Contents |
Description
It's a CP/M tool created by Robert A. Freed. Latest version is the v1.6. You can find it
- as UNARK on Clubguide Magazine 08 and Clubguide Special 01
- as UNARC on Future Magazine 6, MSX Club Magazine 28, MSX Club Magazine 32, MSX Club Magazine 39, Workshop 4 MSX
Syntax
Effect
Checks, lists, displays, prints and decompresses the .ARC and .ARK archive formats.
The command always lists the archive content, giving many infos for each compressed file: name, uncompressed length, disk space required for extraction, compressing method, version, length after compression, percentage of gain, date, time, CRC code. If the archive contains more than one file, the total number of files is displayed.
Version refers to the compression versions supported by UNARK: unpacked files can have versions 1 or 2; packed files, version 3; squeezed files, version 4; crunched files, versions 5-8; and squashed files, version 9.
The other effects of the command depend on the used parameters.
Syntax
UNARK <Device>:<ArchiveName> <Device>:<Filename> N|P|C
or
UNARC <Device>:<ArchiveName> <Device>:<Filename> N|P|C
Parameters
When used without any parameter, UNARK or UNARC will display an on-line help message.
<Device> is the name of used device for the archive or the decompressed files. It can only be a disk drive.
If you don't specify the drive, the computer will work with the currently active drive (by default, it's drive A:).
| Device type | Device name | Remark |
|---|---|---|
| Disk drive | A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H | A floppy disk interface can control until 2 drives. |
<ArchiveName> is the name of the archive. The extension ARK or ARC can be omitted.
<Filename> is the name of the file that interests you. The file will be extracted only if you have specified the destination drive name. Without that, the file will be simply displayed, optionally printed or checked. Note that binary files can't be displayed.
Wildcards can replace some characters in filename to get several files. The asterisk (*) and question mark (?) are used as wildcard characters. The asterisk matches any sequence of characters, whereas the question mark matches any single character. When trying to get several files without specifying the destination drive name, you will get only the listing of these files.
When a file name is not specified, all the files of the archive will be handled by the command. It has as consequence that for example UNARK HELP.ARK *.*, UNARK HELP *.* and UNARK HELP will produce the same results.
N is used to get continuous display and messages on screen without screen pauses.
P is used to print the extracted file.
C is used to check the files in an archive.
You can only use one of the NPC parameters at a time.
Examples
A>UNARK MUSIC A:PD0044.FMPA>UNARK HELP B:*.DOC
A>UNARK HELP *.* C
A>UNARK HELP MUSIC.DOC PA>UNARK HELP *.DOC N
Related to
Minimum Environment
- MSX1 with 64kB RAM
- CP/M 2.0 for Z80 or MSX-DOS 1
- 30kB of available memory space (TPA)