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(assuming you're using one disk drive) you would then get a listing of all
the files in the file total.arc, how many blocks they contained before they
were compressed, the method used to compress them, and how many blocks they
contained after compression. The listing will also tell you the total
number of files in the archive file and the total number of blocks before
and after compression.
arc/v
After you've created an archive file, use this command to verify its
contents. This command checks to make sure that each file survived the
archiving procedure without being corrupted. If the files all check out,
you'll get a message to that effect. If they don't, you'll be told that
too. To verify the arcfile TOTAL you'd type
arc/v total (or total.arc)
ARC is a versatile utility program that can do much more than just
create and dissolve files. For complete documentation on the many things
the program can do for you, be sure to read the documentation files for the
version of the program which you are using.
This file was originally written for ICUG, the Independent Computer
Users' Group. It may be distributed elsewhere provided that it is not
modified and that this notice and the author's credit is not removed. All
questions, comments, contributions or whatever are always welcome.
Marte Brengle
Box 465
Burbank, CA 91503
CompuServe 76703,4242 or 70317,24
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO ARC
26 SEPT 1986
CHRIS SMEETS
[76337,2216]
ARC is a utility program for the
Commodore 64 computer which can be used
to create and maintain file archives,
as well as do routine disk maintenance.
An archive is a single disk file
representing the contents of one or
more other files. They are identified
by a name which ends in ".arc" and can
be extracted to obtain exact duplicates
of the files that went into it.
When creating an archive, ARC uses
advanced data compression techniques to
compress each file being archived. ARC
will first analyze each file
individually, and then based on the
files characteristics, ARC chooses one
of five different methods to compress
the file. The result is almost always
significantly smaller than the original
file.
The amount of savings you can expect
varies with the type of file being
archived, and ranges between 10-15% for
machine language programs to as much as
60% or more for graphics and text
files.
There are many advantages to using
ARC.
One archive can represent several
different files. Programs, or data can
be organized into logical groups and
archived making it quite a bit easier
to transfer the information by modem,
and helps to keep your backups
organized. You save alot of time by not
having to figure out if you in fact got
all the files you needed to get the
program to work!
ARC keeps track of file names and
file types. This saves alot of trouble
when transferring data to/from non
Commodore systems (like CIS, RBBS or
FIDO) which do not support Commodore's
non standard ASCII, 16 character
filenames, or file types.
ARC calculates a two byte checksum
for each file being archived. Most file
transfer protocols have some type of
error checking, but the occasional
error does get through undetected. If
this should happen then ARC will most