Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcvax!kth!sunic!Urd!newsuser From: roland@dna.lth.se (Roland Mansson) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: Diamond (new archive/backup utility) Summary: Packs better than StuffIt Message-ID: <1989Jul4.113744.29060@lth.se> Date: 4 Jul 89 11:37:44 GMT Sender: newsuser@lth.se (LTH network news server) Organization: Lund University Computing Center, Sweden Lines: 69 I've tried a new archiever. It's called Diamond (version 2.1, demo). It packs considerably better than StuffIt (se below for figures). Diamond is somewhat slower than StuffIt to pack, but it unpacks extremely fast. I've done some 20 tests with Diamond, and the unpacked packed archive has always been identical to the source (incl positions and colors of icons). It has three levels (fast, medium and compact). While the size of the archive is about the same in my tests, the time spent differs quite a lot. "Fast" is probably the best alternative. It works with MultiFinder, but not in the background. It gives some time (very little, but better than nothing) to background applications. It can pack a file, a folder, or a volume. If the destination doesn't have enough free space, it just asks for another disk(s). If you have an extra hard disk, it's convenient to backup one disk to a single file on the other. This is generally not possible in backup programs. Times are measured on a Mac II, 5MB, System 6.0.3, MultiFinder and a dozen inits. StuffIt configured to try LZW and Huffman and to not allow background tasks. Method Size Saved Time to Time to pack unpack Unpacked Application 590278 StuffIt 402079 31.88% 0.45 0.56 Diamond, fast 308579 47.72% 1.28 0.19 Diamond, medium 304446 48.42% 2.07 0.18 Diamond, compact 303931 48.51% 2.43 0.17 Unpacked Stack 349562 StuffIt 191841 45.12% 0.27 0.28 Diamond, fast 162627 53.48% 1.04 0.10 Diamond, medium 156681 55.18% 1.27 0.10 Diamond, compact 154820 55.71% 1.44 0.10 Unpacked Docs Folder 330816 StuffIt 182545 44.82% 0.45 0.36 Diamond, fast 142490 56.93% 1.09 0.12 Diamond, medium 142430 56.95% 1.35 0.12 Diamond, compact 142426 56.95% 1.48 0.12 (Application: MacWrite II, Stack: Apple's Q&A 3.1, Docs folder: ten documents (MacWrite, Word, MacPaint, MacDraw etc)). I'll try to get permission to post the demo to infomac@sumex and comp.binaries.mac. Diamond is developed by SOFT Technologies. Their address is SOFT Technologies Denis SERSA 9, rue des lilas 67640 FEGERSHEIM, France Tl. (33) 88.64.31.74 Fax. (33) 88.67.13.73 Applelink: SOFT.TECH Standard disclaimers apply. -- Roland Mansson, Lund University Computing Center, Box 783, S220 07 Lund, Sweden Phone: +46-46107436 Fax: +46-46138225 Bitnet: roland_m@seldc52 Internet: roland_m@ldc.lu.se or roland_m%ldc.lu.se@uunet.uu.net UUCP: {uunet,mcvax}!sunic!ldc.lu.se!roland_m AppleLink: SW0022