User's Manual for the REARJ archive conversion program, January 1992
REARJ software and manual copyright (c) 1991-92 by Robert K Jung.
All rights reserved.
REARJ version 2.23 release
INTRODUCTION:
REARJ is an archive conversion program designed to facilitate the
conversion of LZH, ZIP, PAK, ARC, DWC, HYP, LZS, and ZOO archives to
the ARJ format.
Registered ARJ users can order an improved version of REARJ that
offers !listfile selection and exclusion, file date-time selection,
REARJ_SW environment variable support, skipping a conversion when
the converted archive is larger, and other features. And more
registered REARJ enhancements will be forthcoming.
MAJOR FEATURES:
Supports all major archiver programs (PAK, LHARC, PKZIP, ZOO, ARJ,
PKPAK, DWC, HYPER, LARC, LHA).
Supports file attributes within archives.
Supports directories within archives.
Supports converting archives within archives (ZIPs in a ZIP).
Ensures reliable archive conversion with a file count and total size
check.
Supports the use of virus checkers and BBS ad removers.
Supports recursive scanning through subdirectories.
Optional logging of conversions.
********************
* WORDS OF CAUTION:*
********************
If you plan to convert many archives at one time, it is STRONGLY
suggested that you make a backup of your hard disk. This is a wise
precaution to take any time that you make major modifications to
data
on your hard disk drive.
The standard REARJ conversion DOES NOT convert any archive comments
and volume labels. They will be lost.
Some of the other archivers have significant bugs which can cause
data
loss that REARJ cannot detect. It is not the purpose of this
document
to point out other program's shortcomings. I suggest logging the
conversion output to a printer to facilitate checking for errors.
If the archives you are converting will ONLY extract to absolute
paths, you must use the /w option to set the working directory to an
empty root directory such as a RAMDRIVE. This will allow extraction
to the root.
REARJ and the archiver executables must be located in the DOS PATH
directories. This is due to REARJ creating and using a temporary
directory.
If you have changed the MS-DOS switch character from "/" to another
character via an undocumented MS-DOS interrupt or the TurboC
setswitchar() function, REARJ may not work properly with the default
REARJ.CFG configuration file.
The most thorough testing was done with ARJ as the target format and
ZIP as the original format. In any case, you should verify that the
extract commands of your favorite archive formats in the
configuration
file are correct. The extract commands are the most important to get
right because REARJ has a built-in verification procedure to ensure
that the ADD commands executed properly.
Be sure you have enough disk space on your working directory to
extract the largest archive that you want to convert!!!
The versions of archivers tested:
ARJ
LHA
PAK
PKZIP
PKPAK
ZOO
DWC
LARC
HYPER
1.00, 1.10, 2.00, 2.10, 2.20, 2.21, 2.30
2.12, 2.13
2.51
1.10
3.61
2.01, 2.10
A5.01
3.33
2.5
INSTALLATION:
Copy REARJ.EXE and REARJ.CFG to one of the DOS PATH directories.
They
do not have to be placed in the same directory. The PATH
directories
are usually set by the PATH command in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. At
this version of REARJ, changing its name to something else will
cause
operation difficulties.
Be sure the archiver programs (ARJ, PAK, PKZIP, PKUNZIP, etc.) and
virus scanner are installed in a DOS PATH directory!
This version assumes that you have the new SCAN version 80 and uses
the new option /sub to scan subdirectories.
OPERATION OF REARJ:
REARJ will build a temporary directory in the current directory and
extract the archive(s) to this directory.
REARJ will then build
the
target archive(s) with the files in this directory. If the target
archiver does not support reading of hidden or system files, REARJ
will reset those bits and then re-archive the files without those
attributes. If the original archive has directories in it, REARJ
will
extract it with full paths and re-archive it with full paths if the
target archiver supports directories. In this case, if the archiver
does not support directories, REARJ will skip converting this
archive.
If the "/a" option has been selected, REARJ will execute REARJ to
convert any internal archives of the same type to the target format.
Any "/s" option will be carried over to the recursive REARJ command.
As an extra test, REARJ will count the files extracted from the
original archive and total their sizes. Then REARJ will extract the
new archive and count the files and total the sizes. If the count
and
size do not match, REARJ will skip converting the archive.
REARJ assumes that the supported archivers will pass a non-zero
error
code when there is an operation failure.
COMMAND SYNTAX:
REARJ [switch options] filespec(s) or wildspec(s)
You can specify one or more filespecs on the command line. These
filespecs can have paths and wildcards. Up to 100 filespecs can be
accepted by REARJ. If you specify *.* as a wildspec, REARJ will
look
at all filenames, but will skip those filenames not ending in
standard
archive suffixes. If you specify the /r switch, REARJ will look for
filenames matching the filespec(s) in the current directory and all
subdirectories of the current directory.
The switch options and filespecs can be entered in any order. REARJ
uses the default MS-DOS switch character "/". REARJ uses the Turbo
C++ function getswitchar() to determine the MS-DOS switch character.
If the switch character is "-", REARJ will translate any UNIX style
pathnames to MS-DOS syntax ("dir/file" to "dir\file").
