@database DoArc.guide @node main DoArc @{b}DoArc 1.0 by Rolf Max Rotvel@{ub} @{" Description " link description} @{" Requirements " link requirements} @{" Installation " link installation} @{" Configuration " link configuration} @{" Usage " link usage} @{" Notes " link notes} @{" Author " link author} @{" Copyright " link copyright} @{" Disclaimer " link disclaimer} @{" Credits " link credits} @{" History " link history} @endnode @node description "Description" DoArc is a tool for extracting, creating, viewing or converting all types of archives. It acts as a frontend for all your archivers (LhA, Lzx, Zip etc) and once it is configured you only need to use one command when working with archives. You can pass arguments to DoArc on the commandline or it can be driven entirely through requesters. And you can mix and match - requesters will pop up and ask for any arguments not supplied on the commandline. DoArc has support for the XAD unarchiving system. You can use XAD as a master unpacker/viewer and override it for specific archive formats (Say, if you want to use a ppc unpacker for lzx archives). The XAD support is fully automatic - you don't have to specify if it is a file or a diskarchive and tar and dms unpacking is handled automatically. As a archive converter DoArc (Unlike the typical lha to lzx converters) can be configured to convert to and from any archive format you like. Examples: gz to zip, tgz to lha, dms to lha (!) and of course lha to lzx. You can also repack archives (Eg: lzx standard compression to lzx maximum compression), DoArc detects this and renames the original archive. When specifying which archive files to process you can use standard c:List syntax. This means you can use wildcards and the ALL, PAT, etc options. Eg: "DoArc CONVERT file:downloads ALL PAT #?.zip LHA" will convert all zip archives in file:downloads (And subdirectories!) to lha archives. More features: * You don't have to worry about archive names with spaces (Or dots) in the path. DoArc uses a few tricks to circumvent such problems, without changing the original files of course. This also applies when creating archives - ie: You can create archives with any silly name you like :-) * A lot of work has been put into making DoArc exit as cleanly as possible if an error occurs or you send it a CTRL-C. * DoArc displays the filenote of an archive if it has any and... * When converting archives DoArc automatically copies any filenote from the original archive to the new. @endnode @node requirements "Requirements" RexxMast. Workbench 3.0 with the standard c: commands (List, Delete, Requestchoice, etc) To use XAD for extracting or viewing archives you can a) Upgrade to Workbench 3.9 which comes with XAD installed or b) Install it yourself. You need xadmaster.library (+clients) in libs: and the xadunfile, xadundisk and xaduntar commands somewhere in your shell search path (Like c:). @endnode @node installation "Installation" DoArc is actually an Arexx script disguised as an AmigaDos command. This means that besides RexxMast running you also need to make sure that DoArc has the "s" (Script) protection flag set. This flag may have been deleted while you extracted this archive but you can @{" Click here " system "requestchoice Flags: `list doarc lformat %a` Ok"} to check if it is set. And @{" Click here " system "protect DoArc +s"} to set the flag. Once that is done you can copy DoArc anywhere you like and simply use it as a standard AmigaDos command (No need to use "Rx"). @{" Click here " system "copy CLONE DoArc `requestfile DRAWERSONLY`"} to copy DoArc to whereever you want. DoArc is fully localized. @{" Click here " system "copy `requestfile locale/$language` locale:catalogs/$language"} to copy DoArc.catalog to your LOCALE: drawer. NB: If there's an error in the filerequester it's because DoArc hasn't been translated to your language yet. If you want to help with translating it, please contact @{" me " link author} Finally you must deal with DoArc's configuration file @{" Click here " system "copy DoArc.prefs s:"} to copy DoArc.prefs to s: @{" Click here " system "Ed s:DoArc.prefs"} to launch Ed to @{" configure " link configuration} DoArc. @endnode @node configuration "Configuration" Load the configuration file (s:DoArc.prefs) into your text editor and change the settings to suit your system. Two rules: @{u}Don't@{uu} put quotes around options or their values and everything after a ';' is considered a comment. @{" DEARC " link cfg_dearc} (And VIEWARC) Specify dearchivers @{" ARC " link cfg_arc } Specify archivers @{" TMPDIR " link cfg_tmpdir} Specify DoArc temporary directory @{" XAD " link cfg_xad} Enables or disables XAD usage. Quick chart of configuration keyword templates: DEARC [VIEWARC ] ARC ]> TMPDIR XAD 1|0 @endnode @node cfg_dearc "Configuration: DEARC (And VIEWARC) keyword" This is the keyword you use to specify which command DoArc should use for extracting or viewing archives. You can have as many of these as you want. Template: DEARC [VIEWARC ] DoArc uses the archive suffix to figure out which dearchiver to launch. You don't have to worry about case, and you must not include the dot (Eg: LHA, ZIP, TAR.GZ, etc). The dearchiver string is the actual command including options. If the dearchiver requires redirection (Like GZip) you must include the '>' sign at the end of the dearchiver string. The