This is an in depth guide on using UHARC a high compression utility please read the full instructions and then only proceed ..
for queries contact me on mmy email id :- cybervoid1995@gmail.com
PLEASE USE THE SOFTWARE AT YOUR OWN RISK AND I PREFER THAT YOU CREATE A BACKUP OF YOUR DOCUMENTS BEFORE COMPRESSING!!!!
UHARC 0.6a high compression multimedia
archiver BETA version
==============================================================================
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==============================================================================
Copyright(c) 1997-2005 by Uwe Herklotz All rights reserved 06 Feb 2005
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!
THIS IS A BETA VERSION AND MAY CONTAIN BUGS. USE THIS
!!!!!!
!!!!!!
ARCHIVER AT YOUR OWN RISK. UWE HERKLOTZ, THE AUTHOR OF !!!!!!
!!!!!!
UHARC, WILL NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DAMAGE !!!!!!
!!!!!! CAUSED BY USING OR MISUSING THIS
SOFTWARE. !!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
===< 0. Contents
>============================================================
1. Introduction
2. Usage
2.1. Commands
2.2. Switches
2.3. Environment variable
3. Examples
4. History
5. Legal info / Registration
6. Contact info
===< 1. Introduction
>========================================================
UHARC is a high performance file archiver.
This package contains 4 files:
UHARC.EXE program version for Win32 systems
UHARCD.EXE program version for Dos32 systems
UHARCSFX.EXE Sfx-Stub for Win32 systems
UHARC.DOC this documentation file
What's new in version 0.6a ?
- option to create self-extracting archives
(SFX / Win32 only)
- using again PMODE/W DOS Extender (does
not need external program)
Note: UHARC 0.6a archives are compatible with
v0.6 archives but
NOT compatible with any previous
version (version number < 0.6)!
This program will run on any 386 or better
computer. Memory requirements
depend on selected compression mode. The
number of files in one operation
is only limited by available memory, however
current version can't handle
archives with more than 2 GB total unpacked
size.
===< 2. Usage
>===============================================================
Usage: UHARC command [-switch..]
archive[.uha] [file..@listfile..!exclude..]
Commands:
~~~~~~~~~
a
Create archive/Add files
e Extract files to current dir
m
Create archive/Move files
x Extract files with full path
l
List files in archive
t Test files in archive
Switches:
~~~~~~~~~
ac[-,+]
Clear file archive attr
ae<attr> Set attr exclusion
mask
b<n> Set max filebuffer size bpb[-,+]
bpb instead of % ratio
d<0..2> Set display mode ed[-,+] Store empty directories
idle
Set idle process priority
lg<file> Log output to
<file>
m<0..3,x,z> Set compression mode md<n> Set dictionary size
mm[-,+]
MM-detection on/off
o[-,+,p] Set overwrite mode
pw[passwd]
Set password
p<-,r,f> Set path handling
r[-,+]
Recurse subdirectories
t<dir> Set extract target
dir
vm[-,+]
Set virtual memory usage
y[-,+] Assume yes on all
queries
* For commandline help type "UHARC"
without any parameter.
* The command character must be placed
immediately after "UHARC".
* The switches, if any, must follow the
command character. UHARC supports
the use of either "-" or
"/" as the switch option character.
* The UHARC archive name must be the first
filename on the commandline.
If there is no archive file extension
specified, UHARC will add the
default (".UHA") extension.
* After the archive filename come the list of
files for the given
operation. One or more files containing a
list of files to process
can also be used by prefixing the list's
filename with "@". It's
possible to mix filenames and list files in
any order. If a filename
on commandline or in a list file has prefix
"!", this means it will
be excluded in processing. Allowed
delimiters for filenames in list
files are space, tab and newline. Filenames
with spaces must be
enclosed in double-quotes. The line size in
list file must not
exceed 4095 characters.
