2006-10-15 15:23:50 UTC
UHARC is one of the best archivers ever made. Really. The compression result is usually far better than any other archiver. According to my experience, the archive file size is (average) 10% smaller than one compressed with RAR3-format. As there are many people out there with no idea how to use this command prompt-archiver, I decided to give you a tiny, but comprehensive guide.
This instruction applies to UHARC 0.4, get it here.. To make the usage easy, save it to your /system32 -folder.
Usage: UHARC command [-switches..] archive[.uha] [filespec..@listfile..]
Commands:
~~~~~~~~~
a Create archive/Add files e Extract files to current dir
m Create archive/Move files x Extract files with full path
l List files in archive t Test files in archive
Switches:
~~~~~~~~~
b Set max buffer size o[-,+,p] Set overwrite mode
d<0..2> Set display mode p<-,r,f> Set path mode
lg Log output r[-,+] Recurse subdirectories
m<0..3> Set compression mode t
Set extract target dir
md Set dictionary size y[-,+] Set auto-answer mode
md[-,+] Disable/enable dictionary-based compression
mm[-,+] Disable/enable built-in multimedia detection/compression
* For commandline help type "UHARC" without any parameter.
* The command character must be placed immediately after "UHARC".
* The switches, if any, must follow the command character. UHARC supports
the use of either "-" or "/" as the switch option character.
* The UHARC archive name must be the first filename on the commandline.
If there is no archive file extension specified, UHARC will add the
default (".UHA") extension.
* After the archive filename come the list of files for the given
operation. One or more files containing a list of files to process
can also be used by prefixing the list's filename with "@". It's
possible to mix filenames and list files in any order. Allowed
delimiters for filenames in list files are space, tab and newline.
* Filename wildcards are allowed in commandline and in list files,
but not for archive filename. The use of wildcards follow MS-DOS
convention. "*.*" means all files. "*.txt" means all files with an
extension of ".TXT". "?B*.*" means all files with a second character
of "B".
* If there are no files specified at all, all files ("*.*") will be
processed (use "-r" to recurse subdirectories).
Commands and Switches
Commands and Switches
a Create archive and add matching files.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If a file with the archive name already exists, UHARC will ask
before overwriting this file, unless you change the default
overwrite mode or use "-y".
Following switches have effect: -b -d -lg -m -md -mm -o -p -r -y
e Extract matching files to current directory.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stored pathnames will be ignored. Using the switch "-t", you can
change the current directory for extracting.
Following switches have effect: -b -d -lg -o -t -y
l List matching files in archive.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Using switch "-y", UHARC will not pause after one page, else you
can use the following keys:
ESCAPE = Cancel (quit program)
TAB = Disable pause
RETURN = Next line
other keys = Next page
Using switch "-d2", filenames are not shortened and more
information are displayed.
Following switches have effect: -b -d -lg -y
m Create archive and move matching files.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If a file with the archive name already exists, UHARC will ask
before overwriting this file, unless you change the default
overwrite mode or use "-y". If compression was successful, UHARC
will delete matching files on disk (but no directories).
Following switches have effect: -b -d -lg -m -md -mm -o -p -r -y
t Test integrity of ALL files in archive.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Following switches have effect: -b -d -lg -y
x Extract matching files with full pathnames.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UHARC will use the pathnames stored in archive for extraction (if
the archive was created with option "-pf", this also includes drive
letters). Using the switch "-t", you can select the root-directory
for all extracted dirs/files.
Following switches have effect: -b -d -lg -o -t -y
Commands and Switches Continued
Note: During all operations it's possible to terminate the process
by pressing ESCAPE and answering the following question with
"Y" (when listing files, there is no additional query).
-b Set maximum file buffer size (in KB ).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After allocating all structures for (de)compression the
remaining memory is used for file buffers, but never more
than . The minimum buffer size is 50 KB.
DEFAULT: -b2048
-d<0..2> Set display mode.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-d0 Quiet mode (no process information, except queries).
-d1 Display some process information.
-d2 Show more information (file info, verbose listing).
DEFAULT: -d1
-lg Log UHARC output to specified .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If UHARC fails to open , no log is created (without an
error message). The display mode setting has effect on log,
too.
DEFAULT: no log file
-m<0..3> Set compression mode.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-m0 Store files without compression.
-m1 Use FAST compression mode.
-m2 Use NORM compression mode.
-m3 Use BEST compression mode.
Mode "-m1" is the fastest mode, sacrificing compression ratio
to gain better speed. Mode "-m3" achieves best compression and
needs most time. Mode "-m2" is nearly as good as BEST mode,
while running at higher speed (best compromise ratio/speed).
The decompression speed is nearly the same for FAST/NORM/BEST
modes and is much faster than compression.
There are also two extra modes (may be not supported in
future versions):
-mr Use simple RLE compression.
