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1989-03-10
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▐▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▐▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▐▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▐▒▒▒▒▒▒ ** S I M U L A T O R version 2.01
▐▒▒ ▐▒▒ ▐▒▒ ▐▒▒ ▐▒▒ ▐▒▒ ▐▒▒ ──────────────────────────────────
▐▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▐▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▐▒▒ ▐▒▒▒▒▒▒ Copyrighted (C) 1989 by
▐▒▒ ▐▒▒ ▐▒▒ ▐▒ ▐▒▒ ▐▒▒ ▐▒▒ TRI-SYSTEMS co.
▐▒▒ ▐▒▒ ▐▒▒ ▐▒▒ ▐▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▐▒▒ ▐▒▒ Written by Johan Zwiekhorst
≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡
Usage: ARCA [Drive:][Path]ArchiveName[.ARC] [Drive:][Path]FileName[.Ext] [/D]
/D will delete files after adding to archive
filenames may contain * and ? wildcards
(**Original ARCA copyrighted (C) 1986 by Wayne Chin and Vernon Buerg)
(****************************************************************************
* REVISION HISTORY *
* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *
* 2.01 - Patch to allow TABs in the configuration file - I just forgot! *
* 2.00 - Completely rewritten (Turbo Pascal 5.00); the ARCA*Simulator now *
* uses a configuration file ARCA.CFG for dertermining which archiver *
* program should be used for each fidonet node in order to create *
* compressed mail bundles. Any archiver program can be supported. *
*---------------------------------------------------------------------------*
* 1.20 - It is now required that the ARCA*Simulator be in the same directory*
* as PKARC. The name PKPAK is now recognized, too. *
* Bug fix: there was a problem when the commandline for the *
* ARCA*Simulator was more than 116 characters long. *
* 1.10 - /D switch now requires a version of PKARC which can handle the *
* (m)ove to archive command. *
* 1.01 - Bug fix: /D switch with filespec=*.* caused the archive to be *
* deleted, too. *
* 1.00 - Base version *
****************************************************************************)
╒════════════╕
│ 1. GENERAL │
╘════════════╛
This FREEWARE program is intended to replace the original ARCA.COM program by
Wayne Chin and Vernon Buerg in order to use _any_ archiver program for
compressing mail bundles: the purpose of this is, to allow the use of better
and faster compression techniques than those provided by the original ARCA.
Note, that this version of the ARCA*Simulator uses a configuration file
(ARCA.CFG) in order to determine which archiver should be used for compressing
mail for each fidonet node you exchange mail with.
The ARCA*Simulator lets you specify a default archiver to be used for all
nodes not mentioned in the configuration file.
I suggest that you rename the original ARCA to OARCA.COM and specify that one
to be used as the default archiver.
Sysops who wish to have the ability to extract ANY kind of mailarchive they
might receive, could perhaps examine my GUS program.
GUS (General Unpack Shell) can extract ARC, PAK, DWC, ZOO and ZIP archives.
It is obtainable as GUS01.ZIP on many BBSs. Note that the '01' designates a
release number, and increases with every new release.
The ARCA*Simulator will occupy close to 20K of memory when it is running.
Note, that the ARCA*Simulator will call another program to do the actual
compression of the mail, which will make the total amount of memory occupied
larger than the amount mentioned before.
Consult the archiver program's documentation in order to find out how much
memory it requires to run.
Please see to it that you have enough memory left when the ARCA*Simulator is
run, or you may not be able to compress your mail.
In the latter case, the mail packet files will remain untouched on your drive.
If an error occurs during the compression of your mail, the ARCA*Simulator
will halt with an errorlevel of 1 or greater (it will use the errorlevel
returned by the archiver program) and mail packets will NEVER be deleted.
(At least not by the ARCA*Simulator.)
If no error occurred, the ARCA*Simulator will return with an errorlevel of
zero and mail packets will be deleted if the /D switch was specified.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Usage:
~~~~~~
ARCA [Drive:][Path]ArchiveName[.ARC] [Drive:][Path]FileName[.Ext] [/D]
/D will delete files after adding to archive
filenames may contain * and ? wildcards
Note, that the optional delete switch (/D) may also be used first on the
commandline, in order to be compatible with echomail processors which require
the archiver to have the command first on the commandline.
Note also, that it is possible to use more than one filename to be archived on
the same commandline, and that wildcards are allowed.
Wildcards are not allowed in the archive name, however.
USAGE FOR oMMM:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For oMMM versions below 1.10, you don't have to do anything, it will use the
ARCA*Simulator correctly. Just rename ARCA.COM to OARCA.COM.
For oMMM versions 1.10 and higher, you will have to specify that ARCA should
be used for archiving and _not_ PKARC or ZOO. Rename ARCA.COM to OARCA.COM
also.
USAGE FOR QEcho (QuickBBS):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In your QEcho.Ctl file, you should specify
ArcCommand ARCA
or ArcCommand ARCA /D
The latter is not necessary, however, since QEcho will kill the mail packets
itself if the archiver didn't do it.
You probably didn't use the original ARCA.COM, so you will have to specify
«PKARC -oct -a» for the default archiver (see later).
USAGE FOR OTHER MAIL PROCESSORS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Consult the documentation for your mail processor. Most processors use a
configuration or control file in which you can specify which archiver to use.
You may refer to the example for the QEcho mail processor for QuickBBS above.
╒═══════════════════════╕
│ 2. CONFIGURATION FILE │
╘═══════════════════════╛
The configuration file for the ARCA*Simulator is called ARCA.CFG and _must_ be
located in the SAME directory as the ARCA*Simulator itself.
The configuration file contains four kinds of information:
comments, keyword definitions, an identification and directives.
The order in which they appear is irrelevant, except that directives MUST
appear LAST in the configuration file!
Also important: each entry must occupy a line by itself.
You can study the configuration file supplied with this program for an example
of how to compose that file.
Perhaps the easiest way is to just modify that file so that it suits your
needs, instead of constructing a new one.
The supplied configuration file contains keyword definitions for all popular
archiver programs.
1) comments
~~~~~~~~~~~
Anything after a ';' sign is considered a comment and thus ignored.
2) keyword definitions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A keyword definition is composed as follows:
#def «keyword»
#prg «archiver_filespec»
[#apc]
[#ext «req'd_extension»]
#add «add_command»
#mov «move_command»
#end
So, a keyword definition begins with a '#def' entry and ends with an '#end'
entry. The «keyword» is a unique word of maximum 8 LETTERS. The keyword will
be used to designate one specific archiver program. The keyword definition
will hence have to contain all information necessary to run the archiver
program in question.
The keyword "DEFAULT" is reserved for indicating which archiver should be used
by default. So, a keyword definition for "DEFAULT" _must_ be present.
Blanks are ignored, so the indentation of the lines between '#def' and '#end'
was done for legibility and has no other meaning.
The order of the lines between '#def' and '#end' may be chosen arbitrary,
since that is not important.
Note, however, that the '#prg', '#add' and '#mov' entries MUST be present,
while the '#apc' and '#ext' entries are optional.
That's what the square brackets '[' and ']' are for: they serve to indicate
that the enclosed entries are optional and should themselves not be typed.
The same goes for the '«' and '»' characters: they indicate a description
which must be replaced by an actual parameter, and should themselves not be
typed, too.
The '#prg' entry defines the full path and filename of the archiver program
designated by the keyword.