LABel from archive to drive X:
-
- !ASUB include Archives in SUBdirectories
-
- Examples:
-
- UC A -S !ARCA !RAB arch *.*
- Backup files having the archive attribute bit set and after
- that reset their attribute bit.
-
- UC A !TSN arch *.bas
- Add *.bas files to the archive, time stamp the archive with
- the newest file in the archive.
-
- UC C !TSN *
- Convert all archives in the current directory to UC2 archives,
- time stamp the resulting archives with the newest file in the
- archive.
-
- UC A !VLAB test d:*.cpp
- Add files and copy volume label from drive D: to the archive.
-
- UC A !VLAB test *.cpp d:*.cpp
- Add files and copy volume label from the current drive to the
- archive.
-
- UC A !ASUB c:\* u$~ban.txt
- Add u$~ban.txt to all archives (including those in
- subdirectories) on drive C:.
-
-
- 8.F PRIVATE COMPRESSION PROFILES
- ================================
-
- This feature allows you to use UC2 as an optimized special purpose
- compressor for a specific kind of data (e.g. text files in a specific
- language).
-
- VERY IMPORTANT WARNING
- ----------------------
- Private compression profiles (PCPs) are a very powerful but also a
- dangerous feature. If you build archives using a specific PCP and you
- somehow lose, change or damage the PCP ALL data in ALL archives you
- made using the PCP will be COMPLETELY LOST.
-
- How do PCPs work?
- -----------------
- UC2 uses built-in knowledge to improve compression. The knowledge
- built into UC2 is a mix of common file formats. It contains, for
- example, information about spreadsheets, databases, word processors,
- programming languages and common words in: English, French, German
- and Dutch, etc.
-
- PCPs allow you to replace the knowledge which UC2 uses with different
- knowledge. This can be very effective in an environment where the
- data which is compressed is of a more or less similar kind.
-
- One example of where PCPs can be very effective is for two bulletin
- boards that exchange a lot of email. When a PCP is made for this
- environment compression will significantly improve, even for very
- small email messages.
-
- Another example is when a lot of archives containing sources in a
- specific language (e.g. C++) are maintained. A PCP for company
- specific C++ sources will again significantly improve compression.
-
- How do I create a PCP?
- ----------------------
- PCPs work best when they are based on a single file type (e.g.
- sources). It is possible to make a PCP based on multiple file types
- but we do not recommend it.
-
- A PCP is just a file containing up to 58k of sample data. To build a
- PCP simply concatenate some sample files together until you have a
- file of about 58k. The more 'average' your sample files are, the
- better the PCP will work.
-
- How do I use a PCP?
- -------------------
- A PCP is activated by setting an environment variable. This approach
- allows use of archiver shells (like Visual UltraCompressor) in
- combination with PCPs. To activate a PCP you should use:
-
- set UC2_PCP=<full name of pcp file>
-
- to deactivate it you should use:
-
- set UC2_PCP=
-
- A sample batch for making backups:
-
- set UC2_PCP=s:\uc2pcps\sources.pcp
- UC A a:\backup h:\sources\*.cpp h:\sources\*.h
- set UC2_PCP=
-
- How safe are PCPs?
- ------------------
- UC2 always verifies if a PCP should be used or not.
-
- This verification is also performed by older versions of UC2 (error
- 145).
-
- UC2 always checks if the correct PCP is used (PCP checksum).
-
- A PCP does not limit what can be stored in an archive. (e.g. if a C++
- PCP is used you can still archive binaries)
-
- In all cases if something is wrong, UC2 will give a clear error
- message (215, 220, 225 or 230).
-
- If you use PCPs by accident (you forgot to disable them), your
- archives will be unusable for people not having access to your PCPs.
- UC2 always reports to you that it uses PCPs to limit the chance of
- such a mistake.
-
- If you somehow lose, change or damage a PCP ALL data in ALL archives
- you made using that PCP will be COMPLETELY LOST. There is no way your
- data can be recovered in such a situation. As always, keeping backups
- is very important.
-
-
- 8.G ERROR MESSAGES
- ==================
-
- When something went wrong, UC2 displays an error message. UC2 has three
- levels of error messages:
-
- Fatal Error something occurred which forced UC2 to stop
- Error something went wrong, but execution could be continued
- Warning something happened which might be unwanted
-
- All errors have a "level", multiple error messages can share the same
- level. This level is shown on screen and also returned to DOS
- (errorlevel). If multiple errors occur, the highest level is returned to
- DOS. For more details the error logfile (if enabled) can be consulted.
-
- Error message level explanations:
- ---------------------------------
-
- OK (0)
- ------
- 0 Everything went OK.
-
- Warnings (1-49)
- ---------------
- 5 Internal error (UC2 beta versions only).
-
- 7 The archive is protected against changes in archive comment.
-
- 10 A device name has been mapped to a filename.
-
- 15 The archive's size did not change (optimize).
