Short: GUI for archivers LhA,LZX,DMS,xDM v1.0 Author: johnw@kvnet.org (John Wells) Uploader: johnw@kvnet.org (John Wells) Type: util/arc Compressor Control Box - v1.0 Jan 1, 1996 by John Wells This program is Copyright 1995 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 version of PackDev (v1.7) as it seems to be tough to find. 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 v1.21, 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, which is included in this distribution as well. It can be found in the LIBS drawer in this archive. Or, if you like, just click on the included INSTALL icon to put the library in your LIBS: directory, and PacDev 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 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 2) Select Operation. Compress, DeCompress, Test (View/Add Diz soon!) 3) Select Source File/Dir/Device. Click on this, a requester comes up, allowing you to select the SOURCE F/D/D 4) Select Destination. Another requester 5) Process Selection. Start or Abort Want more info? OK, you've got it. If you select the Test operation, no need to select a destination. Makes sense, right? When using DMS or xDM to Compress, only DF0: is valid, any other source will be ignored. (Working on a way to make it use other devices, such as DF1:, but haven't figured it out yet. But I will!) When using DMS or xDM to DeCompress, only DF0: will be accessed for the destination (same problem as above, working on it) 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, don't worry about it. 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 ============================= Archive contents ============================= Original Packed Ratio Date Time Name -------- ------- ----- --------- -------- ------------- 4012 1929 51.9% 01-Jan-96 23:25:42 +CCB.readme 1007 712 29.2% 01-Jan-96 21:50:18 +CCB.readme.info 991 751 24.2% 01-Jan-96 21:50:18 +CompressorControlBox_v1_0.info 148 120 18.9% 01-Jan-96 21:44:50 +Install 1071 777 27.4% 01-Jan-96 21:50:18 +Install.info 580 395 31.8% 01-Jan-96 21:50:18 +PackDev.info 24216 11510 52.4% 17-Sep-95 23:24:46 +PackDev 32088 11840 63.1% 17-Sep-95 23:25:34 +PackDev.guide 504 286 43.2% 17-Aug-95 19:44:18 +PackDev.guide.info 580 388 33.1% 01-Jan-96 21:50:18 CCB.info 41 41 0.0% 01-Jan-96 20:48:56 +CCB 1036 743 28.2% 01-Jan-96 21:50:18 +CCB.info 9360 2219 76.2% 01-Jan-96 17:31:52 +CompressorControlBox_v1_0 580 398 31.3% 01-Jan-96 21:50:18 +LIBS.info 156328 95095 39.1% 02-Oct-94 04:04:14 +cando.library 40 40 0.0% 01-Jan-96 21:51:54 File_ID.Diz -------- ------- ----- --------- -------- 232582 127244 45.2% 02-Jan-96 13:11:14 16 files