Short: GUI for archivers LhA,LZX,DMS,xDM v1.3 Uploader: johnw@kvnet.org (John Wells) Author: johnw@kvnet.org (John Wells) Type: util/arc Compressor Control Box - v1.3 Jan 20, 1996 by John Wells This program is Copyright 1996 by John Wells. All Rights Reserved. This program may not be sold, although a small charge for shipping, handling, and media may be charged. This program is a convenient interface for using several disk/file archivers. Currently, Compressor Control Box (hereafter known as CCB) supports the following archivers: LZX, LHA, DMS, and xDM (a pleasing combination of PackDev and LZX). First, a disclaimer: The purpose of this program is to compress the contents of floppy disks, hard drives, and other forms of temporary and permanent computer storage. The author, John Wells, will not be held responsible for any data lost through the (correct or incorrect) use of this program, nor will he be held responsible for any damages (financial or otherwise) resulting from the use of this program. Requirements: Well, in order to use the supported archivers, it is important that CCB be able to find them. A good place for them is your C: directory. Of course, anywhere in your command path is sufficient. I have included the latest versions of PackDev (v1.7) and DLDiz (v1.7), which are needed for certain functions, PackDev for (de)compressing xDM files and DLDiz for Viewing/Adding a File_id.Diz to a file. The rest of the archivers should be easy enough to locate. You will need versions of LhA, LZX, and DMS. CCB has been extensively tested using the following: LhA v1.35, LZX v1.20, and DMS v1.11. I would think that any newer versions of those programs would work just fine as well. CCB also requires the cando.library, v2.511+, which is NOT included in this distribution, as I am not sure of the distributability (is that a word?) of the library. To make things a bit easier, just click on the included INSTALL icon to put the included programs (PackDev and DLDiz) in your C: directory. CLI Usage: not currently supported (it's an interface. That's the point!) Workbench Usage: If you want to see what is happening, I would use the CCB icon, but if you don't need to see what is going on, just click on the CompressorControlBox icon. The only difference is that the CCB icon also opens up an output shell, so you can see what is happening. I have noticed no noticeable speed increase in NOT opening the shell, so it's a matter of personal choice. I've tried to make it as easy to use as possible. Just follow the 5 steps shown on the interface, and you'll be set. In order, these are: 1) Select Compressor. LhA, LZX, DMS, xDM, LhA-2-LZX, or DMS-2-xDM LhA-2-LZX and DMS-2-xDM perform the conversion process in the T: directory. I have found that you will need about 2.5 meg free for converting a DMS file to an xDM file, and about 1 1/2 times the size of the LhA file for converting an archive from LhA format to LZX. If you don't have enough memory to transform the file, I suggest assigning T: to somewhere on your harddrive. It will slow things down somewhat, but unless your HD is REALLY cramped, you should have enough room there to perform the conversion. Also, when converting from DMS to xDM, I strongly recommend using RAD or an FMS-type drive for the work drive. It will work using a standard floppy, but it is SO SLOW! Do yourself a favor, and install FMSdisk today! 2) Select Operation. Compress, DeCompress, Test, View/Add Diz View/Add Diz works as follows. If the file you checked doesn't have a File_id.diz, CCB will open up a little window for you to enter the description into. When you are finished entering text, hit 'ESC x' to close the window and save the File_id.diz to the file. Except for DMS. It is NOT cooperating at all! It seems that in order to add a File_id.diz to a DMS file, it must be unpacked and then repacked with the File_id.diz. But don't worry. I'll figure out something! If the file DOES have a File_id.diz attached to it, it will be displayed in the CCB Output window. 3) Select Source File/Dir/Device. Click on this, a requester comes up, allowing you to select the SOURCE F/D/D. When using DMS or xDM, a requester will pop up asking for the source (or destination) device, such as DF0 or DF1, at the right time. Don't worry, you'll know it when it happens! Just make sure there is a disk in the drive BEFORE you click on Start! 4) Select Destination. Another requester. When using DMS or xDM, a requester will pop up asking for the source (or destination) device, such as DF0 or DF1, at the right time. Don't worry, you'll know it when it happens! Just make sure there is a disk in the drive BEFORE you click on Start! 5) Process Selection. Start or Abort If you are DeCompressing an LhA or LZX archive, a requester will pop-up, asking if you would like to create a drawer to put the contents into. This keeps things from getting scattered all over your drive, and makes it easy to get rid of files you decide not to keep. Want more info? OK, you've got it. If you select the Test operation, no need to select a destination. Makes sense, right? If using xDM, I strongly suggest assigning T: to somewhere on your harddrive, as it can use up to 2 meg of RAM while processing a file. Of course, if you have 3 megs or more free, don't worry about it. The little memory display in title bar should give you a clue as to whether or not you need to re-assign T: to your HD That's it! If you have any questions or comments, or just want to send a donation (A4000, Corvette, book, game, money, whatever) please feel free to get in touch with me at the address below. John Wells 2595 Vonoa Drive Radcliff, KY 40160 e-mail: johnw@kvnet.org Greetings, Thanks, and Other Stuff I would like to thank those who have sent me e-mail, for the kind words and support (and suggestions!), especially ashley@apowell.demon.co.uk, who was the very first to send me a message regarding CCB. I would also like to extend my thanks to the following: Stefan Boberg, author of LhA Jonathan Forbes, author of LZX SDS Software, author(s?) of DMS Rasmus K. Ursem, author of DLDiz Christian Wasner, author of PackDev Jay Miner for creating a REAL computer! Amiga Technologies for resurrecting Amy INOVAtronics, Inc., developers of CanDo! Adam Chapman, originator of the xDM concept and Dirk Vael, who took it several steps further HISTORY v1.0 - 1 Jan 1996 Initial release v1.1 - 9 Jan 1996 Finally found a way to fix the niggling problem with selecting the device to use for DMS and xDM. The user can now select ANY floppy-type device for use by CCB. Added a 'history' function to the source/destination requesters, so that the last directory used will be the default (hope that is what you had in mind, Ashley!) Fixed the 'View/Add Diz' option, can now view the File_id.diz of LZX, LhA, DMS, and xDM archives, and can add a File_id.diz to LZX, LhA, and xDM files. Sorry, nothing for DMS (yet!). Added a Memory display to the title bar, good for keeping track of just how much ram you have left after crunching up several disks or directories. v1.2 - 14 Jan 1996 Spruced up the appearance of the GUI somewhat, added a pop-up requester to the DeCompress option of LhA and LZX, to ask the user if a drawer should be created to put the contents into. Straightened up some code, got rid of some excess, added the 'About' menu item. Just little stuff, really. Oh, and I cleaned up this readme, too! v1.3 - 20 Jan 1996 Finally found a way to make LhA and LZX compress a directory and include the selected path ONLY, as well as the .info for the drawer (if it exists). What this means, is that you will no longer have files that un-compress to something like: WorkBench:Games/FavoriteOfAllTime/blah Instead, if you had elected to compress the drawer 'FavoriteOfAllTime/', containing 'blah' and such, it will actually only have the path of 'FavoriteOfAllTime/blah', just like it should! Also, I finally got around to fixing up some of the pull-down menus, take a look at them. v1.3 - REGISTERED VERSION I decided to make the LhA-2-LZX and DMS-2-xDM options only available to registered users, have to give them some kind of benny for registering! Since v1.0 - v1.2 did not support this repacking option, it looks like v1.3 will be the first to give the un-registered users something to think about. I find the option VERY handy, since it is SO EASY TO USE! So come on, folks, go ahead and register. It really is worth it! :)