-
- 20 No file/archive found matching ...
-
- 25 The user chose to skip the rest of the ADD command.
-
- 30 Skipped file, AUTO-SKIP (network/locking related).
-
- 35 Skipped file, the user chose to skip the rest of the ADD command.
-
- 40 Archive has been made with cracked UC.EXE.
- Although all evaluation versions of UC2 have always been 100%
- complete and uncrippled, some people have made cracking tools to
- enter fake serial numbers into UC.EXE. Unfortunately most of
- these cracking tools severely damage the operation (and thereby
- the reliability) of UC.EXE. When UC2 detects an archive made
- which such an archiver it emits this warning. Please notify the
- source of such archives that their software is illegal and
- probably unreliable.
-
- Errors (50-99)
- --------------
- 50 Internal error.
-
- 55 Failed to delete a file.
- This can be caused by a network (you do not have sufficient
- rights to delete a specific file) or by attempts to delete a
- file from a write-protected disk.
-
- 60 Failed to delete a directory.
- This can be caused by a network (you do not have sufficient
- rights to delete a specific directory) or by attempts to delete
- a directory from a write-protected disk.
-
- 63 Failed to rename a file.
- This can be caused by a network (you do not have sufficient
- rights to rename a specific file) or by attempts to rename a
- file on a write-protected disk.
-
- 65 The conversion of a specific archive failed.
- The archive has an unknown format, the file is not an archive,
- or the archive is damaged.
-
- 70 Failed to set the volume label.
- This can be caused by a network (you do not have sufficient
- rights to set the volume label), by attempts to set the volume
- label of write-protected disk or the volume label is not a valid
- DOS volume label (e.g. the original was made with the Norton
- utilities).
-
- 75 Failed to set OS/2 extended attributes.
- This can be caused by a network (you do not have sufficient
- rights to set extended attributes) or by attempts to set
- extended attributes on a write-protected disk.
-
- 80 Skipped a file (could not write to it).
- This can be caused by a network (you do not have sufficient
- rights to create a specific file) or by attempts to write a file
- to a write-protected disk.
-
- 85 Cannot create a directory.
- This can be caused by a network (you do not have sufficient
- rights to create a specific directory) or by attempts to create
- a directory on a write-protected disk.
-
- 90 The archive is damaged (use 'UC T' to repair it).
-
- 95 Conversion of the archive failed, due to the detection of a virus.
-
- Fatal errors (100-255)
- ----------------------
- 100 The user aborted the program by choice or with Ctrl-Break.
-
- 105 Some problem with UC.EXE.
- (When trying to reconfigure) UC2 resides on a write-protected
- diskette or has been made read-only. (Other) The executable is
- damaged, obtain or install a new one.
-
- 110 Configuration problem (UC -!).
- You should reconfigure UC2 (the specific error message explains
- what you should change).
-
- 120 The command line is not correct.
- You have entered an unknown command or option. Consult the
- manual for more information on what you want to achieve.
-
- 123 A command/option is not allowed by the configuration (UC -!).
- If ensure or protect mode is activated (UC -! C) you can no
- longer use the unprotect command.
-
- 125 The archive is encrypted.
- You should use UCRYPT (with the proper password) to decrypt the
- encrypted archive.
-
- 130 Failed to access archive (e.g. archive does not exist).
-
- 135 The archive is locked, some other tool (like VM) is using it.
-
- 140 A command/option is not allowed by the archive.
- Archives can be protected against certain commands. For more
- details see chapter 8 paragraph B.
-
- 145 A newer version of UC is needed for this archive.
-
- 150 Cannot create file.
- This can be caused by a network (you do not have sufficient
- rights to create a specific file) or by attempts to write a file
- to a write-protected disk.
-
- 155 Failed to show banners.
- U$~BAN.* files are present on disk. You have to remove them, or
- execute the command from a different directory.
-
- 157 Failed to edit comment.
- The file U$~COMM.TXT is present on disk. You have to remove it,
- or execute the command from a different directory.
-
-
- 163 EMS/XMS problem.
- UC2 encountered a problem with EMS or XMS. Please consult the
- manual of your memory manager to solve the problem, or disable
- EMS/XMS usage (UC -!).
-
- 165 Out of virtual memory.
- The drive containing temporary data is full, or the upper amount
- of virtual memory should be changed (see chapter 6 paragraph B
- option S).
-
- 170 System/critical error followed by user abort.
-
- 175 Failed to rename a file.
- This can be caused by a network (you do not have sufficient
- rights to rename a specific file) or by attempts to rename a
- file on a write-protected disk.
-
- 180 Failed to delete a directory.
- This can be caused by a network (you do not have sufficient
- rights to delete a specific directory) or by attempts to delete
- a directory from a write-protected disk.
-
- 185 Failed to change to a directory.
- The directory no longer exists, or you do not have sufficient
- rights to access the directory.
