How To compress a long file name in pkzip

A

Alex K. Angelopoulos [Server MVP]

ajmister said:
Hi

Is there a DOS version of Pkzip that can compress long file names.

Ajay

If you mean a true DOS version of it, which can handle long file name
restore, no. They no longer even make PKZip for DOS, and the limits were due
to DOS itself not being able to handle long file names.

You may want to check out the current versions of PKZip; they include
commandline support and of course will have no problems with long filenames.
 
M

Matthias Tacke

K. Angelopoulos said:
If you mean a true DOS version of it, which can handle long file name
restore, no. They no longer even make PKZip for DOS, and the limits
were due to DOS itself not being able to handle long file names.

You may want to check out the current versions of PKZip; they include
commandline support and of course will have no problems with long
filenames.

Excuse me, AFAIK that is nonsense. See http://www.pkware.com
<quote>
PKZIP 2.50 for DOS
Long File Name (LFN) support for Windows 95/98 and Windows Me LFNs.
Note: LFN support is not available on Windows NT/2000.

If your intention is to run PKZIP in a Windows ME, 98, NT4, 2000 or XP
command line environment, you should instead consider PKZIP for
Windows, Standard Edition plus with Microsoft Outlook Integration 6.0
which includes a command line interface along with the Windows
graphical user interface. This option provides everything that you
have with PKZIP for DOS plus much more including the ability to handle
large file sizes.
</quote>
The actual pricing on the site is a bit weird.
Pkzip 2.50 for Dos $47
Pkzip for windows 6.0 plus with Outlook integ./CLI $39.95

But you don't have to use the "original", What about:
http://www.7-zip.org
<quote>
-7-Zip is free software distributed under the GNU LGPL
-Highest compression ratio in new 7z format
-Supported formats: 7z, ZIP, CAB, RAR, ARJ, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, CPIO, RPM
and DEB
-For ZIP and GZIP formats 7-Zip provides compression ratio that
is 2-10 % better than ratio provided by PKZip and WinZip
-Self-extracting capability for 7z format Integration with Windows Shell
-Powerful File Manager
-Powerful command line version
-Plugin for FAR Manager
-Localizations for 41 languages
</quote>
 
A

ajmiester

Thank you for the information. as Mathais mentioned I had downloaded Pkzip
2.50 for DOS and it didnt work on Win 2k. I found out that Winzip has an add
on utility that can be used for command line compression. I will try 7-Zip.

Ajay
 
B

Bill Stewart

Matthias Tacke said:
Excuse me, AFAIK that is nonsense. See http://www.pkware.com
<quote>
PKZIP 2.50 for DOS
Long File Name (LFN) support for Windows 95/98 and Windows Me LFNs. Note:
LFN support is not available on Windows NT/2000.

If your intention is to run PKZIP in a Windows ME, 98, NT4, 2000 or XP
command line environment, you should instead consider PKZIP for Windows,
Standard Edition plus with Microsoft Outlook Integration 6.0 which
includes a command line interface along with the Windows graphical user
interface. This option provides everything that you have with PKZIP for
DOS plus much more including the ability to handle large file sizes.
</quote>

Hi Matthias,

Just wanted to qualify Alex's comment. He is correct in saying that DOS
cannot natively "see" long filenames. Long filenames "appear" when Windows
9x is running because it adds a set of API calls (using VxDs) to "extend"
DOS, so that an appropriately-written DOS application (e.g. PKZIP 2.50 for
DOS) can access LFNs. If you boot a DOS floppy and use PKZIP 2.50, you will
not see the LFNs, because the appropriate LFN API calls are not there.
Notice that the DOS program in question needs to use the LFN APIs.

It's difficult to answer the OP's question precisely, since his original
question was:
Is there a DOS version of Pkzip that can compress long file names.

The answer depends on what he means by "DOS." If he means a DOS-bootable
floppy disk, then the answer is "no." If he means from a COMMAND.COM
session in Windows 9x, then PKZIP 2.50 for DOS will work, since it uses the
appropriate LFN API calls.

If the OP means "at a command prompt in the Win32 environment," I
personally think a better answer is to use a native Win32 console program
such as InfoZIP's zip and unzip utilities (which are free).

Regards,

Bill
 
M

Matthias Tacke

Bill Stewart said:
Hi Matthias,
Just wanted to qualify Alex's comment. He is correct in saying that DOS
cannot natively "see" long filenames. Long filenames "appear" when
Windows 9x is running because it adds a set of API calls (using VxDs)
to "extend" DOS, so that an appropriately-written DOS application
(e.g. PKZIP 2.50 for DOS) can access LFNs. If you boot a DOS floppy
and use PKZIP 2.50, you will not see the LFNs, because the appropriate
LFN API calls are not there. Notice that the DOS program in question
needs to use the LFN APIs.
It's difficult to answer the OP's question precisely, since his
original question was:


The answer depends on what he means by "DOS." If he means a
DOS-bootable floppy disk, then the answer is "no." If he means from a
COMMAND.COM session in Windows 9x, then PKZIP 2.50 for DOS will work,
since it uses the appropriate LFN API calls.

If the OP means "at a command prompt in the Win32 environment," I
personally think a better answer is to use a native Win32 console
program such as InfoZIP's zip and unzip utilities (which are free).
You are completely right Bill,
I know about the facts. My statement :
 
A

Alex K. Angelopoulos [Server MVP]

Matthias Tacke said:
You are completely right Bill,
I know about the facts. My statement :

I was tired when posting that. I meant "no longer are developing", so any
limitations the true DOS version has are there to stay. You are correct,
you can buy licenses or media for the 2.50 version at will. :)
 
M

Matthias Tacke

K. Angelopoulos said:
I was tired when posting that. I meant "no longer are developing", so any
limitations the true DOS version has are there to stay. You are correct,
you can buy licenses or media for the 2.50 version at will. :)
Since there are good free implementations available I think the actual
price tag is prohibitive. The lesser faeture rich DOS version more ex-
pensive than the windows one is also marketing gaga.
 
M

Mark_Pryor

To all:
Matthias Tacke said:
Excuse me, AFAIK that is nonsense. See http://www.pkware.com
<quote>
PKZIP 2.50 for DOS
Long File Name (LFN) support for Windows 95/98 and Windows Me LFNs.
Note: LFN support is not available on Windows NT/2000.

If your intention is to run PKZIP in a Windows ME, 98, NT4, 2000 or XP
command line environment, you should instead consider PKZIP for
Windows, Standard Edition plus with Microsoft Outlook Integration 6.0


PKZip 2.50 for windows was/is a powerhouse. Here's a vbscript that
I use to support VB development (ZipVBP.vbs). I drop a project
file (VBP) on it and all project files (and only proj files) will
be zipped up for archive. I keep a shortcut to it in my sendto folder:

If you have VB installed, take a look
http://mysite.verizon.net/res1ur2j/ZipVBP.zip (tested on Win95 & win2k)

msp
 

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