Short: GUI for archivers LhA,LZX,DMS,DSQ v2.3 Author: johnw@kvnet.org (John Wells) Uploader: johnw kvnet org (John Wells) Type: util/arc Replaces: util/arc/ccb.lha Architecture: m68k-amigaos Compressor Control Box - v2.3 August 24, 1997 by John Wells Requirements: I'm not sure, but I don't think CCB will run on pre-2.04 systems. I don't know anyone still using 1.3! It does work on 2.04 thru 3.1 DMSDescript (v1.1) View/Add File_id.diz to DMS files DMS.device (v1.40) Treat DMS files as valid devices PackDev (v1.7) (De)Compress DiskSqueeze! files DirII (v3.3) Create Files.dsq for DiskSqueeze! DMS (v1.11+) * (De)Compress DMS files LhA (v1.38e+) * Manipulating LHA files LZX (v1.20e+) * Manipulating LZX and DiskSqueeze! files (* - Not Included) INTRODUCTION This program is a convenient interface for using several disk/file archivers. Currently, Compressor Control Box (hereafter known as CCB) supports the following archivers: LZX, LHA, DMS, and DSQ. HISTORY v2.3 - 24 August 97 Did some tinkering with the SETTINGS, after restoring all the code that was lost in a massive HD crash. I also lost the names and email addresses of all registered users, so if you are a registered user, please email me so I can send you a copy of the registered version. v2.2 - 24 March 97 Decided to start moving away from the tooltypes (they were a pain anyway) and implemented variables stored in ENV & ENVARC, created a new pull-down menu, SETTINGS, to do what used to be done with the tooltypes. If CCB finds the tooltypes it will use them, but if not it will look for the variables in ENV and/or ENVARC. Decided to make CCB pop up in the center of the display screen, love to find out what users think of that. Easy enough to remove if need be. We'll see. CCB now shows in the SOURCE & DESTINATION windows the default settings, until/unless something else is chosen. v2.11 - 24 December 96 Nothing major, just fixed the included ToolTypes on the CompressorControlBox icon so that they actually worked. Seems I fixed the ones I use, but not the ones for the distribution. Geez, sometimes it just seems like nothing goes the way it's supposed too! Oh, well. Enjoy! v2.1 - 4 August 96 Well, improving the handling of the ToolTypes in v2.0 resulted in some other problems, namely, the program didn't read them correctly, and reverted to the defaults! So I REALLY fixed it this time! I also changed the way CCB handles valid floppy devices, and removed the IGNORE ToolType. Instead I added a new ToolType, DEVICES. This allows you to specify the floppy-type devices that DMS and DSQ will use. I also changed the way DMS files are converted to DSQ, it now uses the dms.device instead of DMS itself. Of course, this function is only available to registered users. v2.0 - 9 June 96 Straightened up some items in the display window, added another pull-down menu item (I'm not gonna tell, you'll have to take a look!), fixed the AUTODELETE function, removed some code that didn't do anything, improved the handling of the ToolTypes. v1.9 - 16 Mar 96 Ok, I think I REALLY fixed the IGNORE problem, this time. There are several devices built in that are scanned for and removed, I know that there will be some left over, but that's what the tooltype is for. If it still gives you problems, let me know what the problem is, I'll try to correct it. v1.8 - 9 Mar 96 Fixed some problems with the log generator, set it to default to using 'MORE' if the viewer specified by the tooltype could not be found. Remember, you MUST specify a complete path to the viewer, for exammple 'C:MultiView', not just 'MultiView'. v1.7 - 1 Mar 96 Added the tooltype IGNORE, which allows the user to specify which devices to NOT show when using DMS/DSQ. Just add other devices to the tooltype, each separated by '|', such as IGNORE=CD1|TCP|FIFO v1.6 - 18 Feb 96 Added a logfile, which will keep track of all actions performed by CCB. It will be located in the same directory that CCB is in, so it will be easy to find. Added another pull-down menu item, 'View CCB Log' (hotkey is Right-Amiga V). This will call your default viewer, or C:MultiView if not set, to display the log file. I realized that I had forgotten to specify how to use the 'batch' conversion mode for LhA-2-LZX and DMS-2-DSQ. Here it is. Select the first file to convert, hold down the shift key, and select as many others as you wish. Pretty easy, just like shift-selecting icons on the WorkBench. Found, and squashed, a little bug in the history function, should work the way it's supposed to now. Added checking for processor-type (680x0), so that the special functions of LZX won't be tried if the processor doesn't support them (sorry, 68000/010 users. Didn't mean to alienate you!) Added another tooltype, AUTODELETE, which will automatically delete the original file during batch conversion, IF the conversion had no errors. I personally converted over 