* Filename wildcards are allowed in commandline
and in list files,
but not for archive filename. The use of
wildcards follow MS-DOS
convention. "*.*" means all
files. "*.txt" means all files with an
extension of ".TXT".
"?B*.*" means all files with a second character
of "B".
* If there are no files specified at all, all
files ("*.*") will be
processed (use "-r" to recurse
subdirectories).
---< 2.1. Commands
>----------------------------------------------------------
a
Create archive and add matching files.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If a file with the archive name already
exists, UHARC will ask
before overwriting this file, unless
you change the default
overwrite mode or use "-y".
Following switches have effect: ac ae b
bpb d ed lg m md mm o p pw r y
e
Extract matching files to current directory.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stored pathnames will be ignored. Using
the switch "-t", you can
change the current directory for
extracting.
Following switches have effect: b d lg
o pw t y
l
List matching files in archive.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Using switch "-y", UHARC will
not pause after one page, else you
can use the following keys:
ESCAPE =
Cancel (quit program)
TAB =
Disable pause
RETURN =
Next line
other keys = Next
page
Using switch "-d2", filenames
are not shortened and more
information are displayed.
Following switches have effect: b bpb d
lg pw y
m
Create archive and move matching files.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If a file with the archive name already
exists, UHARC will ask
before overwriting this file, unless
you change the default
overwrite mode or use "-y".
If compression was successful, UHARC
will delete matching files on disk (but
no directories).
Following switches have effect: ae b
bpb d ed lg m md mm o p pw r y
t
Test integrity of ALL files in archive.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Following switches have effect: b d lg
pw y
x
Extract matching files with full pathnames.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UHARC will use the pathnames stored in
archive for extraction (if
the archive was created with option
"-pf", this also includes drive
letters). Using the switch
"-t", you can select the root-directory
for all extracted dirs/files.
Following switches have effect: b d lg
o pw t y
Note:
During all operations it's possible to terminate the process
by pressing ESCAPE and answering the
following question with
"Y" (when listing files,
there is no additional query).
---< 2.2. Switches
>----------------------------------------------------------
--
Stop switches scanning
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This switch tells UHARC that
there are no more switches to be
processed. It's necessary if the
archive name starts with a
"-" character. Without
"--" switch such name would be treated
as a switch.
-!<char> Set exclude mask specifier
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Defines the character that is
used as exclude mask specifier.
It should be used if a file name
given in commandline or in
list file starts with the
default exclude mask character "!".
If no character is given
("-!") then exclude mask processing
will be disabled. This option
should be used carefully.
DEFAULT: -!!
-@<char> Set list file specifier
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Defines the character that is
used as list file specifier.
It should be used if a file name
given in commandline or in
list file starts with the
default list file character "@".
If no character is given
("-@") then list file processing
will be disabled. This option
should be used carefully.
DEFAULT: -@@
-ac[-,+]
Clear file archive attribute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-ac[+] Clear archive attribute of files stored in
archive.
-ac- Don't clear archive attribute.
If this option is enabled and
compression was successful,
UHARC will clear the archive
attribute of all files which
are stored in archive
(directories are not affected).
This option has effect with add
command only.
DEFAULT: -ac-
-ae<attr> Set attribute exclusion filter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Defines the filter for exclusion
based on file attributes.
Files are excluded if specified
attributes are set "+" or
cleared "-". File
attributes are:
"A" archive attribute
"H" hidden file attribute
"R" read-only attribute
"S" system file attribute
Example: switch
"-aeA-H+" means that files with archive
attribute cleared or hidden
attribute set are not included
in the processing list.
This option has effect with add
or move commands only.
DEFAULT: not specified
-b<n> Set maximum file buffer size (in KB).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After allocating all structures
for (de)compression the
remaining memory is used for
file buffers, but never more
than <n>. The minimum
buffer size is 50 KB.
DEFAULT: -b1024
-bpb[-,+]
Show bpb instead of % ratio
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-bpb[+] Show compression ratio
in bpb.
