data/sessions/explorer-extract-zip-2/memory.md

Memory: explorer-extract-zip-2

Overview

Extract a zip archive from a shell into a folder beside it. Use this as the terminal route to the same end state as the file manager's extraction wizard: one command names the archive and the destination, which is written out explicitly rather than pre-filled. The recorded trace extracts Archive.zip into an Archive folder beside it and closes the shell with exit.

Prerequisites

• A desktop environment with a file manager that can expand archives, or a shell with an extraction tool.
• An archive file that exists and is readable, in a format the tool handles.
• Write access to the destination folder, and enough free space for the uncompressed contents — which can be far larger than the archive.
• Knowledge of whether the archive contains a single top-level folder or a set of loose files. This determines whether extracting "in place" produces one tidy folder or scatters files across the destination.
• No existing files at the destination that the archive's contents would replace.
• An archive from a source that is trusted enough to unpack. Extraction writes whatever paths the archive names.

Steps

Step 1 — Left-click at (268, 1060)

The task is to extract a zip archive into a folder named after it, which is a single expand command, so the first move is to open a shell. Move the cursor and Left-click the PowerShell icon in the taskbar.

Step 2 — Type: Expand-Archive $env:USERPROFILE\corpus-seed\Archive.zip -DestinationPath $env:USERPROFILE\corpus-seed\Archive

Type an Expand-Archive command to unpack the zip. It is PowerShell's built-in extractor, so nothing needs installing. -DestinationPath is given explicitly and names a folder called Archive beside the zip: that reproduces what Explorer's own Extract All does, which offers a folder named after the archive rather than scattering the contents into the current directory.

Step 3 — Press: Enter

After typing the command Press Enter to extract the archive.

Step 4 — Type: exit

Type exit to close the shell.

Step 5 — Press: Enter

After typing the exit Press Enter to run it and close the window.

Notes & Edge Cases

1. The destination names the directory to extract into, not a folder to create around the contents. Naming a new folder reproduces the tidy result; pointing it at the folder that already holds the archive scatters the contents beside it.
2. Where the contents land depends on the archive as much as on the command. An archive storing a top-level folder nests one level deeper than an archive of loose files, so list the entries before extracting rather than after.
3. The command refuses rather than overwriting when the destination already holds the same files, and the option that forces it replaces them silently. Decide which behaviour is wanted before running, not once it has failed.
4. The archive is not consumed; it remains beside the extracted contents.
5. Free space is measured against the uncompressed size, which the archive's own size says nothing useful about.
6. An archive from an unknown source can name paths outside the destination. Inspect the entries first when the source is not trusted.
7. The environment variable in both paths is expanded by the shell, so the same string handed to something that is not a shell leaves the literal text unresolved.
8. The prompt returning is not confirmation. Check the destination holds what was expected.