180 megs of DMS files to DSQ, with no errors at all. And I converted over 200 megs of LHA files to LZX, no problems there, either. Added a routine to remove some devices from the 'Select Device' requester used for DMS and DSQ, so no more AUX, FIFO, TCP, PCx, whatever when all you need is DFx. Or FFx :-) If you wish to compress MS-DOS disks using DSQ (which is VERY possible to do!), I suggest installing MFS. Makes life much easier, if you use strange disk formats often. If there are some devices that show up that shouldn't, let me know what they are, and I'll have them removed also. v1.5 - 12 Feb 96 Added 'batch mode' to the LhA-2-LZX and DMS-2-DSQ conversion routines. Added tooltype support for defining the Source, Destination and temporary T: directories, as well as the ability to define where your favorite viewer is. If the ToolTypes are not found, the defaults of SYS: and C:MultiView will be used. Moved the 'Free Mem' indicator from the window title bar to it's location next to the 'Select Compressor' text for legibility. Re-arranged the 'History' in this document, to show the latest info at the top. Removed the use of DLDiz (no longer needed). Enhanced the error-detection routines. v1.4 - 30 Jan 96 Ok, cleaned up the GUI, think I have the docs pretty well squared away now. I have (I think) complied with Dirk Vael's request to dump xDM and switch support to DiskSqueeze!, I hope he likes the way it has turned out. Fixed a bug in the creation of a new drawer for decompressing lha and lzx archives (thanks for spotting that, Ashley!), fixed the constant re-drawing of the program window, added the ability to delete the original or the new when converting from lha-to-lzx and when converting from DMS-to-DSQ. Added a bunch of progress indicators, so you won't think things are frozen when converting files, fixed the memory indicator (I hope), added a means of assigning T: to the hard drive if low on memory, fixed a serious bug in the DMS and DSQ routines (I won't tell what it was. If you found it, you know what it was). Changed the 'Abort' button to 'Reset All', which is what it was originally supposed to do (and now does). There might be more, but after 3 days sitting in front of Amy, I can't seem to remember! I would like to especially thank Ashley for doing the AmigaGuide for CCB. Looks great! v1.31 - 27 Jan 96 This was an emergency release, disabling the xDM portions of CCB. I received a message from the originator of xDM, Dirk Vael, asking me to remove xDM from the program. In haste, I simply disabled those functions pertaining to xDM and sent it out, to replace the v1.3 release. I'll get the GUI and docs cleaned up for the next release. v1.3 - 20 Jan 1996 Finally found a way to make LhA and LZX compress a directory and include the selected path ONLY, as well as the .info for the drawer (if it exists). What this means, is that you will no longer have files that un-compress to something like: WorkBench:Games/FavoriteOfAllTime/blah Instead, if you had elected to compress the drawer 'FavoriteOfAllTime/', containing 'blah' and such, it will actually only have the path of 'FavoriteOfAllTime/blah', just like it should! Also, I finally got around to fixing up some of the pull-down menus, take a look at them. One more thing. I found the program 'DMSDescript', which means that you can now View/Add a File_id.diz to DMS files. v1.3 - FIRST REGISTERED VERSION I decided to make the LhA-2-LZX and DMS-2-xDM options only available to registered users, have to give them some kind of benny for registering! Since v1.0 - v1.2 did not support this repacking option, it looks like v1.3 will be the first to give the un-registered users something to think about. I find the option VERY handy, since it is SO EASY TO USE! So come on, folks, go ahead and register. It really is worth it! :) v1.2 - 14 Jan 1996 Spruced up the appearance of the GUI somewhat, added a pop-up requester to the DeCompress option of LhA and LZX, to ask the user if a drawer should be created to put the contents into. Straightened up some code, got rid of some excess, added the 'About' menu item. Just little stuff, really. Oh, and I cleaned up this readme, too! v1.1 - 9 Jan 1996 Finally found a way to fix the niggling problem with selecting the device to use for DMS and xDM. The user can now select ANY floppy-type device for use by CCB. Added a 'history' function to the source/destination requesters, so that the last directory used will be the default (hope that is what you had in mind, Ashley!) Fixed the 'View/Add Diz' option, can now view the File_id.diz of LZX, LhA, DMS, and xDM archives, and can add a File_id.diz to LZX, LhA, and xDM files. Sorry, nothing for DMS (yet!). Added a Memory display to the title bar, good for keeping track of just how much ram you have left after crunching up several disks or directories. v1.0 - 1 Jan 1996 Initial release