SWITCH OPTIONS:
/a - convert archives within archives
This option causes REARJ to recursively execute REARJ to convert
any archives of the original type found within the original
archive (ex. ZIPs within a ZIP). This option requires additional
memory to execute successfully.
You may specify the type of internal archive to convert with the
"/a" option.
Examples: REARJ *.zip /aLZH
convert only internal LZH
archives.
REARJ *.zip /a*
convert any internal archive.
If you use the "/a*" option, you may need to also specify "/u"
because of nested archives of the target type.
/b - execute command before extracting files
This option is used to specify a DOS command to be executed
before
extracting the original archive.
In addition, REARJ passes the name of the original archive to
this command as a command line argument when executing it. This
may cause a problem with DOS commands that expect no arguments.
A workaround would be to install the DOS command in a batch file.
This feature is to allow the user to prep the environment before
extracting the archive. This can be used to prep for archive
comments or volume labels, etc.
/c - execute command on extracted files before counting them
This option is used to specify a DOS command to be executed upon
the extracted files before REARJ counts them for later
verification. This is to allow executing a DOS or batch command
to clean up the extracted files (remove BBS advertisements, etc).
REARJ does not check for any returned error code from the
executed command.
In addition, REARJ passes the name of the original archive to
this command as a command line argument when executing it. This
may cause a problem with DOS commands that expect no arguments.
A workaround would be to install the DOS command in a batch file.
/d - delete the original archive
This option causes REARJ to delete the original archive after a
successful conversion to the target format. This option will NOT
delete read-only archives.
/e - do not return error if no archives were found
This option is used by the internal recursive REARJ.
This
option
will cause REARJ to return a zero exit code if no matching
archives were found. Usually, REARJ returns a non-zero exit
code for this condition.
/f - convert diskette archives
This option is used to facilitate the conversion of archives on a
diskette. If you do not have sufficient space on the diskette to
keep the original archives, you MUST specify the "/d" option as
in "REARJ A:*.zip /f /d".
This option causes REARJ to build the target archive in the
CURRENT directory (not the working temporary directory). After
verification, REARJ will, if specified, delete the original
archive and then copy the new archive to the diskette. You
should make sure that the current directory does not contain any
archives before executing REARJ.
/i - check program integrity
This option causes REARJ to validate the REARJ program on disk.
If you are using a pre-3.0 MS-DOS revision, you will have to
specify the full program name as in "REARJ /i\util\rearj.exe".
/l - write conversion data to log file
This option causes REARJ to open a log file and record each
successful conversion in the log file. The default log file name
is REARJ.LOG. You can specify the log file name as in
"REARJ /lfilename *.ZIP". If the log file already exists, REARJ
will append logging data to it.
/o - overwrite existing target archive
This switch is used to delete already existing target archives.
This is not used for updating archives. Use the /u option for
updating an archive.
/q - query for each archive to convert
This switch causes REARJ to pause and prompt the user for
permission to convert individual archives. Note that REARJ will
not prompt when skipping archives.
/r - recurse through subdirectories
This switch causes REARJ to look for archives in all included
subdirectories as well as in the current directory. This switch
allows the user to convert all archives on a hard disk with one
command.
/s - skip verify of file count and total size
Skip the overhead of the file count and total size verification
process. This verification costs an extra extraction, but this
check is worth the time, especially when converting a large
number of archives.
/t - specify the target archive type
The default target archive format is normally ARJ. This can be
changed by building an external REARJ.CFG file. The first
archive type is always the default format. To override the
default format, the user can specify the /t switch as in
"REARJ *.ZIP /tlzh". The previous example has specified that LZH
is the target format.
/u - allow update of archive with backup
This switch is used to re-archive an archive, possibly to take
advantage of improved compression. The original archive is
backed up by renaming it with the backup suffix which by default
is "BAK". You may specify another backup suffix with the /u
option as in "REARJ *.ARJ /uar$" where the backup suffix is
"ar$". Since this option creates a brand new archive, archive
comments will be lost. Do NOT specify a "." in the suffix.
/v - execute configured command on extracted files
This switch is used to execute a configure command on the files
extracted from the original archive. The intent is to allow
virus scanning of the archive contents. The command must be
specified in the REARJ.CFG file.
The command may be placed in the REARJ.CFG file by inserting one
line ahead of the archive commands. The line must start with the
word "VIRUS" followed by a blank and the external command.
Example:
VIRUS scan /nomem *.*
If the invoked command returns a non-zero error code, REARJ will
skip the conversion of that archive and log the error as code 13.
REARJ *.* /v
/w - set working directory
By default, REARJ creates a temporary working directory in the
current directory. This option allows you to specify the working
directory. The working directory must be EMPTY when invoking
REARJ. This directory is used to hold the extracted files.
This is NOT considered the current directory for /f use.
Example:
REARJ *.* /wd:\
This option helps solve the absolute pathname extraction problem
that some archivers have. If you set the working directory to an
empty root directory, the archiver can extract to the root and
REARJ will be able to find all of the files to re-archive them.
However, this option will NOT work for internal archives that
extract to absolute paths.
