zipmeister v0.1 (5 August 1994)


INTRODUCTION
zipmeister is a 32-bit multithreaded program which allows you to manage
ZIP archives from within the Presentation Manager. It is completely
self-contained. You do not need to have any other zip/unzip programs to
use zipmeister.

The easiest way to start using zipmeister is to create a program object
for it and associate it to *.ZIP. The installation program, INSTALL.CMD,
will do this for you automatically.



USING ZIPMEISTER
Once zipmeister has been installed, ZIP files can be opened by either
double-clicking on them or by dropping them on the zipmeister program
object. If you use my 'open' utility, ZIP files can be opened from the
command line by simply typing 'open zipfile.zip'.

When zipmeister starts, it opens a Details View of your ZIP file, which
shows, among other things, file names, sizes, and compressed sizes. You
can switch to different views using the Options:View menu.

In most respects, files in the ZIP archive can be manipulated just as you
would manipulate files in normal folders. zipmeister offers some degree
of integration with the Workplace Shell, although this integration is still
very limited. New files can be added to the ZIP archive by dropping them
in zipmeister's window. Dragging files out of the archive does not yet
work properly.

I think most operations should be fairly obvious. The only one which I
think is not is the "Output to..." button. This button does nothing. 🙂
The text box beside it, however, shows the directory to which files will
be extracted. You can edit this entry at any time. If the directory you
specify does not exist, zipmeister will ask you if you want to create it.

Just like in the Workplace Shell, the second (right) mouse button presents
a menu of actions that can be performed on the selected files.



CUSTOMIZING ZIPMEISTER
The fonts and colours of most zipmeister elements can be changed by using
the Workplace Shell's Font and Colour Palettes. zipmeister tries to remember
any changes that you make (although I know there are many attributes I've
forgotten).

There are various options for zipping and unzipping. They can be modified
by using Options:Settings.



IF YOU FIND A BUG...
I have been using various incarnations of zipmeister for well over a year now.
For simple things like extracting, deleting, or adding files, zipmeister works
very well. However, many features are completely untested (refresh/update),
and other features are quite buggy. In order for me to improve zipmeister, I
need your help. When something weird or unexpected happens, please tell me
about it. Clicking on the happy-face may give you some clues as to what was
happening. If you are a programmer and have the PMprintf program running,
that can give you additional info as to why zipmeister died. Send me as much
information as you can.



STUFF TO BE DONE
Well, there's a lot left to be done. The "Output to..." button will eventually
pop up either a menu or a list box of directories so that you don't have to
type in directory names every time. Help files have to be written (although I
have a feeling this won't happen for a *long* time). 🙂

If you are a programmer and know anything about WPS programming, please share
some of your knowledge with me!

New features I'm working on are: better WPS integration (drag-drop, templates,
etc), renaming archive entries, support for one-line comments, support for
editing ZIP file comments, a button bar, an integrated command line, smaller
code size, and of course BUG FIXES!! Self extracting archives would be nice.
If you have any other ideas, please tell me. Features will be added if I get
any free programming time.



UNINSTALLING ZIPMEISTER
If you want to remove zipmeister from your computer, all you have to do is
delete the "pmzip.exe" file, the settings file (either "zipmeister settings"
or "pmzip.ini" which is *always* in the same directory as "pmzip.exe"), and
the "ZIP Archive.ZIP" template in the Templates Folder. zipmeister makes no
entries in your CONFIG.SYS, OS2.INI, or any other system files. It does not
put files all over your hard disk. I wish all programs were smart enough to
do this.

If you did not like zipmeister, I would like to know why. Please drop me a
line.



CONTACTING THE AUTHOR
The best way to contact me is via internet e-mail ([email protected]). I also
read comp.os.os2.misc on Usenet fairly regularly. My snail-mail addresses are
given at the bottom of this file.

If you would like any features added to zipmeister, or if you want a version of
zipmeister in your native language, please do not hesitate to contact me.

If you want to send me money, CDs, email, postcards, beer, expensive computer
stuff (or inexpensive, for that matter), or anything else interesting, I won't
mind. In fact, I would appreciate it. If you live in Europe, a place to stay
for a night next summer would be *greatly* appreciated! 🙂 🙂 🙂

I hope you find zipmeister useful. It exists because I wanted to learn PM and
multithreaded programming. I've gotten enough free stuff from the Internet;
it's my turn to put something back in. zipmeister is totally free.



LEGAL STUFF
zipmeister is Copyright 1994 by Aneesh Dalvi. Huge chunks of zipmeister are
derived from the InfoZip group's portable zip/unzip programs, and their
copyright still applies. See the file COPYING for more information.

zipmeister is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but with
ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY
or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.



Aneesh Dalvi Aneesh Dalvi
205 College Ave #2 72 Belleview Drive
Ithaca, NY 14850 Kanata, Ontario K2L 1W3
USA CANADA


internet e-mail: [email protected]