-bpb- Show compression ratio in %.
DEFAULT: -bpb-
-d<0..2> Set display mode.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-d0 Quiet mode (no process information, except
queries).
-d1 Display some process information.
-d2 Show more information (file info, verbose
listing).
DEFAULT: -d1
-ed[-,+]
Store empty directories
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-ed[+] Store also empty directories.
-ed- Don't store empty directories.
This option has effect with add
or move commands only.
DEFAULT: -ed-
-idle
Set idle process priority (Win32 only)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This option forces UHARC to set
its process in IDLE priority
class, which means UHARC is
executed as background task with
only small effect on normal
system operation (assumed there
is enough memory available).
This way UHARC can process very
large data sets without blocking
the system for long time.
DEFAULT: not specified
-lg<file> Log UHARC output to specified <file>.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If UHARC fails to open
<file>, no log is created (without an
error message). The display mode
setting has effect on log,
too.
DEFAULT: no log file
-m<0..3> Set compression mode.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-m0 Store files without compression.
-m1
Use ALZ:1 (fast) compression mode.
-m2 Use ALZ:2 (norm) compression mode.
-m3 Use ALZ:3 (best) compression mode.
-mx Use PPM compression mode.
-mz Use LZP compression mode.
ALZ uses advanced LZ77
compression algorithm with arithmetic
entropy coder. "-m1"
is the fastest ALZ mode, sacrificing
compression ratio to gain better
speed. Mode "-m3" achieves
best compression and needs most time.
"-m2" is a compromise
ratio/speed and is used as
default mode. The decompression
speed is nearly the same for all
ALZ modes and it is much
faster than compression.
PPM mode uses an order-4-2-1-0
model with preliminary LZP
pass. In most cases this mode
provides the best compression
results.
LZP mode uses the same
dictionary compression as in PPM mode
but with much simpler order-1-0
literal model.
There are also two extra modes
(may be not supported in
future versions):
-mr Use simple RLE compression.
-mw Use LZ78 with selectable dictionary size.
DEFAULT: -m2
-md<n> Set maximum dictionary size (in KB).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If dictionary is disabled, this
setting has no effect.
Valid sizes:
-m1..3,-mx,-mz n = power of 2 from 1 to 32768 or
"a".."p"
-mw n = power of 2 from 1 to 32 or "a".."f"
A one-character shortcut can be
used instead of size number,
e.g. "-mda" instead of
"-md1" or "-mdk" instead of "-md1024".
Dictionary size selection:
1. Using option
"-md<n>", UHARC will never select a
dictionary size greater
than <n>. If "-md<n>" is not
used, UHARC will try to use
default dictionary (n=4096).
2. If data stream size is
smaller than <n>, UHARC will use
the smallest dictionary
size which is greater than the
data stream.
3. If there is not enough
memory for current selection,
UHARC will use the largest
dictionary size which is
possible with available
memory.
DEFAULT: -md4096
-md[-,+]
Disable/enable dictionary-based compression.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This has effect only with modes
"-m1", "-m2", "-m3" and "-mx".
-md[+] Enable dictionary-based compression.
-md- Disable dictionary-based compression.
Generally, it's NOT RECOMMENDED
to disable dictionary-based
compression. Without dictionary,
the compression ratio is
almost always worse. But for
some data types (e.g. waveform
sounds or photographic
true-color pictures), the compression
isn't affected much by
dictionary. Using "-md-" in such cases
will speed up the compression process
considerably.
If dictionary-based compression
is disabled, there are nearly
no differences between the three
modes "-m1", "-m2" and "-m3".
DEFAULT: -md+
-mm[-,+]
Disable/enable built-in multimedia detection/compression.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-mm[+] Enable multimedia detection/compression.
-mm- Disable multimedia detection/compression.
