                           "Arc Over Easy"
                           by Marte Brengle
                       revised and updated 10/92


     ARC is a copyrighted, user-supported file-archive program from Ampere 
Metal.  As "shareware," the author asks for a contribution if you like the 
program.  A donation registers you as a user of the program, and you will 
get more extensive documentation in return; for $20.00 (or more) you'll 
receive the most current edition of the program on disk as well.  To 
register, send your donation, with your name and address, to

                     Ampere Metal
                     6141 Atlantic Drive
                     Unit 9
                     Mississauga, Ontario
                     Canada  L5T 1L9


     This file only gives simplified instructions for creating and 
extracting from archive files; for complete documentation, see the document 
file for the version of ARC which you are currently using.  Please note that 
the version of ARC numbered 2.50 has problems and we do not recommend using 
it.  ARC 2.30 (available in CBMAPP's ARC/Help/Forum Utils library, Library 2, 
as ARC230.BIN) is the most bug-free version available.

     One of the primary uses of ARC is to combine several separate files 
into one file for easier uploading and/or downloading from BBS's and 
computer networks.  ARC will compress the component files as well, thus 
saving time and money during the file transfer.  ARC uses commands based on 
MS-DOS and CP/M syntax, so they may appear unfamiliar at first.  However, 
once you understand the logic behind it, you'll see that in many ways the 
ARC syntax is easier to learn and remember.

     To begin with, ARC uses letters to indicate disk drives, rather than 
drive and device numbers.  When using ARC with only one disk drive, you 
don't have to indicate which drive you're using, but if you do have more 
than one drive active, it is very important to tell the program which 
actions you wish to have performed by which drives.  It's also important to 
remember that the author of ARC had dual drives, rather than single drives, 
in mind when he set up the lettering system, so if you're using two single 
drives, you have drives A and C, not A and B.  Here's a table of letter 
equivalents for drive/device numbers. 

drive letter  a    device 8    drive 0  (default setting, one disk drive)
              b           8          1  (dual drive)
              c           9          0  (second single drive)
              d           9          1  (second dual drive)
              e          10          0  (third single drive)
              f          10          1  (third dual drive)
              g          11          0  (fourth single drive)
              h          11          1  (fourth dual drive)

You can use the ARC syntax to call up programs from any drive(s) to be 
combined into one file on any other drive.

     When you are using the "archive" feature of the program, that is, 
combining multiple files into one file, or separating files that have been 
combined, you indicate that to the program by typing the word "arc" 
followed by a slash and then a letter.  For example, typing  arc/c  tells 
the program you wish to create an archive file.  Here's a list of archive 
commands, adapted from the documentation for ARC 2.10.



arc/x  (or arc/e)

     Once you've downloaded an ARC file, you need to separate it into its 
component parts before it will run on your computer.  The arc/x command 
will do that, and will store the component files on any disk drive you 
specify.  If you want the files stored on the same disk as the archive 
file, you don't need to specify a drive letter.  

     Let's say you downloaded a file called GAME.ARC and you want to 
separate it into its component parts and keep all the files on the same 
drive (the default drive a).  You'd load and run ARC and then type in

     arc/x game          (or game.arc)

In versions of ARC up to 2.30, you don't have to add the .arc suffix to the 
filename.  ARC 2.50 requires the suffix; if you leave it off you'll get an 
error message.  After you've typed that command, you'll get an author's 
credit and ARC version number message, and then the program will tell you 
the names of the component files as it separates them.

     If you want to separate the component files and store them on a 
different disk drive from the one in which the arc file is being dissolved, 
you would specify the destination drive like this:

     arc/xb a:game       (or game.arc)

That is, extract the files from the archive file GAME.ARC on drive a and 
store them on a disk in drive b.

     If you don't want to extract all the files from the arc file, and know 
the file names of the files you do want, you can do that by typing

     arc/e game players       (or arc/e game.arc players)

This would extract only the file called PLAYERS from the arc file.  Note 
that in this case you use the arc/e command rather than arc/x.  Also note 
that if the file you wish to extract contains a space in its name, you must 
use a SHIFTED space when you type in the filename.  Otherwise ARC thinks 
that the word following the space is a separate filename, and you'll get a 
"file not found" error message.