-
- 190 Conversion failed due to virus infection.
-
- 195 Failed to repair archive.
-
- 200 The archive is damaged, needs repair.
-
- 205 Conversion failed.
- The archive has an unknown format, the file is not an archive,
- or the archive is damaged.
-
- 210 Update/operation failed.
- The archive contained errors after an operation (it was verified
- because ensure mode is enabled).
-
- 215 Cannot read Private Compression Profile
- The file specified with the UC2_PCP environment variable does
- not exist. For more details see 8.F.
-
- 220 A Private Compression Profile is needed for this archive
- You have to activate the proper Private Compression Profile. For
- more details see 8.F.
-
- 225 This archive needs a different Private Compression Profile
- You have to activate the proper Private Compression Profile. For
- more details see 8.F.
-
- 230 This archive does not use a Private Compression Profile
- You should empty the UC2_PCP environment variable. For more
- details see 8.F.
-
- 250 Failed to write to error logfile.
- This can be caused by a network (you do not have sufficient
- rights to write to the error logfile) or by attempts to write to
- the logfile on a write-protected disk. The location of the error
- logfile can be changed with 'UC -! U'.
-
- 255 Internal/special error.
- This should not occur. Check if TSRs and drivers are installed
- properly. If everything seems to be OK consult AIP-NL technical
- support.
-
-
- 8.Z SUMMARY
- ===========
-
- EXTENDED COMMANDS EXTENDED OPTIONS
-
- add filter/select
- $FRE freshen !CONTAINS="+" only files containing +
- !EFA=HSRA exclude files with attributes
- extract !ARCA only files with archive attrib
- $EWP extract without path !ELD=... only with equal or later date
- $PRF print files !EED=... only with equal or earlier date
- !QUERY query for each file
- manipulate !NEWER only overwrite if newer
- $RED remove empty dirs !NOF never overwrite file
- $TSN timestamp with newest
- miscellaneous
- !RAB reset archive attribute bit
- miscellaneous !BAK create backup of archive
- $GLF generate list file !TSN time stamp with newest
- $DOS execute DOS command !VLAB include volume label (first drv)
- !VLAB=X include volume label (drive X:)
- !ASUB include archives in subdirs
-
-
- 9. ULTRA-CRYPT (encryption, password protection)
- ================================================
-
- After having archived a set of files with UC2, you might want to protect
- them from being accessed by others. To achieve this, you can use UCRYPT.
-
- UCRYPT protects the archive with a password, chosen by you. The password
- is case sensitive. This increases the amount of possible passwords.
-
- Those who wish to investigate that UCRYPT properly implements triple DES
- and MD5, and also that it has no hidden 'backdoor' or other weaknesses,
- can get the source code of UCRYPT from AIP-NL. This source code can only
- be used to verify that the code is cryptographically correct. The source
- code can not be disclosed or used for other purposes.
-
- This chapter contains the following paragraphs:
-
- - A. Command summary
- - B. Encryption
- - C. Encryption with destruction of the original archive
- - D. Decryption
- - E. Export of cryptographic software
- - Z. Summary
-
- When you use the AIP-NL manual viewer you can jump to a chapter or a
- paragraph by pressing the corresponding digit(s) or letter.
-
-
- 9.A COMMAND SUMMARY
- ===================
-
- General: UCRYPT command archive-name
-
- Starting UCRYPT with no command gives an explanation on screen about the
- use of UCRYPT.
-
- Possible commands are:
-
- C for protecting an archive with a password
- (enhanced triple DES is used here)
-
- E for protecting an archive with a password and destroying the
- original archive
-
- CF like C, but uses 'faster' encryption
- (a MD5 based one-time pad is used here)
-
- EF like E, but uses 'faster' encryption
-
- D makes an archive accessible again
-
-
- 9.B ENCRYPTION
- ==============
-
- Command: UCRYPT C archive-name
-
- With this command the archive will be protected with a password. The
- original unprotected archive still exists after the execution of
- UCRYPT.
-
- After having entered the command, the password will be asked. The
- password must consist of at least eight characters and at most
- sixteen.
-
- Every keystroke will be represented by an asterisk, so the password
- is never visible.
-
- When you are not sure about a keystroke, use <BACK SPACE> and the
- keystroke will be undone.
-
- As usual with passwords, you will be asked to enter the password
- twice. When a difference between the passwords is detected, the
- encryption will be terminated and you have to start again.
-
- Encrypting an archive in another directory gives an encrypted archive
- in the same directory as the original archive.
-
- Command: UCRYPT C archive-name "password"
-
- This command has the same function as the former command. With this
- command the archive will also be protected with a password, but the
- password is entered on the command line, between double quotes.
-
- Now you will not be asked to repeat the password, but the protection
- will be done at once. Of course the password is visible, when entered
- on the command line.