-mw Use modified LZW compression with selectable
dictionary size.
DEFAULT: -m2
-md Set maximum dictionary size (in KB ).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If dictionary is disabled, this setting has no effect.
Valid sizes:
-m1..3 n = 1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256,512,1024 or 2048
-mw n = 1,2,4,8,16 or 32
Dictionary size selection:
1. Using option "-md", UHARC will never select a
dictionary size greater than . If "-md" is not
used, UHARC will try to use maximum dictionary (n=2048).
2. If data stream size is smaller than , UHARC will use
the smallest dictionary size which is greater than the
data stream.
3. If there is not enough memory for current selection,
UHARC will use the largest dictionary size which is
possible with available memory.
DEFAULT: -md2048
-md[-,+] Disable/enable dictionary-based compression.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This has effect only with modes "-m1", "-m2" and "-m3".
-md[+] Enable dictionary-based compression.
-md- Disable dictionary-based compression.
Generally, it's NOT RECOMMENDED to disable dictionary-based
compression. Without dictionary, the compression ratio is
almost always worser. But for some data types (e.g. waveform
sounds or photographic true-color pictures), the compression
isn't affected much by dictionary. Using "-md-" in such cases
will speed up the compression process considerably.
If dictionary-based compression is disabled, there are nearly
no differences between the three modes.
DEFAULT: -md+
-mm[-,+] Disable/enable built-in multimedia detection/compression.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This has effect only with modes "-m1", "-m2" and "-m3".
-mm[+] Enable multimedia detection/compression.
-mm- Disable multimedia detection/compression.
UHARC multimedia detection/compression supports many data
types (8/16-bit mono/stereo waveforms, 24-bit true color
pictures and many other types using 8/16/24/32-bit record
sizes). It's also possible to detect multimedia-like data
in other file types (e.g. in executeables). Therefore it's
NOT RECOMMENDED to disable multimedia detection/compression
unless the user knows, that there is absolutely no chance
to use multimedia compression (e.g. compressing text only).
DEFAULT: -mm+
-o[-,+,p] Set overwrite mode.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-op Prompt user before overwriting files.
-o[+] Always overwrite files without asking.
-o- Never overwrite existing files.
Using -op with -y has the same effect as -o[+].
If UHARC shows an overwrite query, the user can select one of
the following options:
"Y" Yes, overwrite current file.
"N" No, don't overwrite current file.
"A" Always Yes, overwrite current file and auto-answer
all following overwrite queries with "Y".
"C" Cancel, don't overwrite and quit process.
DEFAULT: -op
-p<-,r,f> Set path mode.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-p- Store no paths (exclude paths from names).
-pr Store relative paths.
-pf Store full paths including drive letter.
Using option "-pr", paths are stored in relation with the
current directory of each drive (drive letter isn't stored).
With option "-pf" it's possible to backup data from different
drives into one archive and restore all data correctly.
DEFAULT: -pr
-r[-,+] Set subdir recursion mode.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-r[+] Recurse subdirectories.
-r- Don't recurse subdirectories.
If recursion is enabled, matching files are also searched
in all subdirectories (regardless of directory names and
attributes) of all specified directories (commandline and
listfiles).
DEFAULT: -r-
-t
Set extract target directory.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UHARC will store all extracted files in directory
.
If
doesn't already exist, UHARC will create it.
Using this option with the "e" command,
will be the
'current directory' for extracting. Using this option with
the "x" command,
will be the root-directory for all
extracted dirs/files.
DEFAULT: not specified
-y[-,+] Set auto-answer mode.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-y[+] Assume YES on all queries.
-y- Don't auto-answer queries.
Using the option -y[+], all queries, except critical error
messages, don't appear on screen and are auto-answered
with "Y".
DEFAULT: -y-
Conclusion
Example:
In this example, I created a CD-image of BeOS R4.5 with CloneCD, creating a cue-sheet. Command line says "uharc a -d2 -m3 -p- archivename filestakentoarchive"
In other words,
* uharc is in the "system32"-folder, so I can use it wherever I want
* a is for creating the archive
* d2 is just "bonus", gives you some details more while uncompressing
* m3 means you use the best compression method. This is a must
* p- means there won't be any path details added to the archive
* This example adds four files to one archive called "BeOSR45.uha"
* Completed succesfully (2976.9 sec) - it took almost an hour with 1800MHz, but as you can see, it was worth it - the packed image is only 52% of the original.
Extracting the image
Create a batch-file like the following:
Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@echo off
cls
echo unpacking the archive, please wait!
uharc x -y archivename.uha
del uharc.exe
del unpack.bat
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(save this as "unpack.bat", together with the archive and uharc.exe in the same folder!)
* x means to extract
* y means, if there are some questions, all are answered "yes" like overwrite etc - this is an optional switch..
Try it yourself!
