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Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!nuchat!texbell!bellcore!clyde!watmath!watcgl!watmum!rmpinchback
From: rmpinchback@watmum.waterloo.edu (Reid M. Pinchback)
Newsgroups: comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d,comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: WARNING! Vicious bug in GSARC
Keywords: GSARC, Archivers, Compression, Bugs
Message-ID: <6627@watcgl.waterloo.edu>
Date: 5 Nov 88 03:14:58 GMT
Sender: daemon@watcgl.waterloo.edu
Reply-To: rmpinchback@watmum.waterloo.edu (Reid M. Pinchback)
Organization: U. of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 40

I've found a nasty bug in GSARC.  Its the sort of bug you come up against
accidentally when converting archives from an old archiver (PKARC) to 
take advantage of a (supposedly better) new archiver.  Luckily I was working
on a copy of the old archive.  Actually, I've found something else, but the 
second observation is merely disappointing, not damaging.

Nasty bug found as follows:
   - de-arc an archive.  Lets say it was the archive TEST.ARC
   - tell GSARC to make an archive of the same name, ie:
          GSARC m TEST.ARC *.*
   - notice that (accidentally or purposely) the same archive name is to
     be used, and the old archive was neither renamed nor deleted.
   - GSARC now does NOT attempt to make an archive.  It just deletes all
     the files in the current directory, including the old archive!

                            ACK!

   - Solution: be VERY careful when converting archives, and only use
     the GSARC conversion option, ie:
          GSARC c TEST.ARC

The second item is pretty simple.  When using either SEA's ARC or Katz's
PKARC, both of them will use the most effective compression method to
suit each file being compressed.  GSARC has this nice new Crushing method.
In fact, GSARC thinks it is SO nice, it is the ONLY method it will use
to compress a file, unless you tell it specifically to create either an
ARC or PKARC compatible archive.  As a result, I often end up with updated
archives that are 20-25% LARGER than they were with ARC or PKARC.  To avoid
this you would have to add a file to an archive one at a time, experimenting
with three different compression options to see which yielded better results.

                            ICK!

Oh well, so much for a nice new archive tool.  Time to go play with Zoo.  :-)



      Reid M. Pinchback
      CS/C&O Undergraduate
      University of Waterloo