     To find out the names of the component files in an arc file, use the 
arc/l command (instructions below).  If you'd just like to see a directory 
of what's on your disk, simply type   dir   on a new line.

     Unlike some other file combination/extraction utilities, ARC doesn't 
automatically delete the arc'ed file from your disk when it finishes 
separating it into its component parts.  Thus the original file is still 
available to you, should the de-arc'ed file not work for some reason.  
(It's a wise idea to check to see if your de-arc'ed file works properly 
before you delete the arc'ed version.)  If you'd like to delete that file 
(or any other file, for that matter) type

       del total.arc

If you want to delete more than one file, type the file names one after 
another, separated by spaces.  If the filename itself contains a space, you 
must type a SHIFTED space; otherwise the program thinks that the word 
following the space is a separate file name, and you'll get a "file not 
found" error message.  You can specify up to nine different file names at a 
time, or you can use "wild cards" to delete a number of files with similar 
names.  Thus the command

      del tot*

would delete files called total.arc, toto, totalitarian, etc.  You can also 
delete file names from more than one disk drive by specifying the drive 
letter, as in

      del a:total.arc a:games.arc c:frizbee c:frazzle


arc/c

     Create your own archive file.  In creating a file, you need to specify 
on which drive(s) the component files are to be found, and the exact 
filename of each file you wish to have included in the archive file.  ARC 
can only handle eight individual filenames at a time.  If you need to 
include more than eight filenames, you can either create an archive file 
with eight names and then add to it (see the instructions under  arc/a  
below) or you can transfer all the files to a blank disk and then "arc" the 
entire disk.  As before, if the filename includes a space, be sure you type 
in a SHIFTED space in that place.

     One thing you may wish to do is to mark the file with the current 
date.  You'll notice that the ARC program displays a date when it is first 
loaded and run.  This date will appear on all your files.  To change the 
date, type

        date (day),(month),(year)

(using numbers, of course) on a separate line before you begin to create 
the file.  ARC uses the European convention of putting the day first, 
rather than the American form which puts the month first, so you would type
        24,11,1988       for example.

     Here's how the arc/c instruction would appear if you were using a 
single disk drive to create an archive file called TOTAL out of individual 
files called ONE, TWO, THREE, and FOUR.

         arc/c total one two three four <return>

Note the space between the arc/c and the file name.  That space is 
essential.  And since you're using only one drive, you don't have to 
specify the drive with a letter.

     After you've typed in that command, ARC will give you an author's 
credit message and will begin creating your archive file.  It will tell you 
which form of compression, if any, it's using on the component files, and 
it will also tell you when the file is finished.  The finished file will be 
called total.arc.

    (Note:  Some versions of the program may give you the message "60, write 
file open" at the end of the file creation process.  This does not mean 
that the arc command has failed, unless the red (1541) or green (1571) 
light on your drive stays on.  It simply indicates that you can add to the 
arc file at a later date if you wish.)

     If the files you wanted to put into the arc file were on different 
disk drives, you'd specify the individual drive by letter in the command.  
It might look like

     arc/c a:total a:one a:two c:three c:four  <return>

Meaning that you were creating the archive file TOTAL on drive a using 
files ONE and TWO from drive a and files THREE and FOUR from drive c.

     If you want to archive the contents of an entire disk, using one 
drive, the comand would be

     arc/c total a:*

For two drives, you'd specify source and destination drives, as in

     arc/c a:total c:*


arc/a

     This command adds files to an arc file you've already created.  For 
example, if you wanted to add files FIVE, SIX, and SEVEN to the file you 
created above as total.arc, you'd type

     arc/a a:total a:five a:six c:seven  <return>

NOTE:  don't use this command to add files to an undissolved arc file 
you've downloaded using Xmodem.  Xmodem "pads" the files to make them an 
exact number of blocks long, and if you append files to a file that's been 
padded this way, you won't be able to dissolve the file into its component 
parts later.  If you want to add to a a file you've downloaded, dissolve it 
first with arc/x and then re-archive the files.


arc/l

     This command can be used to list all the component files of an archive 
file.  You can use it to see what's in a file you've downloaded, or to 
check a file you've created to make sure you've included everything you 
planned to.  Note that this doesn't separate the file into its component 
parts; it just lets you see what the parts are.  If you typed 

     arc/l total             (or total.arc)

(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

