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From: lee@quincy.cs.umass.edu (Peter Lee)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps
Subject: Re: Compactor - A reason not to use
Message-ID: <LEE.91Jan4125113@quincy.cs.umass.edu>
Date: 4 Jan 91 17:51:13 GMT
References: <5490@crystal9.UUCP>
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Organization: The Software Development Lab at the University of Massachusetts
	at Amherst
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In-reply-to: derosa@motcid.UUCP's message of 3 Jan 91 21:18:57 GMT

In article <5490@crystal9.UUCP> derosa@motcid.UUCP (John DeRosa) writes:

   Path: dime!umvlsi!m2c!bu.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!uunet!motcid!derosa
   From: derosa@motcid.UUCP (John DeRosa)
   Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps
   Date: 3 Jan 91 21:18:57 GMT
   Distribution: comp
   Organization: Motorola Inc., Cellular Infrastructure Div., Arlington Heights, IL
   Lines: 109

   Now, don't get me wrong, I like compactor, especially
   because it is fast and creates those lovely self
   extracting archives that I personally love to send
   to all my friends (it makes their life so much 
   easier).

   My problem is with people using Compactor files
   for the info-mac archives.

   1) Compactor can't do binhex - This means that 
   everytime that I retrieve a file from the archives
   (and I retrieve a lot of them), I need to 
   use one program to un-binhex, exit that program
   and then double click on the Compactor .sea
   file. If I run into a  plain .cpt files
   I need to run Compactor itself, twice as bad.

   Which leads to.....

   2) Compactor .sea files don't let you pick
   where you want the resulting files to be
   un-compacted to.  You end up with files
   in places that you don't want them.

   How much extra space
   would it cost in the .sea file to add the
   code to bring up the save as dialog box?
   It is just a system call, correct?
   I admit my ignorance here, it may very well be too
   difficult to implement).

   ...

   Thanks for listening, John
   -- 
   =       John DeRosa, Motorola, Inc, Cellular Infrastructure Group          =
   = e-mail:    ...uunet!motcid!derosaj, motcid!derosaj@uunet.uu.net          =
   = Applelink: N1111                                                         =
   =I do not hold by employer responsible for any information in this message =

My biggest problem with self-extracting archives of any form is that I need to
override GateKeeper to use them.  Anything that forces me to override my virus
checker completely is something I will think twice about using.  It's
especially troubling when, as another poster pointed out, the self-extracting
archive itself might be infected!

For the time being, I launch Extractor manually when I want to expand one of
it's archives, but I find Stuffit Deluxe's "Magic Menu" far more convenient,
and it works just fine with Stuffit 1.5.1 archives...

--
|-                       Peter E. Lee, Staff Assistant                       -|
|   Software Development Lab at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst    |
|         lee@cs.umass.edu or Fuligin@umass.bitnet or (413) 256-1329          |
"When you expect whistles, it's flutes.  When you expect flutes, it's whistles"