UHARC multimedia detection/compression
supports many data
types (8/16-bit mono/stereo
waveforms, 24-bit true color
pictures and many other types
using 8/16/24/32-bit record
sizes). It's also possible to detect
multimedia-like data
in other file types (e.g. in
executables). Therefore it's
NOT RECOMMENDED to disable
multimedia detection/compression
unless the user knows, that
there is absolutely no chance
to use multimedia compression (e.g.
compressing text only).
DEFAULT: -mm+
-o[-,+,p]
Set overwrite mode.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-op Prompt user before overwriting files.
-o[+]
Always overwrite files without asking.
-o- Never overwrite existing files.
Using -op with -y has the same
effect as -o[+].
If UHARC shows an overwrite
query, the user can select one of
the following options:
"Y" Yes, overwrite current file.
"N" No, don't overwrite current file.
"A" Always Yes, overwrite current file and
auto-answer
all following
overwrite queries with "Y".
"C" Cancel, don't overwrite and quit process.
DEFAULT: -op
-p<-,r,f,e> Set path mode.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-p- Store no paths (exclude paths from names).
-pr Store relative paths.
-pf Store full paths including drive letter.
-pe Store relative paths but exclude all paths
specified in
commandline or in list file.
Using option "-pr",
paths are stored in relation with the
current directory of each drive
(drive letter isn't stored).
With option "-pf" it's
possible to backup data from different
drives into one archive and restore all
data correctly.
Option "-pe" is the
same as "-pr" but any path specified in
commandline or list file is
excluded from the path stored in
archive.
DEFAULT: -pr
-ph[-,+]
Archive header encryption
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-ph[+] Encyrpt archive header.
-ph- Don't encyrpt archive header.
The archive header contains folder
and file names, sizes etc.
of the complete archive. If this
header is encrypted then the
correct password is needed even
to read the archive content.
DEFAULT: -ph+
-pw[passwd]
Set encryption password
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-pw Request user to enter password.
-pw<s> Use "s" as password.
With switch "-pw" the
user is requested to enter the password
twice for safety reasons (input
will not be echoed on screen).
DEFAULT: not specified
-px
Pause before program exit
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This switch tells UHARC to wait
for a key stroke before exit.
It could be useful if the
console window will be closed
automatically after program
finish.
-r[-,+]
Set subdir recursion mode.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-r[+] Recurse subdirectories.
-r- Don't recurse subdirectories.
If recursion is enabled,
matching files are also searched
in all subdirectories
(regardless of directory names and
attributes) of all specified
directories (commandline and
list files).
DEFAULT: -r-
-sfx[stub]
Create self-extracting archive (Win32 version ONLY !).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With this option UHARC will create a
self-extracting archive
(SFX). A self-extracting archive
is a Win32 executable with
appended UHARC archive. Running
a SFX archive without any
options will extract
("x" command) the archive content to
current directory. The SFX
program supports "x", "e" and "t"
commands for any UHARC archive
(self-extracting and normal
ones) with same command-line
options as UHARC program. Other
commands are not supported.
[stub] is an optional parameter
specifying the stub program
used to create the SFX archive.
By default stub UHARCSFX.EXE
is used which must be located in
current directory or in the
directory where UHARC.EXE is
running from.
The SFX option is applicable
only if new archive is created.
The following DOS command can be
used in order to transform
an existing UHARC archive into
SFX:
COPY /B
UHARCSFX.EXE+"archive.uha" "archive.exe"
-t<dir> Set extract target directory.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UHARC will store all extracted
files in directory <dir>.
If <dir> doesn't already
exist, UHARC will create it.
Using this option with the
"e" command, <dir> will be the
'current directory' for
extracting. Using this option with
the "x" command,
<dir> will be the root-directory for all
extracted dirs/files.
DEFAULT: not specified
-vm[-,+]
Set virtual memory usage
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-vm[+] Use virtual memory.
-vm- Don't use virtual memory.
With virtual memory usage
disabled UHARC checks free physical
memory at program start and will
not use compression modes
that require more memory. Proper
work of this option is not
guaranteed if it is used in
multitasking systems.
