INTRO.DOC July 1995
INTRODUCTION:
This document is intended for new users of the file archiver, ARJ.
ARJ is a program that allows the user to store one or more files in
a compressed format in an archive file. This saves space both in
the compression and in the saving of disk sector clusters. On a
hard disk, each file requires a minimum amount of space, typically,
2048 to 8192 bytes. Combining 100 small files in an archive can
save 200K bytes of space or more.
For archiver flexibility, ARJ is arguably unsurpassed for features.
INSTALLATION:
This assumes that you have already executed the self-extracting
distribution archive and extracted its archived files into a
directory.
To install the ARJ software, simply copy ARJ.EXE, REARJ.EXE,
REARJ.CFG, and ARJSORT.COM to one of the directories named in your
DOS PATH statement found in your AUTOEXEC.BAT. On many PCs, this
directory may be C:\DOS or C:\BIN.
ARJ COMMAND USAGE:
The ARJ archiver gives you a lot of flexibility in command usage.
You can use zero options or many options on a command line.
The basic command line consists of:
1) the command "ARJ"
2) the ARJ command letter such as "a" (add), or "e" (extract)
3) the switch options such as "-r" (recurse through subdirectories)
4) the name of the ARJ archive
5) the name of the target directory (if any)
6) the names of the selected files
ARJ <command> [<options>] <archive_name> [<target_dir\>] [<files>]
Switch options (-r, -jp, and so on) may be placed anywhere in the
command line after the command "ARJ". The target directory name is
optional and should end in a "\" symbol. The default for the
selected files is "*.*".
CREATING ARJ ARCHIVES:
To create an ARJ archive containing all of the files in the
current directory:
ARJ a archive
To create an ARJ archive in another directory containing all of
the files in the current directory:
ARJ a directory\archive
To create an ARJ archive containing all files with the ".DOC"
extension in the current directory:
ARJ a archive *.DOC
To create an ARJ archive containing all files with the ".DOC"
and ".EXE" extension in the current directory:
ARJ a archive *.DOC *.EXE
To create an ARJ archive containing all of the files in a
named directory:
ARJ a archive named_directory\*.*
To create an ARJ archive containing all of the files in the
named directory and all files in subdirectories of the named
directory:
ARJ a -r archive named_directory\*.*
To create an archive containing files without pathname information
in the archive, creating slightly smaller archives:
ARJ a -e archive named_directory\*.*
For maximum compression, use the "-jm" or "-jm1" options.
For better speed, use the -m2 option.
ARJ a -r -jm1 archive named_directory\*.*
ARJ a -r -m2 archive named_directory\*.*
To create an ARJ archive containing the full specified pathnames
of the stored files including any drive and root specs:
ARJ a -r -jf archive C:\top_directory\*.*
LISTING THE CONTENTS OF AN ARCHIVE:
To list all of the files in an archive:
ARJ l archive
To list all of the files with display pauses:
ARJ l archive -jp
To list only the files with a ".DOC" file extension in an archive:
ARJ l archive *.DOC
The last field on the LIST display "BTPMGVX" stands for:
B -> file has been marked as a backup
T -> text/binary/directory type
P -> path information available in "V" listing
M -> compression method used
G -> file has been garbled (encrypted)
V -> archive has been continued to another volume
X -> this file is an extended portion of a larger file
EXTRACTING ARJ ARCHIVES:
To extract all of the files in an archive to the current
directory:
ARJ e archive
To extract all of the files in an archive to a named directory:
ARJ e archive named_directory\
To extract all files with the ".DOC" extension to the current
directory:
ARJ e archive *.DOC
To extract all of the files in an archive recreating the
original directory structure:
ARJ x archive
To extract all of the files in an archive containing absolute
pathnames to the original paths:
ARJ x -jf archive
TESTING THE INTEGRITY OF AN ARCHIVE:
To test the contents of an archive:
ARJ t archive
This testing verifies that the contents of the archive data matches
the original file. This is done using cylical redundancy checking,
CRC for short. ARJ uses a 32 bit CRC for increased reliability.
CREATING A SELF-EXTRACTING ARJ ARCHIVE:
A self-extracting ARJ archive is an EXE file that contains an ARJ
archive. This self-extractor when executed will extract the
contents of its archive.
The command "ARJ y -je archive" will create a full featured
self-extracting archive from an already built archive.
The command "ARJ y -je1 archive" will create a smaller
self-extracting archive.
Syntax: ARJ y -je archive produces archive.exe
CONVERTING ZIP ARCHIVES TO ARJ ARCHIVES:
You can convert a directory of ZIP archives to ARJ archives with
the following commands:
1) Change to the directory with the ZIP archives.
2) Type REARJ *.ZIP
COMMON PROBLEMS USING ARJ:
By default, ARJ stores the path specified with the filename in the
archive. "ARJ a archive temp\*.*" will store the path "temp\" with
the filenames. You may eliminate the paths with the "-e" option.
You can remove the paths with the "r" command as in "ARJ r archive".
ARJ identifies each file by the name stored in the archive.
Filenames with paths are considered by ARJ to be DIFFERENT from
filenames without paths. In other words, "temp\notes" is not the
same as "notes". This can result in archives that have duplicates
if you archive a set of files twice with different file
specifications as in
"ARJ a archive temp\*.*" and "ARJ a archive *.*".
When updating an ARJ archive, ARJ builds the new archive as a
temporary file in the same directory as the original archive. This
can require a lot of extra disk space. If you are adding files,
you will need as much free space as the original archive plus space
for the added files.
When archiving files to DISKETTES, it is STRONGLY recommended that
you use the "-w" option and the "-jt" option. The "-w" option sets
a working directory. This should point to a fast disk drive
directory. The "-jt" option verifies the archive.
ARJ a -wC:\ -jt a:archive *.*
When copying archives to DISKETTES, it is strongly recommended that
you verify that the diskette archives are intact. Most damaged
archives involve diskettes.
FOR FURTHER STUDY:
ARJ supports hundreds of options for functions such as archiving
across multiple diskettes, accessing hidden files, selecting files
by date, and more. See the ARJ.DOC reference guide for more
information.
end of document
