MakeARC
                      Copyright ) 1988 by Bryan Ford
                              Documentation

    MakeARC is a program I wrote to fix the two main drawbacks of ARC:  No
subdirectories, and short filenames only.  What it does is searches through
an entire disk and directory, renames all the files to names like XFile.1,
XFile.2, etc., takes them out of any subdirectories they might be in,
deletes the subdirectories, and at the same time, creates a file called
EXECUTE.ME containing all the information necessary to restore the
directory to its original form.
    To use it, simply type "MakeARC <directory>" where <directory> is the
name of a directory or volume to use.  When it completes, you will have one
"EXECUTE.ME" file and a bunch of "XFile.####" files.  The person receiving
the archive can then just unARC the file into a subdirectory and type
"EXECUTE EXECUTE.ME" to rebuild the original file structure.  Also, a
READ.ME file is written which tells how to rebuild the structure.
    There are two things to be aware of.  First, if you have a file called
EXECUTE.ME in the directory you passed to MakeARC, it will get overwritten.
Files with this name in subdirectories will stay intact.  Second, files
beginning with "XFile." will not be seen, because MakeARC has to skip over
files it has already generated, and it thinks that all files with this
beginning are files it generated.
    MakeARC does no file copying - it simply renames the files.  This means
that file comments, time, and other attributes will be saved.  If, for some
reason, it can't rename a file, it will display "Warning: Can't rename
<file>."  if the file is in a subdirectory, you will also get a warning
stating that it can't delete the subdirectory, because it's not empty.  The
file will simply be ignored by MakeARC.
    MakeARC requires very little room on the disk to operate.  The only
extra space needed is space for the EXECUTE.ME and READ.ME files.  This
will usually be only a few blocks, so unless your disk is 99% full, MakeARC
will probably succeed.
    For EXECUTE.ME files to execute correctly, there are several files that
must be in the c: directory: MakeDir, Rename, Run, Delete, and Echo.  If
Echo is not present you will simply get a "unknown command echo" instead of
the usual messages "Extracting..." and "Done."  The other commands are
required for it to operate correctly.  Of course, Execute must be in the c:
directory to execute EXECUTE.ME.
    One switch is allowed, -n, which must be in lowercase, and must come
after the pathname. If you include it, no READ.ME file will be generated,
and no instruction for deleting it will be put into the EXECUTE.ME file.
This will also happen if there is not enough room on the disk for the
READ.ME file (which will be rare, as it only takes 2 blocks). This file
simply tells how to rebuild the file structure.
    This program can handle a maximum of 9999 files.  I haven't tested it
with more than this - if you find this a serious limit please contact me.
    This program is being distributed as Shareware.  If you use it and like
it, a small contribution would be deeply appreciated.  In any case, you are
encouraged to copy and share this program, as long as you supply the
program and its documentation in its original form.  I can be reached for
comments, inquiries, or donations at the following address:

                                Bryan Ford
                        Snail:  1790 East 1400 North
                                Logan, UT 84321
                        Email:  FATQW@USU.BITNET