-
- You can also use 'faster' encryption by using the CF instead of the C
- command. The normal encryption uses triple-DES (Digital Encryption
- Standard) encryption and has some enhancements crippling brute force
- attacks. This makes the normal encryption safe according to all
- common standards. The 'faster' encryption uses a less proven method,
- a MD5 based one-time pad. It is not as established as triple-DES, but
- for most practical purposes reliable enough.
-
-
- 9.C ENCRYPTION WITH DESTRUCTION OF THE ORIGINAL ARCHIVE
- =======================================================
-
- Commands: UCRYPT E archive-name
- UCRYPT E archive-name "password"
- UCRYPT EF archive-name
- UCRYPT EF archive-name "password"
-
- The E and EF commands work the same as the C and CF commands, the
- only difference is the deletion. This deletion is not an ordinary
- deletion, but a real destruction of the archive.
-
- On systems with integrated datacompression (e.g. Stacker), or systems
- with a very slow deferred write caching, the destruction might fail.
- These systems do not allow destruction.
-
- On C2 compliant operating systems (e.g. Windows NT) it is sufficient
- to use the C and CF commands, since these systems already destroy
- deleted files.
-
-
- 9.D DECRYPTION
- ==============
-
- Commands: UCRYPT D archive-name
- UCRYPT D archive-name "password"
-
- The (encrypted) archive is decrypted.
-
- For decryption of the archive the password is required. After decryption
- the encrypted archive still exists. The way passwords are handled is the
- same as in paragraph 1.B.
-
- Entering a wrong password terminates the program with an error message.
-
- The time UltraCrypt needs to determine that a password is wrong is
- almost the same as the time needed to decrypt an archive with the
- correct password. This is necessary, since other approaches would allow
- someone to try passwords much faster (brute force attack).
-
- The UCRYPT data-encryption format has more specific features to make
- brute-force attacks much harder. A side effect of this is that there is
- a chance of 1 to 256 the archive will be decrypted into garbage after
- entering a wrong password, without an error message.
-
-
- 9.E EXPORT OF CRYPTOGRAPHIC SOFTWARE
- ====================================
-
- UltraCRYPT is covered by the Dutch 'uitvoerbesluit strategische goederen
- 1963' (export regulations for strategic goods). The 19th version of
- 'handboek strategische goederen' (handbook strategic goods) has been
- published January 21st 1994.
-
- UltraCRYPT is covered by APN (3), 5D002 (5-10), 5E002 1.b (5-11) and
- "Programmatuur" (DEF-16). This specifically allows unlimited and
- unrestricted export of UltraCRYPT.
-
- For details or questions one can contact the Dutch Ministry of Economic
- Affairs at +31-(0)20-3798911.
-
- Please note this does in no way damage the reliability of UltraCRYPT.
- UltraCRYPT uses uncensored and unharmed enhanced triple DES technology
- to maximize the security of encrypted data. AIP-NL is not aware of ANY
- feasible technology capable of breaking UltraCRYPT encryption.
-
-
- 9.Z SUMMARY
- ===========
-
- UCRYPT gives explanation about the use of UCRYPT
- on screen
- UCRYPT C name
- UCRYPT C name "password" protects archive, keeping the original
- archive
- UCRYPT E name
- UCRYPT E name "password" protects archive, destroying the original
- archive
- UCRYPT CF name
- UCRYPT CF name "password" like C but uses 'faster' encryption
-
- UCRYPT EF name
- UCRYPT EF name "password" like E but uses 'faster' encryption
-
- UCRYPT D name
- UCRYPT D name "password" makes archive accessible again
-
-
- 10. ULTRA-SAFE (authenticity verification)
- ==========================================
-
- An archive can be protected by one or more uncrackable, unbreakable and
- unforgeable UltraSeals. Checking if an archive has seals, and if these
- are intact, is done with USAFE.
-
- An archive with one or more seals cannot be changed without breaking
- these seals. This prevents virus infection, cracking, etc. Each seal
- contains information about who put the seal on the archive.
-
- Those who wish to investigate that USAFE properly implements Lucas
- function based digital signature verification and also that it has no
- hidden 'backdoor' or other weaknesses, can get the source code of USAFE
- from AIP-NL. This source code can only be used to verify that the code
- is cryptographically correct. The source code can not be disclosed or
- used for other purposes.
-
- This chapter contains the following paragraphs:
-
- - A. The command
- - B. How secure are these seals?
- - C. Important
- - D. Error levels
-
- When you use the AIP-NL manual viewer you can jump to a chapter or a
- paragraph by pressing the corresponding digit(s) or letter.
-
-
- 10.A THE COMMAND
- ================
-
- Command: USAFE arch
-
- The archive arch.uc2 is verified.
-
- If the archive is protected by one or more UltraSeals, USAFE verifies if
- all these seals are intact. USAFE reports if seals are present, and if
- they are intact. If seals are broken this is reported as well.