view command is specified on the same line after the VIEWARC keyword. Eg: DEARC LHA lha x VIEWARC lha v If you have XAD installed (See @{" XAD " link cfg_xad} keyword) DoArc will use XAD for extracting or viewing any archives that you haven't specified a DEARC or VIEWARC command for. You can mix and match between normal archivers and XAD as you wish. Eg: DEARC LHA VIEWARC lha v means that DoArc will use 'lha v' when viewing LhA archives but the XAD system when extracting LhA archives. And of course it's also possible to have no DEARC statements at all. In this case DoArc will use XAD for all extracting or viewing of archives. @endnode @node cfg_arc "Configuration: ARC keyword" This is where you specify which command DoArc should use when archiving files. You can have as many of these as you want but there is a limitation on the types of archivers that you can use when converting archives. Template: ARC ]> The archive type is the same as the suffix created by the archiver, but without any dots (Eg: LHA, LZX). Case isn't important. The rest of the archiver string is the actual command including options. If you want to have two (Or more) different forms of the same archiver you can give one (or both) a name to tell them apart. Eg: ARC LZX cc:lzx040 -r af ; Lzx standard compression ARC LZX.9 cc:lzx040 -r -9 af ; Lzx maximum compression Or: ARC LHA lha -r a ; LhA ARC LHA.store lha -r -z a ; LhA no compression Note: Don't forget to add the 'select all files in directory and subdirectories' option (Typically -r) to your archiver commands. It's not possible to use 'single file' archivers like GZip when converting archives. You must use archivers capable of archiving the contents of a directory like LhA, Lzx, Zip or the included TGZ AmigaDos script. Using single file archivers when @{" creating archives " link usage_a} probably works but hasn't been tested. @endnode @node cfg_tmpdir "Configuration: TMPDIR keyword" Where DoArc creates it's temporary directory when converting archives. Template: TMPDIR Tmpdir is the directory where DoArc creates its work directory when converting archives. The default is t: But you may want to move it to somewhere on your harddisk if you haven't got a lot of ram or are converting very big archives. @endnode @node cfg_xad "Configuration: XAD keyword" Master switch that enables or disables XAD usage. Template: XAD 1|0 This is a master switch that enables or disables the use of XAD for extracting or viewing of archives. This default is 1 (Enabled) if you have Workbench 3.9 (DoArc will automatically detect this) because it has XAD support included. Else it is 0 (Disabled). @endnode @node usage "Usage" DoArc has four different modes. You can only use one mode at a time. If you don't specify any mode on the commandline (Eg: just 'DoArc') a requester will appear asking you what you want to do. @{" X=EXTRACT {} [extractdir|REQ] " link usage_x} for extracting archives. @{" A=ADD {} [arctype] " link usage_a} for creating archives. @{" V=VIEW {} " link usage_v} for viewing archives. @{" C=CONVERT {} [arctype] " link usage_c} for converting archives. Note: The mode keywords can appear anywhere on the commandline (And so can the for the A & C modes). But the rest of the arguments must follow the order above. Have a look at the examples in the sections describing the different modes. The specification for modes X, V & C is special. DoArc uses c:List to create a list of archives to process. This means you can use wildcards and the List file selection options listed below when specifying which archives to process: DIR/M,PAT/K,SUB/K,SINCE/K,UPTO/K,ALL/S Don't use FILES/S or DIRS/S or any of the display format options like LFORMAT/K. But nothing fatal should happen if you do anyway - DoArc will simply display an error messages and exit. Please read the @{" notes " link notes} too. @endnode @node usage_x "Usage: The archive EXTRACT mode" The EXTRACT mode is for extracting archives to a directory. Template: X=EXTRACT {} [extractdir|REQ] The mode specification (X or EXTRACT) can be placed anywhere on the commandline. The extractdir argument must come after the archive specification(s). You can specify as many archives as you wish. A requester will appear asking for any argument (Including the mode!) not included on the commandline (Except extractdir - see below) The extractdir argument is special. If you don't specify it DoArc will extract the archive(s) to the current directory. If you specify "REQ" you will be presented with a filerequester asking for a directory to extract to. And if you specify a directory DoArc will (Of course) extract the archive(s) to this directory. The archives specification uses standard c:List syntax. This means that you can use wildcards and the DIR/M,PAT/K,SUB/K,SINCE/K,UPTO/K,ALL/S List keywords. Examples: DoArc EXTRACT dl:test.zip ram: Extract "dl:test.zip" to "ram:" DoArc X dl:#?.zip REQ Extract all zip archives in dl: to a directory selected from a filerequester. DoArc dl: ALL EXTRACT Extract all files in dl: (Incl. subdirectories!) to the current directory. Note: It's up to you to make sure that the files in those directories are actually archives... DoArc X Extract all files selected from a filerequester to the current directory. Again: DoArc happily tries to extract anything you select... DoArc dl: ALL PAT #?.lha ram:test.zip REQ Extract all