ZARC Ver 4.1 An easy to use Zip manager. It displays the current default directory and you simply tag the files you want zipped. Updated version to operate correctly while using DOS 5.0 & up. ________________ 7 Files provided within this Zipfile: ZARC-41.ZIP ZARC.EXE (Main program) ZARC.TXT (This file) ARJ2ZIP.ZIP Converts ARJ type files to Zip ( ARJ.EXE required) LZH2ZIP.ZIP Converts LZH type files to Zip ( LHA.EXE required) CLEANUP.ZIP Removes Junk BBS files from Zips. Uses a list of known JUNK filenames to delete from Zips. FILE_ID.DIZ File descriptions of ZARC for automatic insertion DESC.SDI of description when uploading to most BBS's. Any other or additional files included in the zip are not supplied by me and should be removed. Use FILE_ID.DIZ as a description when uploading to BBS. ________________ SETUP: To use ZARC, The program PKZIP.EXE (R) must be on your disk, and preferably within a search path. If it is not in a search path, or if ZARC cannot find PKZIP, an error message will appear when attempting create a zip file. To understand more about the operation of PkZip, refer to the MANUAL supplied with PkZip. To View text files, The program 'LIST' needs to be in your search path. It is called when viewing text files. For any additional information concerning the use of LIST, refer to the documentation supplied with LIST. (LIST76B.ZIP) It is best to place PKZIP and LIST in a directory that is included in a search path. The path is set as a statement in your Autoexec.bat file. Then you may place this program (ZARC) in the same directory and call both programs from which ever drive or directory you are working in. ( put LIST in a search path too.) Note: if PkZip or LIST is called from a batch file, the batch file should NOT change directories or drive to access PkZip or LIST. The search path will take care of it for you. Page 2 HOWTO: After invoking ZARC, you may select files by tagging them with the spacebar, or pressing T to tag all the files. (U to untag) To Zip a selection of files: Select the files that you want to include in the zip-file by pressing the space-bar to tag, or un-tag the selections. The directory may have more than one page of files. Press PgDn or PgUp to change pages. (also Home & End). The Arrow keys will move the highlighted file marker up or When pressing the spacebar, the highlighting marker moves down one place so as to tag many files easily. When You reach the bottom line of files, it will automatically change to the next page if there are additional files there. When you are satisfied with your selection, press Z to display the ZIP MENU. The menu will give you will be given options for the ZIP operation. You may: * Create a new zipfile that will contain the selected files. * Update an existing ZipFile by adding new files to it, or replace an existing file within the Zip. * Freshen an existing ZipFile. This means that PkZip uses the list of files from within the zipfile for consideration when freshening the Zip. If you specify filenames by tagging them then PkZip will only freshen or update the files tagged, IF they already exist within the zipfile, and only if the tagged file is different or changed from the original Zipped copy. If you do not tag any files, then PkZip will use the entire list from within the zipfile as a reference and will freshen them if the files on your disk have changed or are different from the ones within the zipfile. If the files have not been changed, or no match can be found with the names within the zip, then the message ' Nothing to do' will appear. * Re-Date a ZipFile. With this option, no files are added or updated. Pkzip reads the date for all the files within the zipfile, and selects the newest date. Then it re-set's the Zipfile date to this date. Often times, you will find a zipfile with a recent date, and find that the files within have older date. This happens when BBS systems add their JUNK advertisement files to the zipfile. Sometimes they RE-ZiP the files with a newer Zip version so as to compress the files better and faster. This also messes up the ZipDate. See the section on DATE setting option. Page 3 MOVE: * MOVE a file to a ZipFile. When using this option, All files added to a new or existing Zipfile, will be DELETED from the disk after confirming that the Zipfile was successfully generated or updated. This option is handy for those that want to save each days records in a zipfile archive for easy retrieval, and start fresh each day. Changing directories: Change directory by highlighting the directory name with the up or down arrow keys and pressing ENTER. When changing to a different directory, any tags will NOT be remembered. To zip files in two or more directories, zip the desired files in the first directory, remembering the path & filename. Change to the 2nd directory. Tag the files desired, and when creating the zip, indicate the same path & filename used in the first directory. The selected files will be added to the Zip. Change disk Drive by entering L to Log a new drive. When you are finished selecting the files by tagging them, and if you are updating an existing ZipFile, and it is in the current directory, simply highlight that zipfile with the highlight bar before going to the ZipMenu. From the ZipMenu, select the zip function desired. If a Zipfile was highlighted then that filename will be prompted for you. If it's the right filename, simply press enter. If it's not, then enter the proper name instead of the one displayed. Do not use any extension with the zipfile name. It will default to .ZIP automatically. In some cases, the zip extension may be needed. If the selected Zip name already exist, a warning will be displayed. This is a safety warning, and ZARC don't always know if you are attempting to make a new zip or updating an old one. If the file already exist, it can either add the tagged files to the existing zip, or update the existing zip if the file already exist within the zip. ZARC will exit and zip the files requested into the file name that you specified. DATE: The ZipDate used is determined by the date setting option. There are 3 options: 1. Use today's date for the generated Zipfile. 