-
-
- 10.B HOW SECURE ARE THESE SEALS?
- ================================
-
- 'Authenticity verification' is not new. Many archivers are doing it, BUT
- most of these are based on 'security by obscurity'. They keep their
- method secret and hope nobody finds out how it works. For most of these
- archivers, some or multiple ways of cracking them are known. Sometimes
- even a program to automate forging is available!
-
- USAFE is NOT based on 'security by obscurity'. It is based on digital
- signature technology. The digital signature technology, USAFE uses, is
- based on Lucas functions. It uses prime factors of 300 and 400 bits,
- which is much more than the current industry standard safety limits.
- AIP-NL is not aware of ANY feasible technology for faking these
- signatures.
-
- USAFE is slower than weaker authenticity verification methods, but this
- is the price you have to pay for real, instead of fake security. On a
- 386/33 machine USAFE needs about 7.5 seconds for each seal.
-
-
- 10.C IMPORTANT
- ==============
-
- ALL software AIP-NL will ever ship, will be protected by a seal. This
- includes upgrades, etc. If you discover files which claim to be from
- AIP-NL, but are not protected by a seal, DO NOT USE THEM, but report
- them to AIP-NL immediately.
-
-
- 10.D ERROR LEVELS
- =================
-
- USAFE returns an 'errorlevel' to DOS (e.g. for detection in batch
- files). The following levels are defined:
-
- 0 the archive contains one or more seals which are all intact
-
- 1 the archive does not contain any seals
-
- 2 the archive contains one or more seals, which are broken
-
- 3+ other errors
-
-
- 11. ULTRA-SEAL (preventing unwanted changes)
- ============================================
-
- An archive can be protected by one or more uncrackable, unbreakable and
- unforgeable UltraSeals. Sealing an archive is done with your
- personalized USEAL program.
-
- An archive with one or more seals cannot be changed without breaking
- these seals. This prevents virus infection, cracking, etc. Each seal
- contains information about who put it on the archive.
-
- Since USEAL is a personalized tool, it is not included into UC2 PRO. Use
- ORDER.FRM AND USEAL.FRM to order your own copy of USEAL.
-
- Those who wish to investigate that USEAL properly implements Lucas
- function based digital signatures and also that it has no hidden
- 'backdoor' or other weaknesses, can get the source code of USEAL from
- AIP-NL. This source code can only be used to verify that the code is
- cryptographically correct. The source code can not be disclosed or used
- for other purposes.
-
- This chapter contains the following paragraphs:
-
- - A. The command
- - B. Important
-
- When you use the AIP-NL manual viewer you can jump to a chapter or a
- paragraph by pressing the corresponding digit(s) or letter.
-
-
- 11.A THE COMMAND
- ================
-
- Command: USEAL arch
-
- Your personal seal is attached to arch.uc2.
-
- Please note sealing takes some time. On a 386/33 machine sealing takes
- 3.5 to 11 minutes. Checking the seal with USAFE is done much faster.
-
- After making any changes to a sealed archive you (of course) have to use
- USEAL again to attach your seal to the archive.
-
-
- 11.B IMPORTANT
- ==============
-
- Please make VERY sure before you seal an archive that it contains no
- viruses, and that it is indeed data that deserves your seal.
-
- Also make sure no one but certified people have access to your (unique)
- copy of USEAL, yet make sure you have a backup of your copy.
-
-
- 12. VISUAL ULTRA-COMPRESSOR (general purpose shell)
- ===================================================
-
- This chapter contains the following sections:
-
- - A. Introduction
- - B. Overview
- - C. Configuring VU
- - D. Command line options
-
- When you use the AIP-NL manual viewer you can jump to a chapter or a
- paragraph by pressing the corresponding digit(s) or letter.
-
-
- 12.A INTRODUCTION
- =================
-
- Visual UltraCompressor is a GUI (graphical user interface) for
- UltraCompressor II (UC2). UC2 revision 3 or later is needed for VU to
- operate. VU is also very usable as a general purpose SHELL for managing,
- viewing, editing and processing files.
-
- Highlights of VU include:
-
- - four panels, each viewing a separate directory/archive
- - VU can remember the (de)selection of up to 2 million files
- - user defined commands can be added to VU
- - user defined commands can be interactive
- - files can be copied from archive to archive
-
- VU is highly configurable (see 12.C) allowing you to tailor it to your
- personal taste. VU uses a 'directory cache' to speed up access of UC2
- archives (VU uses plain UC2-3PI to access UC2 archives).
-
-
- 12.B OVERVIEW
- =============
-
- What is on The Screen
- ---------------------
- VU maintains four 'panels'. Each of those panels shows the contents
- of a directory. This can be a directory on disk or a directory
- residing in an UC2 archive. VU always shows the contents of one
- panel. At the bottom of this panel are tabs allowing you to switch
- between panels. You can switch between panels by clicking on the
- tabs, by using cursor keys or by pressing Shift-1 .. Shift-4.