lha archives in dl: (Incl. subdirectories!) and "ram:test.zip" to a directory selected from a filerequester. @endnode @node usage_a "Usage: The archive ADD mode" The ADD mode is for creating (Or adding to existing) archives. Template: A=ADD {} [arctype] The mode (A or ADD) and the arctype specification can be placed anywhere on the commandline. The archive specification must come before the files you wish to archive (Similar to the common archivers like LhA or Lzx). You can have as many file specifications as you wish. A requester will appear asking for any argument (Including the mode!) not included on the commandline. But the first file on the command line (Like this: "DoArc ADD lzx files:big_file") is always taken as the archive name. So in this case the requester will ask for which files you want to add to the 'big_file' archive. Note: The files specification does _not_ use the List syntax like the archives specification from the @{" EXTRACT " link usage_x}, @{" VIEW " link usage_v} or @{" CONVERT " link usage_c} modes. So be sure that you add the 'select all files in directory and subdirectories' option (Typically -r) to your @{" archiver commands " link cfg_arc}. Examples: DoArc ram:test work:text/#?.guide ADD Add all guide files in work:text to the ram:test archive. A requester will appear asking for which archiver to use DoArc A ram:test ZIP work:text/some.guide sys:#?.info Add work:text/some.guide and all info files on your sys: partition to the ram:test archive using Zip as archiver. DoArc ADD A requester will appear asking for a) Which archiver to use, b) The name of the archive and finally c) Which files to archive. @endnode @node usage_v "Usage: The archive VIEW mode" The VIEW mode is for listing the contents of archives. Template: V=VIEW {} The mode (V or VIEW) and the archive specifications can be placed anywhere on the commandline. A requester will appear prompting for missing arguments. Examples: DoArc V dl:#?.tgz View all tgz archives in dl: DoArc "dl:fu nny.lha" VIEW View "dl:fu nny.lha" @endnode @node usage_c "Usage: The archive CONVERT mode" The CONVERT mode is for converting archives to another archive format. Template: C=CONVERT {} [arctype] The mode (C or CONVERT), the arctype and the archive specifications can be placed anywhere on the commandline. A requester will appear asking for any arguments not included If you repack an archive (Eg: "DoArc C dl:test.lzx LZX") DoArc will detect this and prevent overwriting the original by renaming it. Otherwise if DoArc detects that you're about to overwrite an archive you will be asked if you want to continue or skip converting this archive. Examples: DoArc ZIP dl:test1.lha dl:test2.lzx This will create the archives dl:test1.zip and test2.zip DoArc C dl:#?.zip This will convert all your zip files in dl: to the archive format selected by the requester. DoArc CONVERT dl: ALL PAT #?.zip LHA Scan all subdirectories of dl: for zip files and convert them to lha. DoArc C "dl:te st1.lha" dl:test2.2.zip" LZX This will create the archives "dl:te st1.lzx" and "dl:test2.2.lzx" DoArc ZIP dl:test.lha dl:test.lzx CONVERT Here DoArc detects that dl:test.zip will be created twice and asks if you want to overwrite the first copy or skip converting this archive. @endnode @node notes "Notes" Sometimes DoArc isn't able to delete its temp directory (When converting archives), just the contents of it. This is probably because some archivers doesn't release their lock on this directory properly. You'll get an error message if this happens. Don't forget to add all necessary options to your @{" archivers " link cfg_arc}. Like LhA -r that enables archiving of subdirectories. When extracting, viewing or converting archives with spaces or dots in their names DoArc uses a temporary assign to circumvent any problems. This is why you'll see some weird path and filenames when DoArc deals with such archives. When converting a disk (Eg: DMS) archive and using XAD as unpacker you'll see the error message "Processed nothing." This is because DoArc first tries with xadunfile (Which fails and gives the error message) then xadundisk. Viewing diskarchives (Eg: DMS) using XAD doesn't work and there isn't anything I can do about it currently. @endnode @node author "Author" Please send send any comments you might have to me. Email: rolfrotvel@bigfoot.com Address: Rolf Max Rotvel Groefthoejparken 163, 4 th. DK-8260 Viby J. Denmark @endnode @node credits "Credits" Lots of thanks to Javier de las Rivas for betatesting and the spanish catalog/documentation. @endnode @node copyright "Copyright" DoArc is copyright © 2001 Rolf Max Rotvel. I'm releasing this as 'niceware' Which means: If you use DoArc it would be nice of you to send me $5 or the equivalent in your currency - just stuff a bill in an envelope and send it to @{" me " link author}. But you're not in any way obligated to do so. If you want to use it without paying, be my guest. Isn't that nice? :-) @endnode @node disclaimer "Disclaimer" Basically, it's all your own fault :-) I won't take responsibility for anything bad that happens while using my program. But I will try to fix bugs, just report them to @{" me " link author}. @endnode @node history "History" 1.0 - First release Note: DoArc is the succesor of arc2arc. Basically DoArc does all that arc2arc did (Converting archives) + lots lots more :-) @endnode