Win Utils

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Other Windows Utilities

Other DOS / Windows Compression Tools & Extensions

• Self-Extracting Archives (sea)
  • Do not require the original compression program for decompression.

    
    

  • A small decompression program surrounds the compressed archive.

    
    

  • This decompression wrapper program adds approx. 20K to the size of the archive.
  • To create a self extracting archive using PKZIP for Windows, there is only one thing you do differently than when creating a normal zip archive.

    
    

  • When you are asked for the name of the file to create, (or choose Convert... from the File menu), change the Save as type option from Zip File (.ZIP) to PKSFX File(.EXE). If you plan to use the file on a DOS (16 BIT) machine, select the PKSFX Win16 File (.EXE). Everything else in the creation process is the same as before.
    
    
  • To create a self extracting archive using WINZIP, simply select the Make .EXE File from the Actions menu.
    

    
    

• Segmenting / Joining
  • Allows archives to be split over multiple floppies.
    

     

  • To create a segmented archive using PKZIP, simply create the ZIP file on a floppy, as the archive fills the disk during adding PKZIP will prompt for other disks as needed. (PKZIP cannot segment an existing ZIP archive, only new archives).
    
    
  • Broken Charm
    • An application for splitting large files into reasonable chucks

      
      

    • You can download it from http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/lizzum/m1brok95.exe.
      1. To split a file, simply choose the file to split (click on the tab Choose the File to Split).
      2. Then click on the tab marked mBx Advanced Split Technology and type a description of the file (if you wish) and click on the Spread the File radio button. This will cause the file to be split according to the amount of disk space on the floppies.
      3. Now go to the Split Target, Split Options tab:
         

         

         
         

         
         

      4. Be sure to type A:\ (or your floppy drive) in the space labeledClick here to choose where to split.
      5. You will notice other options on this page. Use them as you see fit.
      6. When you are ready to split your file, click on the Feedback on Visual Split Studio PROFESSIONAL tab and click on the button at the bottom of the page.
         
         

    
    

  • WinZip has the ability to create archives that span more than one disk.
    • To create an archive that spans disks, simply select the option you want from the Multiple Disk Spanning menu found on the screen where you add files to the new archive.

      
      

    • The WinZip archive must be created on a floppy to enable spanning.

      
      

  

  
  

• Transmission Utilities
  • Allows ASCII transfer of binary files:
    A binary file can contain all 256 character ASCII character codes. The upper 128 ASCII character codes are non-standard and differ from system to system, (and even font to font). In order to prevent the possible corruption of file content during transmission binary files are often transmogrified into standard ASCII (the lower 128 ASCII character codes) text files. Networks are based on standard ASCII (7-bit character codes). By converting binary files into standard ASCII it allows them to be safely transmitted over 7-bit networks.

    
    

  • Does not require a 'binary' mode download for binary files.

    
    

  • Prevents accidental file corruption due to network transfers.

    
    

  • Files can be embedded in email messages.

    
    

  • Increases size of the transmitted file (approx. 25%-33%)
    

    
    

  • MSDOS/Windows
    No ASCII transmission utilities
    Assumes 'binary' mode download
    uudecode utility for Windows
    binhex decoding under Windows (using WinZip)
    

    
    

  • Macintosh
    Shareware: BinHex format
    suffix: filename.hqx

    
    

  • UNIX
    utilities: uuencode & uudecode
    suffix: filename.uu

    Uuencoding transforms a binary file into a printable text file by splitting the file up into groups of 3 bytes (24 bits), which is then split into 4 6-bit values. Each 6-bit value is incremented by 32 which maps the values onto the printable ASCII values. Converting every 3 binary characters into 4 printable characters.

    Extended uuencode & uudecode: xxuuencode & xxuudecode

    xxencode decomposes the file the same as uuencode, breaking every 3 bytes into 4 6-bit values. The 6-bit values (0, 1, 2, 3, ...63) are mapped 1-to-1 onto the printable characters:

    +-0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxy z

    
    

  • MIME Encoding

    Base64 encoding, a MIME standard, works similar to extended uuencoding except that it uses a different 1-to-1 printable character mapping sequence:

    ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+ /