-
- Right from the panel there is a set of push buttons which allows you
- to perform operations.
-
- On top of the screen there is an information line. If you move your
- mouse cursor to the top of the screen or if you press the ALT key a
- pull-down menu appears (you can also use the MENU push button).
-
- Changing the current directory
- -----------------------------
- You can change to a different directory (or to an UC2 archive) by
- double clicking on a directory, or by pressing the ENTER key.
-
- There are some quick navigators available under the panel menu.
-
- How to select items (files/directories)
- ---------------------------------------
- Most commands (menu options/push buttons/keyboard) operate on
- selected items. The selection bar can be moved by pushing the left
- mouse button or by using the cursor keys. An item can be selected by
- pushing the right mouse button or by pressing the spacebar.
-
- You can start typing the name of an item at any time. While you type
- the name of the item VU will automatically jump to it for you.
- Ctrl+Enter can be used to switch between multiple files starting with
- the same letters.
-
- A collection of files can be (de)selected with the panel menu.
-
- How to execute commands
- -----------------------
- Commands are executed by pressing a push button, by using the
- keyboard, or by selecting a menu item. All push buttons and menu
- items contain a clear indication as to which keyboard shortcut may be
- used in their place.
-
- Some commands operate on a single file (like VIEW and EDIT). The
- selection bar determines which file this will be.
-
- Some commands operate on multiple items (like TO DISK).
-
- Which commands are available
- ----------------------------
- Just browse the menu to see which commands are available. Most
- commands are straightforward. For details on the ARCHIVE commands you
- can consult chapter 4.
-
- Some special commands/considerations which might save time:
-
- -> when using TO DISK to copy selected items to disk, a dialog will
- inform you where the files will go, and ask whether a copy or move
- operation should be performed
-
- -> use DRIVE to change to a different drive
-
- -> files can be copied and moved from ANY to ANY place (including
- from one UC2 archive to another UC2 archive)
-
- -> use ALT-1 .. ALT-4 to copy/move files between panels
-
- -> if your screen looks like a mess, select TEXT MODE from the panel
- menu (it should look great on EGA and VGA compatible systems)
-
- -> if you are running VU in a Windows or OS/2 window select TEXT MODE
- (full screen graphical mode will look much better)
-
- -> if you do not like something, reconfigure it!
-
-
- 12.C CONFIGURING VISUAL ULTRA-COMPRESSOR
- ========================================
-
- There are two ways to configure Visual UltraCompressor. Some
- configuration options are available in the menu. ALL configuration
- options are present in the AIP-NL.INI text file. AIP-NL.INI can be
- edited with any standard text editor (e.g. EDIT, NOTEPAD or E).
-
- Please note the AIP-NL.INI file contains settings for ALL AIP-NL
- products.
-
- All AIP-NL products use the PATH environment variable (usually set in
- AUTOEXEC.BAT) to locate AIP-NL.INI, thus allowing multiple people to use
- the same executable file, while they each have their own configuration
- file.
-
- AIP-NL.INI consist of sections each containing a number of settings.
-
- ENTER-DOUBLE-CLICK, VIEWERS, EDITORS
- ------------------------------------
- These sections allow you to specify what the VIEW, EDIT and
- ENTER/DOUBLE-CLICK commands do. All these commands are file extension
- dependant.
-
- For example "PCX, GIF = VPIC %, FV %" specifies that files with the
- PCX and files with the GIF extension should be showed by VPIC or by
- FV. If both programs are available, the first one will be used. When
- VU executes the command the % is replaced by the filename.
-
- VU will try to locate programs by looking for program files (EXE,
- COM, BAT or BTM) in the PATH (AUTOEXEC.BAT). If you do not want VU to
- try to locate the program (e.g. because it is a 4DOS alias) you can
- place a : before the command (e.g. "PCX, GIF = :VPIC %").
-
- The line "* = ..." specifies what should be done if no viewer can be
- found for a specific file.
-
- If you want to make conversion of archives to UC2 archives simpler
- you might want to add "LZH, ZOO, ZIP, ARJ, PAK, ARC = UC C %" to the
- [ENTER-DOUBLE-CLICK] section.
-
- Please note handling of UC2 and UE2 files is built into VU, it can
- not be changed.
-
- VARIOUS
- -------
- TEMPORARY-FILES specifies which directory VU uses for temporary
- files.
-
- DEFAULT-ARCHIVE specifies the default archive name.
-
- VU-UDIFF-PARAMS specifies the parameters used by VU to call UDIFF.
-
- XCOPY-PARAMS specifies which options should be used for XCOPY. Only
- options different from /E /S should be defined since these are build
- into VU.
-
- VU-OPTIONS
- ----------
- This section contains the options which are also available in the
- menu.
-
- SORT-SHOW-PER-PANEL
- Determines whether each panel has its own settings or all panels
- share the same settings.
