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MULTI13.TXT
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1989-04-06
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MultiArc v1.32
MultiArc is Shareware
(c) 1990 Ross Judson
Legal Stuff
This program and documentation file may be distributed
freely as long as:
1) There is no charge for the distribution.
2) This documentation file and the program are not separated.
3) The terms of the Shareware agreement (below) are adhered to.
By using this software, you agree that Ross Judson will not
be held liable for any damages resulting from the use or misuse
of the program.
Introduction
MultiArc v1.32 is a program that enables the user to
conveniently view and extract the contents of multiple archive
files (which are frequently the result of batch downloads). It
knows about ARC version 6, LHArc and Zoo. You provide it with a
list of archive files by one or more of several different
methods. It creates a series of folders (named after each
archive) then extracts the contents of each archive into its own
folder.
How to run MultiArc
MultiArc can be accessed in a number of ways. The simplest
is to double click on its icon from the desktop. This will run
the program and present the main dialog, which is described
below.
Another way is to install multiarc.prg to have a document
type. This is done by clicking on the multiarc program icon and
then choosing Install Application from the Atari desktop menu.
You can then enter ARC, LZH, or ZOO for the document type. Now
choose Install. If you want your changes to be retained, you'll
have to save your desktop. See your Atari manual for information
on how to do this (essentially, you just choose "Save Desktop"
from the menu). Unfortunately, with the GEM desktop you can only
have one document type per application, even though MultiArc
knows how to handle three.
If you have Hotwire!, you can put all three extenders in the
program information box. See your Hotwire! manual for details on
how to automatically run applications by clicking on documents in
MaxiFile.
With NeoDesk 2, you can place two of the extenders in the
application installation dialog. You will probably want to use
ARC and LZH because Zoo files are fairly rare.
The niftiest solution is afforded by NeoDesk 3. You can
select a number of archive icons and drag them to the multiarc
icon. Multiarc will start and all of the selected archives (up
to 20) will be in the program list, ready to be extracted. A
similar action can be accomplished in NeoDesk 2 by shift-
selecting the archive icons you wish to pass to MultiArc then
shift-double-clicking on the MultiArc program icon.
If you are working from a command line, you can pass
wildcarded file specifications to the program as arguments. A
filename passed on the command line doesn't have to have
wildcards. If it does, MultiArc recognizes two wildcard
characters: the star symbol (*) and the question mark (?). These
are the standard wildcard characters used by TOS. The star
symbol replaces any number of different characters until the
extension dot (.) or the end of the file name. The question mark
replaces exactly one character for the position in which it
appears. See your atari documentation for more details.
MultiArc accepts wildcards only in the file name itself, not in
the path.
When arguments are passed to the program (either via a
command line or NeoDesk 2/3 icon dragging) each argument is
evaluated. Wildcards can optionally be specified in each
argument. Wildcarded arguments are expanded into the file name
set they represent. A test is made to ensure that a recognized
file extension is used and at least one archive file exists in
the set. There is a limit of 20 on the number of files that can
be listed so only the first 20 valid file names will be used.
Remember that the command line is limited to 127 characters, so
there will be a practical limit as well on the number of
arguments that can be passed.
The Main Dialog
This dialog consists of a number of control buttons and the
file list below them.
The Extract button breaks up all the archives in the file
list, then exits.
The Clear button empties the file list of all entries.
The Help button shows dialogs with some quick help
information and shareware information.
The Configure button takes you to the Configuration dialog,
described below.
The Exit button quits the program.
The A/L/Z, ARC, LHArc and Zoo buttons are quick ways to grab
all the files of the specified type in a directory and place them
in the file list. You are prompted to find a directory. Once
you have arrived at the directory you want click on the OK
button. All the archive files matching the button you clicked on
will be placed in your list (the A/L/Z button matches all three
types).
You can use the arrow buttons at the right to scroll through
your list of archives. There is a limit of 100 of the number of
names that may appear in the list. Double arrows scroll by a
screen full and single arrows scroll by one line.
In addition, you can click on any entry in the file list.
If you click on an empty entry, the program will prompt you to
find an archive file to add to the list. You can specify a
wildcarded file name in the file selector, or simply find the
archive you want to add. You continue to add archive files until
you click on the cancel button in the file selector. If, for
example, you wanted to add all the ARC files in directory C:\TMP
that start with "XL", you would first change the directory shown
in the file selector to C:\TMP. Then enter "XL*.ARC" in the
selection field, and click on OK. See your Atari manual for more
details on how to use the file selector. If you have an extended
file selector program such as UIS III or Little Green Selector,
these operations become considerably easier.
When you tell MultiArc the name of a file to add (by
clicking on a blank entry and selecting something with the file
selector) the name you supply will be checked to ensure it has a
known extension (.ARC, .ZOO and .LZH) and that at least one file
matching the specification exists on the disk. If you don't give
anything in the selection field, MultiArc will check the
directory you specify and pick up all the archive files of all
three types (similar to the A/L/Z button).
Don't worry about spaces in the list. The program will skip
over blanks.
If you click on an entry with a name, you will be shown the
contents of that archive. If you hold down the alternate key
while clicking on a file name, that name will be deleted from the
list.
Whenever you perform an operation that requires MultiArc to
run an archive program it will check to see that it knows where
the archive program is. If it doesn't, it will ask you to check
your configuration and set the locations properly.
The deletion boxes in the centre of the file list indicate
to MultiArc whether you want it to delete the archive file after
successfully extracting it. If errors occurred while extracting,
it will ask you whether you want to continue processing the other
files. It will not delete the archive.
The elongated, gray box allows you to toggle all the delete
boxes on or off with one click.
The Configuration Dialog
The Configuration dialog allows you to tell MultiArc where
your archiving programs are located. By saving this information
you won't have to enter it each time you run the program. You
can also tell it a default directory to show you when you click
on an empty file entry in the main menu. This is very convenient
if you consistently download files to a particular directory.
You can click on each of the ARC, LHArc and Zoo buttons to
show MultiArc where each of these archive programs resides.
If you click on Def Dir, MultiArc will ask you to find the
directory you wish to appear as the default when looking for
archives to add. You do not need to enter anything in the
selection box. Just find the directory and click on OK.
If you click on Done, you will be taken back to the main
menu. The settings you have made will persist for this session
only.
If you click on Cancel, you will be taken back to th