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From: jvc@mirror.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: pkarc v3.5 and arc v5.20
Message-ID: <206900040@mirror>
Date: Tue, 16-Jun-87 08:09:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: mirror.206900040
Posted: Tue Jun 16 08:09:00 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 18-Jun-87 01:31:33 EDT
References: <4431@iuvax.UUCP>
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Nf-ID: #R:iuvax.UUCP:-443100:mirror:206900040:000:2553
Nf-From: mirror.UUCP!jvc    Jun 16 08:09:00 1987


/* Written  1:19 am  Jun 15, 1987 by paul@cgh.UUCP in comp.sys.ibm.pc */
>...
>
>  1.  With an ARC file, you can use "arc v" to get a directory list
>      showing filenames and sizes.  with SelfExtractingARC.EXE, you
>      cannot.
>
>  2.  With an ARC file, you can extract only a portion of the files.
>      On a floppy based system, this might be important.  With a
>      a self-extracting file you cannot do this.
>
Not quite.

With the self extracting archives created by PKARC, #1 is true.
However, if you know what's in the archive, you can selectively
extract files.  The format is :
          selfextractingarchive [options] [d:path\] [file...]
and the file name can contain wildcards (works just like pkxarc except
for the /v option).  Although this isn't as useful since you can't get
a listing of the archive, it can be done.

I don't know what ZOO can or can't do as I have been unable to find a
copy.

>  4.  Archive programs are handy things.  Not only can you take ARCs
>      apart with them, you can put things into ARC files, too.  But you
>      cannot put things into a self extracting file.  Since you need
>      ARC or ARCA/E or ZOO (yeah!) anyway, you don't need the self
>      extracting file.

The self extracting files were not meant to be replacements for the
archive programs.  They are meant to be a method of giving someone a
archive without having to also give them the program that was used to
create the archive.  This attempts to solve the "incompatibility"
problem between the different archive programs.

>...
> [talked about how files archived with PKARC's squashing method are not
  allowed in his site's library because SEAwares ARC program can't
  unarc them.]

Self extracting archives will help make it so that it doesn't matter
how the files where archived because anyone can unarc them
without software.

The inability to get a listing (/v option) was a dumb thing to leave
out of the selfextractingarchive software but it can be worked
around.  How about putting a file in the archive call LISTING
which would list the files in the archive.  Using this method,
you could give COMPLETE description of the files in the archive.
As long as this file name is consistant, anyone at your site who
wants to selectively extract files can first extract LISTING to 
find the names of the files he/she wishes to extract.

jvc@mirror.TMC.COM

Note: I'm not saying that PKARC's squashing is or is not a better
      method than the other "standard" methods so any flames about
      it should be sent to /dev/null.