-
- FORCE-MODE
- Determines whether UC2 is used in 'force' mode. In force mode file
- will be replaced without prompting for confirmation. More details
- on force mode are in chapter 4.
-
- CONFIRM-DELETE
- Determines whether VU will ask for confirmation on file deletions.
-
- VIDEO
- Video mode can be GRAPHICAL (EGA and VGA systems) or TEXTMODE
- (other systems, Windows and OS/2 windowed sessions).
-
- SCREEN-LINES
- Determines whether 25 or 43/50 text lines are available.
-
- VU-USER-ITEMS
- -------------
- The FILE, FILES, ARCHIVES and COMMAND menu can be extended by user
- defined commands. For the ARCHIVES menu you can define 5 extra
- options, for all other menus you can define 9 extra options.
-
- For each user defined option you need to specify the menu, the index,
- the text to display on screen and the actual command.
-
- Example:
-
- FILES-3-TEXT = UCEXE
- FILES-3-ACTION = ucexe %
-
- this example adds an options to the FILES menu to compress selected
- executables with UCEXE.
-
- Please note VU is very smart in handling user commands. If a command
- somehow changes a file, deletes a file, or generates new files VU
- will handle this in a very clean way. There will be no difference in
- handling files on disk or handling files in an archive.
-
- It is possible to specify multiple DOS commands for 1 menu option by
- separating them with the ^ character.
-
- It is also possible to make VU ask questions while executing a user
- defined command.
-
- Example:
-
- FILES-2-TEXT = rename
- FILES-2-ACTION = ren % ?"New name"
-
- this example will ask for a new filename FOR EACH SELECTED FILE. The
- ?"New name" part will be replaced by the answer to the question.
-
- VU-STATUS
- ---------
- These variables are used internally by VU. You can change them if you
- want, but mostly that will not be very useful.
-
-
- 12.D COMMAND LINE OPTIONS
- =========================
-
- Visual UltraCompressor (obviously) does not need much command line
- options.
-
- VU <location>
-
- Move to <location> and start VU.
-
- VU <archive>
-
- Start VU, show the contents of <archive>.
-
- VU -R ...
-
- Return to the startup directory after VU is closed.
-
- VU -V <file>
-
- Use the VU viewer logic to view <file>.
-
- VU -E <file>
-
- Use the VU editor logic to edit <file>.
-
- VU -H <section> <file>
-
- Handle <file> with the program(s) defined in <section> in AIP-NL.INI.
- <section> should be structured the same way the VIEWERS and the
- EDITORS sections are structured. This command allows you to create
- user defined commands (e.g. COMPILE) which are file extension
- sensitive.
-
-
- 13. UC2SEA (creating UltraFAST self extracting archives)
- ========================================================
-
- This chapter contains the following paragraphs:
-
- - A. Introduction
- - B. UC2SEA overview
- - C. SEA overview
-
- When you use the AIP-NL manual viewer you can jump to a chapter or a
- paragraph by pressing the corresponding digit(s) or letter.
-
- WARNING: in some environments UC2SEA (NOT the executables it produces)
- fails to operate if the UC temporary directory (UC -! S) is located on a
- Novell network drive.
-
-
- 13.A INTRODUCTION
- =================
-
- UC2SEA is a tool which converts an UC2 archive into a standalone
- executable, a self extracting archive (SEA). No separate extraction
- software is needed to extract the files included in this executable.
-
- Highlights of UC2SEA include:
-
- - the generated executable is extremely fast (especially from
- floppy)
- - less than 270k of free memory is needed to run a DOS SEA
- - all files in the SEA are protected by a checksum
- - the distribution license allows UNLIMITED distribution
-
- The datacompression engine of UC2SEA is different from the one used in
- UltraCompressor II. UC2SEA uses a subset of the UltraFAST decompression
- engine which will probably be used in portable UltraCompressor III. In
- most cases a self extracting archive will be larger than the original
- UC2 archive. Due to the new compression engine used in UC2SEA the
- generated executable can be smaller than the original UC2 archive as
- well.
-
- Please note that the extraction module which UC2SEA includes in the
- executables it produces are Copyright 1995 AIP-NL. A distribution
- license is needed for distribution of self extracting archives. (See
- chapter 2, paragraph F.)
-
-
- 13.B UC2SEA OVERVIEW
- ====================
-
- Usage: UC2SEA [options] [archive]
-
- Options:
- -v<size>[,size] Specify size(s) for multiple volume SEA
- -b<banner> Specify small text file to be used as banner
- -s<extractor> Specify extractor (default is DOS.SEA)
-
- UC2SEA arch
- Convert arch.uc2 to arch.exe (UC2SEA will never remove arch.uc2).
-
- UC2SEA arch -sWIN95
- Create a native Windows 95 self extracting archive. For this you
- need to have WIN95.SEA.