2. Use the same date as existing ZipFile. (when updating file). 3. Use the date of the most recent file within the zipfile. (including the date of the file just added to the zip). Page 4 To set date option, press D and select a method. This will be a temporary setting, and will return to the default each time ZARC is invoked. Also if you log a new disk drive, you may have to set it again. To change the default setting: Go to the directory where ZARC resides. At the DOS prompt, enter: C:> ZARC DATE Make a selection. It will configure ZARC and enter the program. Pressing enter or any other key will cancel the function. WORK DRIVE: While Zipping, or updating a Zipfile, a lot of disk space is required. If you are short on disk space, (such as working on drive A), you may specify a work drive that pkzip will use while creating or updating a Zipfile. Select this while in the ZipMenu. SORT: A sorting option will now let you sort the directory as displayed. This does NOT sort the disk. It only sorts the way it is displayed in ZARC. This is a simple type sort, and is often times slow, depending on the size of the directory, and the speed of your computer. Sorting was not the prime intent of ZARC, and therefore is only an afterthought for those who desire it. Shell: You may SHELL to dos, if needed, but you will need to know some of the precautions while using the shell. Remember, when shelling to dos, ZARC is still in memory. It uses much of the available memory, leaving less for your shell operation. DO NOT load any TSR type programs while in a shell unless you remove it from memory before exit back to ZARC. Note: While in a Dos Shell, running certain programs will cause the saved screen to be erased. If this happens, simply press Z and then the escape key. If this fails, press L and re-log the current drive. When you are finished with your shell, you should make sure that you return to the drive and directory that you shelled into. If you forget, and type exit, you can do one of 2 things: 1: Press F5 and return to shell, & return to the proper directory. 2: Press L to re-log into the current drive & directory. If any files were changed while you shelled, you will need to Re-Log the drive by pressing L and enter the drive letter that you want, (even if it's the same drive), so that the directory listing will be correct. Register: The following commands are available in registered versions of ZARC.EXE only: V = View an ascii file. Alt-V = Zip-View a zipped file. Page 5 Registered versions can Zip-View A zipped file to display the file names within the zipfile. To view the file names within a Zipfile, Highlight the zip file that you want to view. Press Alt-V. You can only Zip-View a file that has a .ZIP extension. Registration is required for commercial use of ZARC.EXE. Registration fee for individuals is reduced to $ 10. US. Funds. Registration fee for commercial, government or school use is $25.00 All fees are to be made in U.S. funds. All copyright rights reserved. ZARC.EXE shall remain the property of Al Richards, Shawnee Mission, Kansas and registration of ZARC.EXE is a licence grant to use ZARC.EXE as needed. You may distribute ZARC in it's original Zipped form to BBS's and friends provided that this text file is included in the Zipfile as supplied and no files included in the Zip are modified in any way, including this text file. No registered version may be distributed or uploaded to any BBS under any circumstances. Disclaimer: Although tested, I will not be responsible for any loss or damage to any data on any computer and the user assumes all responsibility for it's use. I am also not required to furnish updated versions unless they become available, if any. If you try ZARC, and any problems occur, please let me know and tell me what kind of computer you have trouble with and the version of dos. I am always interested in, and like to receive comments about using ZARC. Suggestions are always welcome. When registering, A unique registration code will be sent to you, and so far, this code will be good for all updates. Fill out the registration blank below. If you are already a registered user, The code for the previous version WILL work on ZARC-4.1 Page 6 Print or copy this page and use it for registration. (ZARC 4.1) Send your registration fee in U.S. funds to: AL RICHARDS 5201 ASH Shawnee Mission, Kansas 66205-2114 Your name __________________________________________________ Address __________________________________________________ City, State, Zip ___________________________________________ Company / Government name __________________________________ Phone Number ( ) ______________________________________ What BBS did you get Zarc from ? ___________________________ Type of computer & Dos version ____________________________ ------------------------------------ Check the lines that apply below: (U.S. Funds) ___ Registration (individual use) ($ 10. enclosed) ___ Commercial, Government, School use. ($ 25. enclosed) ___ Send Current or latest version. ($ 5. Additional) ( on 5 1/4" diskette only) Important: Enter on the line below, the registration name (or company name) EXACTLY as you want it to be displayed on the screen. (15 characters limit) It is CASE sensitive, so use UPPER and / or lower case characters as needed. (Please PRINT clearly) __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ (ZARC 4.1)