Collection of Tools & Utilities/Collection of Tools and Utilities.iso/archiver/lckr201.zip/LC.DOC

Text File | 1993-01-25 | 25KB | 624 lines

  +----------------------------------------------------+
  |  LHA Chunker, (C) Copyright 1991-92, Scott Jibben  |
  |                 Version 2.01                       |
  +----------------------------------------------------+


This is a list of the files that should accompany this software
package:

LC.DOC       - LHA Chunker Documentation.
LC.EXE       - LHA Chunker executable.
DISTSAMP.DOC - Sample of a distribution license.
SITESAMP.DOC - Sample of a site license.
SITEINFO.DOC - Information and applications of licensing.
LICENSE.DOC  - License for LHA Chunker software.
PRICE.DOC    - Pricing guidelines for site/distribution licenses.
ORDERFRM.DOC - The order form.
CC-ORDER.DOC - Information to register by credit card.
CATALOG.JSW  - Information on Jibben Software Products.
WHATSNEW.TXT - The Version History of LHA Chunker.
AVEXTRA.TXT  - Information regarding PKZIP AV codes.
ARJ-SEC.TXT  - Information regarding ARJ Security envelope.
FILE_ID.DIZ  - BBS Description File.


                     What this software does

This software is a file splitting utility.  It supports two modes of
operation.

1. It can split ANY type of file to a desired size creating multiple
   files with the AS file extension.  These file will be exactly the
   size requested except for the last file created.  Using this mode of
   operation you will be able to split any file to your requirements.
   The only disadvantage of using this method is that you will have to
   use LHA Chunker ( or Archive Sizer ) to "reassemble" the files back
   to the original file.

2. It can split files created by the LHA software to your desired
   size.  This will create multiple files that retain compatibility
   with the LHA software.  The only disadvantage to using this method
   is if the internal compressed files are larger than the requested
   size.  LHA Chunker can't force the files to be smaller and retain
   compatibility.  In this case it is recommended to use method 1.

   The only compression software files that LHA Chunker supports is:

   LHA created by Haruyasu Yoshizaki's LHA software.



                Requirements for LHA Chunker

LHA Chunker allocates memory as needed when processing.  However, I
suggest that you have at least 200KB of free memory to run it.
If you are going to process large LHA files (with a lot of files, not
total size), I suggest that you have 400KB of free memory to run LHA
Chunker.


                    Installation Instructions

It is relatively simple to install LHA Chunker.  All you have to do
is copy the files to a subdirectory that is listed in your PATH
statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.  You could also just create a
new subdirectory, copy the files there, and then add the new sub-
directory to the PATH statement.  I won't go into the details of making
subdirectories and modifying your path as you should have good examples
of this in your DOS manual.




                    The concept of Shareware

LHA Chunker is being released as a Shareware product.  Shareware is
a marketing concept, in which you get to try out a software package
for a period of time.  If you find that the software is useful
to you (you are still using it), you are obligated to send in a
registration fee for that software to the author.

LHA Chunker's trial period is 21 days.  That means, once you start
using LHA Chunker, you have 21 days to decide whether or not it is
useful to you.  If it is useful to you, please promptly send in the
requested registration fee.  If it is not useful to you, you are
expected to delete it and stop using it.

LHA Chunker is fully functional.  However, it has a message that will
appear every time it is used to size or reassemble files.

Here's what you get when you register (Please use ORDER.FRM to order
this software):

1.  Support.  You can call and leave e-mail to me on any of the BBS'
    listed in the Technical Support section of this document or
    CompuServe and get a response from me.  I will more than likely
    answer all questions, but the registered individuals will
    definitely get top priority.  You will also receive unlimited
    telephone support for the program.  Registered users will get a
    phone number that they will be able to use to receive support
    between the hours of 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm (Central Standard Time)
    Monday-Friday.

2.  You will receive a disk with the most recent version of LHA
    Chunker.  The software will also have the registration reminder
    screen removed.  Your name and serial number will also be displayed
    when the software is run.

3.  Special access to new products.  You will be allowed access to
    beta test any software package that I'm in the process of creating.
    The beta software will be available on the Warehouse BBS and
    CompuServe.  Also, you must make arrangements with Jibben Software
    to get access to the new software.  (see Technical Support section
    of this document for details).

4.  You will also have low cost upgrades of this software.



                Advantages of Using LHA Chunker

I've designed LHA Chunker to make the least demands on your
hardware.  It is the fastest file splitting utility available (not
counting other Jibben Software products).

One other benefit from using LHA Chunker is the amount of disk
space it requires to process an archive file.  It uses the absolute
minimum disk space that is required to process a file.  LHA Chunker
automatically determines the disk space required and will tell you if
you don't have enough BEFORE you create the files.

The algorithm in which I calculate the amount of files to put in a
archive file is highly optimized.  LHA Chunker will sometimes have
one less file than other software packages of this type and the files
will be closer to the requested size.

LHA Chunker can handle any file created using LHA.  One of my beta
testers ran LC on a 180 Megabyte LHA file and LC processed it without
problems.

Archive Sizer and LHA Chunker are the only software packages that I
know of that supports the LHA file format as well as any file sizing.



         Why LHA Chunker will not Re-Assemble Archive Files

LHA Chunker was never intended to be used to reassemble archive
files, only *.AS files.  At first thought, it may seem unreasonable to
you, but there are several reasons why.  Hopefully after reading the
main reasons you'll understand why I chose not to.

1. Some archivers already provide the ability to combine archives
   (ARJ).

2. There would be no way for LC to 'know' how many files are in a set.
   With the *.AS file standard, I can store the number of split files
   in the file.  With the archives, there is no provision for this.
   For instance, if you would tell it to reassemble mylha-01.lzh, how
   many files should LC expect to put together?  Since modifying the
   archives format would make it a 'corrupted' file, there is no way to
   track this.

3. The other problem is that people would expect when they split an
   archive and then reassemble, that it would be identical to the
   original file.  LC is so effective on creating files that match
   the size parm because they grab files from anywhere in the archive
   to create them.  You can see this for yourself, just split a LHA and
   compare the files in xxx-01.lzh to the original xxx.  You'll notice
   that I don't just take the first so many files until the size hits
   the limit and then start the next file.  xxx-01.lzh can contain the
   1st, 8th, 22nd, 30th, etc. files.  Given this fact, it is impossible
   to reassemble a archive file (LZH) back to it's original state.
   There is no way for me to flag each file as being the 1st, 4th, etc.
   file of the original.

4. Finally, I have to ask you, "Why?".  I seriously wonder why you
   would want to put the LZH's back together.  The files still extract
   fine.  Why take the _extra_ step to reassemble the files into one
   file, then extract the one big file?  Isn't it easier to just run