-
- UC2SEA arch -v600,700
- Split the executable up in 1 600kb file (arch.exe) and make all the
- other volumes 700kb (arch.002, arch.003, etc.).
-
- Please note volumes can never be smaller than 32k.
-
- UC2SEA arch -v123456,54321
- Split the executable up in 1 123456 bytes file (arch.exe) and make
- all the other volumes 54321 bytes (arch.002, arch.003, etc.).
-
- UC2SEA arch -bbanner.txt
- Includes a banner into the self extracting archive. A good example
- of how a self extracting archive with banner should look is
- UC2PRO.EXE.
-
- If a file called SEASTART.BAT, SEASTART.CMD, SEASTART.EXE or
- SEASTART.COM is present in the root directory of the UC2 archive, then
- this program will be called by the SEA module as soon as all files are
- extracted. The SEA module passes the destination directory (for the
- extracted files) as a parameter to SEASTART. This can be an empty string
- if the destination is the current directory. After execution of
- SEASTART.* the file will be deleted by the SEA module. If the SEA module
- somehow fails to complete extracting all files, SEASTART will not be
- called or deleted.
-
-
- 13.C SEA OVERVIEW
- =================
-
- Usage: SEA [-o] destination-directory
-
- The -o option makes the SEA module overwrite files without asking.
- Otherwise the SEA module will ask "Overwrite 'XXX' (Yes/No/Always/
- nEver/Quit) ?" before overwriting a file.
-
- If the destination directory is not specified on the command line the
- SEA module will ask what it should do:
-
- Press Enter to extract files to the current directory
- Spacebar to extract files to a specified directory (prompt)
- Escape to extract nothing (quit)
-
- SEA -? will display micro-help for the SEA module.
-
- When SEA needs a new disk (volume) it will ask "Insert next disk and
- press [Enter], or press [Q] to quit...".
-
-
- 14. UCEXE (compressing executables)
- ===================================
-
- UCEXE makes DOS programs MUCH smaller and self-checking.
-
- Usage: UCEXE <file(s)>
-
- UCEXE will NOT delete compressed executables. The original executable
- will be renamed to <program>.~XE.
-
- WARNING: Device drivers and self checking/modifying/reading executables
- should not be compressed.
-
- You can only distribute compressed executables if you bought UC2 PRO.
- (See chapter 2, paragraph F.)
-
-
- 15. ULTRA-DIFF (comparing text files)
- =====================================
-
- UDIFF visually compares two versions of a text file. It shows you what
- changed between two versions of a file. This can be used to analyze
- changes to batch files, ini files and sources to solve problems like
- "why did it stop working".
-
- Unlike many other file compare utilities, UDIFF uses an "unlimited pass"
- method to analyze changes. This means UDIFF is capable of reducing the
- list of changes it shows to an absolute minimum. UDIFF is even capable
- of properly finding and reporting CUT + multiple PASTE changes. UDIFF
- can at most compare 5000 lines of text.
-
- The most common ways of using UDIFF, comparing two versions of a file,
- and comparing a file to its backup, have been built into Visual
- UltraCompressor.
-
- Usage: UDIFF <oldfile> <newfile> [options]
-
- Options:
- -S smart mode (ignore layout, indentation and spaces)
- -A use only ASCII characters in output
- -V use VU viewer to browse results
- -M show source of moves (CUT)
- -L<number> show <number> context lines around changes (default=2)
- -W show whole lines
-
- Environment:
- SET TABSIZE=n (default 8)
-
- Output:
- MATCH unchanged line (used to show context of change)
- ADD inserted (new) line
- DEL removed line
- CUT moved line (destination is shown)
- MCUT line moved to multiple destinations (number of destinations
- is shown)
- PASTE line moved or copied from different place (source is shown)
-
-
- 16. WINDOWS 95 (long filename support)
- ======================================
-
- In order to remain backward compatible with 16 bit DOS and MS-Windows
- software, Microsoft implemented a 'double filename' system in Windows
- 95. Each file gets 2 names, a short name and a long name.
-
- (Visual) UltraCompressor II will preserve both the short and the long
- filename of files. UC2 does this completely automatic. No settings or
- options are needed to preserve long filenames (or long directory names).
-
- Visual UltraCompressor can show both the long and the short filename.
- You can use the F11 key to toggle between viewmodes.
-
- The UC command line needs short filenames (or wildcards like *.*) to
- operate. UC will (re)store long filenames, but the only way to directly
- view/manipulate long filenames is with Visual UltraCompressor.
-
- Included with UC2r4 is a file VU.REG. If VU.EXE is in the PATH
- (autoexec.bat) you can double click on this file from the Windows 95
- explorer to register VU.EXE in the Windows 95 registry. You can also
- execute 'REGEDIT VU.REG' from the command line to achieve the same
- result. This will allow you to double-click on UC2 archives from the
- desktop or the explorer to access UC2 archives with VU.
-