/x - exclude filenames or wildnames from the conversion process
You can exclude one or more files from the conversion process.
The filenames can contain wildcards.
REARJ *.ZIP /xONE.ZIP /xTWO.ZIP
/z - simulate conversion process
This switch causes REARJ to simulate the conversion process. No
archives will be extracted, built, or deleted.
EXAMPLES:
REARJ *.ZIP
this converts all ZIP files in the current
directory to ARJ files.
REARJ *.ZIP *.ARC
this converts ZIP and ARC files to ARJ
files.
REARJ SOFT.ZIP
REARJ A:*.ZIP /f /d
REARJ *.ARC /r
current
this converts only SOFT.ZIP to SOFT.ARJ.
convert ZIPs on A drive with deletion of
each original archive upon successful
conversion.
this converts all ARC files in the
directory and in subdirectories of the
current directory to ARJ files.
REARJ SOFT.ARJ /tZIP
this converts SOFT.ARJ to SOFT.ZIP.
REARJ *.ARJ /u
REARJ *.* /v /wd:\
re-archive all ARJ archives.
re-archive all archives and execute
configured command on extracted files
using d:\ as the temp directory.
EXTERNAL CONFIGURATION FILE
REARJ comes with a configuration file, REARJ.CFG, which supports
conversion between the ARJ, ARC, LZH, PAK, ZIP, DWC, LZS, HYP, and
ZOO
formats.
The commands PKPAK and PKUNPAK are used for ARC files.
The
command LHA is used for LZH files.
editing the configuration file.
You can change these defaults by
The format of the configuration file is fairly simple.
The first line can optionally specify an external command to be
executed by REARJ when the "/v" option is selected. This line must
start with the word "VIRUS" minus the quotes, followed by a space,
followed by the external command.
Example:
VIRUS SCAN /nomem *.*
If you do not want to configure this item, DO NOT insert a blank
line.
Each archive format requires four lines in the file.
The first line is the format suffix.
The second line is the archive ADD command with a %s in the place of
the archive name. Any other percent signs in the command must be
preceded by "\" as in "\%". The ADD command should support
directory
inclusion and reading of hidden and/or system files. REARJ will
parse
this command line using the space character as the token separator.
If your ADD command requires DOS piping as the ZOO archiver
requires,
you must precede the ADD command with the text "COMMAND /C ".
Example: ARJ a -a -r -jt %s
COMMAND /C STUFF *.* | ZOO aI %s
The third line is the archive EXTRACT command with a %s in the
place of the archive name. Any other percent signs in the command
must be preceded by "\" as in "\%". The EXTRACT command should
support directory recreation if the archive contains directories.
The extraction of directories must be to child directories within
the
current directory. REARJ will parse this command line using the
space
character as the token separator.
If your EXTRACT command requires DOS piping, you must precede the
EXTRACT command with the text "COMMAND /C ". Beware that command
exit
codes are not passed back to REARJ when using COMMAND /C.
The fourth line contains the letters "A" and/or "D" or no letters.
The "A" stands for the ability to process files with the hidden
and/or
system attribute. The "D" stands for full support of directory trees
within archives. No letters (blank line) stands for no support for
hidden or system files or for archive containing directories.
There must be NO EXTRA blank lines or comments in the file.
use leading blanks for clarity.
You may
See the supplied REARJ.CFG for the current configuration.
If you use a different archiver program, you will need to either
rename the program to one of the supported ones or you will need to
modify the installed REARJ.CFG file.
If your original archive format supports extraction to absolute
directory paths as opposed to relative directory paths and you have
such archives containing absolute paths, you should not put
directory
extraction in the REARJ.CFG file unless you use the /w option to set
the working directory to an empty root directory.
You can add comment handling to the ARJ command by adding the
"-zcomment.txt" option. This is supported at ARJ 2.20 and above.
LOG FILE DATA
When logging is enabled, REARJ will log the action on each selected
file. For successful conversions, REARJ logs the date-time, target
archive type, original archive size, new archive size, bytes saved,
and original archive name.
When selected files are skipped for any reason, REARJ will log an
entry in the log file (when logging is enabled) which specifies the
reason code for skipping the file. The following are the codes:
1
2
3
4
5
=
=
=
=
=
File not found
File is not a configured archive type
Target archive already exists
Not enough disk space
User skipped or user did not select update option
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
=
=
=
=
= UNPACK error
= PACK error
= Target cannot support directories
= Wrong file count
Wrong total size
Internal archive REARJ error
Rename archive error
Invoked /v command error (found a virus?)
LICENSE POLICY:
For personal (not at the office) use, the shareware version of
REARJ may be freely used only by ARJ users. An ARJ user is one who
uses ARJ on a regular basis. Others who wish to use REARJ must
purchase a registration or site license for the ARJ package.
Please refer to the LICENSE.DOC for more license information.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT:
Please report any bugs. I will TRY to fix them.
details on how to contact me.
HISTORY:
2.30 - Created registered version of REARJ.
2.23 - Fixed /z processing with /f option.
Added -jg+ to ARJ in REARJ.CFG
end document
See ARJ.DOC for