DEFAULT: -vm-
-y[-,+]
Set auto-answer mode.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-y[+] Assume YES on all queries.
-y- Don't auto-answer queries.
Using the option -y[+], all
queries, except critical error
messages, don't appear on screen
and are auto-answered
with "Y".
DEFAULT: -y-
---< 2.3. Environment variable
>----------------------------------------------
It's possible to define default options in
the environment variable
"UHARC_OPT". Whenever UHARC is
executed, it first looks for this
environment variable and parses the values of
this variable like
commandline switches. Any arguments in the
environment variable
can be overridden on the commandline.
Example:
~~~~~~~~
SET UHARC_OPT=-d2 -p- -lgc:\uharc.log
When UHARC is next executed, it will use
verbose display mode,
store no paths and log all outputs to file
"C:\UHARC.LOG" by default.
Note:
If the environment variable contains a log file switch, it's
not possible to disable log file
directly. Use instead the switch
"-lgNUL" on commandline.
This overrides the default log file and
write all log outputs to the NUL file
(effective no output).
===< 3. Examples
>============================================================
1.
UHARC a archive *.dll @c:\list *.exe
This will compress all "*.DLL",
"*.EXE" and the files listed in the file
"C:\LIST" to the archive file
"ARCHIVE.UHA" using the default compression
mode.
2.
UHARC a -m3 -r -pf -o backup.arc c:\*.ini d:\*.ini c:\*.cfg d:\*.cfg
This will compress all "*.INI"
and "*.CFG" files on drives "C:" and "D:"
to the archive file "BACKUP.ARC"
using the ALZ:3 compression mode. UHARC
will store full paths including drive
letter, so it will be possible
to restore all files on correct drives. If
a file named "BACKUP.ARC"
already exists, UHARC will overwrite this
file without asking.
3.
UHARC m -mz -md64 -mm- -r text c:\text\*.txt
This will move all "*.TXT" files
in "C:\TEXT\" and its subdirectories
to archive file "TEXT.UHA" using
LZP mode with max 64K dictionary and
without multimedia detection/compression.
4.
UHARC l -d2 -lguharc.lst archive a*.doc b*.doc
This will verbosely list all "*.DOC"
files with a first character of
"A" or "B" in archive
file "ARCHIVE.UHA" and log the output to file
"UHARC.LST".
5.
UHARC x -y arc.uha
This will extract all files in archive
"ARC.UHA" with full paths. All
queries, except critical error messages,
will be auto-answered with YES,
so if one of the files already exists,
UHARC will overwrite this file
without asking the user.
6.
UHARC e -td:\temp archive readme.txt
This will extract the file "README.TXT"
from archive "ARCHIVE.UHA" to
the directory "D:\TEMP\". If this
directory doesn't already exist,
UHARC will create it.
7.
UHARC e -o- sounds @mysounds.lst
This will extract all files listed in
"MYSOUNDS.LST" from archive
"SOUNDS.UHA" to the current
directory. UHARC will not overwrite
existing files.
8.
UHARC t -d2 -lglog archive
This will test the integrity of all files
in archive "ARCHIVE.UHA" and
log the verbose output to file
"LOG".
9.
UHARC a -m3 -r -sfx MyGame "Games\My Favourite Game\*.*"
This will compress the complete content of
"Games\My Favourite Game\"
folder (including all subfolders) to the
self-extracting archive file
"MyGame.exe" using the ALZ:3
compression mode.
Note: SFX and long file names are supported
in Win32 version only!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Image courtesy of Vlad Gerasimov
Image courtesy of Flickr, Dennis Vu, Kaelri, Jonathan Besler
Image courtesy of RocketDock
Image courtesy of DryIcons
Image courtesy of Adam Bowman, via Okozo
Image courtesy of Dexpot
Image courtesy of Flickr, Therion 666, DeskSpace
Image courtesy of Flickr, Tom
