96 lines
5.0 KiB
Plaintext
96 lines
5.0 KiB
Plaintext
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%%% %%% %%%% %%% %% %%%%%
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%% %%% %% %% %% %% %% %% %%
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%% % %% %% %% %%%% %% %%
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// // //// ////// ////// //
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\\ \ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\
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// /// // //////// ////// ////// //
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/// /// // // // // // //
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[ Mind Warp - Volume #4, Issue #07, File #062 ]
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[ "Compression Utilities" by >Anonymous< ]
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Compression Utilities
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[Anonymous]
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Compression Comparisons between .ZIP, .ARJ, and .LZH using
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references from a compressed file(.TXT, .EXE, .GIF.)
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(* WARNING : THIS FILE CONTAINS NO HUMOR, SICKO STORIES, OR INTERESTING
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MATERIAL. IT IS MERELY A FACTUAL ARTICLE ON COMPRESSION.
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MIND WARP HAS HAD NO FACTUAL ARTICLES, SO I WROTE THIS ONE.
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READ IT. *)
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There are many different compression utilites available for
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use in the pc world to shrink the average filesize for more room on the
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host compters hard drive. Some of the most common for the DOS operating
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system include PkZip, Arj, and Lharc. These utilites have obvious advatages
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for the user. Creating more disk space, packaging many files into a small
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mobile file that can be extracted elswhere, and the ease of moving such files
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are certainly transparent. However, these compression utilites all use
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a different algorythm for their storage capabilites, and as data suggests,
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these different algorythm's are not all suitable for compressing all types
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of files with the best compression ratio. Indeed, in some instances, the
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compression utility can actually increase the size of the file.
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The procedure below outlines the use of three compression utilites,
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PkZip, Arj, and Lharc, and their induvidal results in the compression of
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three types of files, ascii text files (.TXT), executables (.EXE), and
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graphics (.GIF) files. As the data suggests, different compression utilites
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can be more effective on certain files than others.
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Procedure
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Three files were randomly selected off of a hard drive contributed
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by a willing pc user. These files were as follows:
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FileName Size Type
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------------ ------- -----------------
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SCANDISK.EXE 124,262 Executable
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GENERIC1.TXT 86,303 Ascii Text File
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TESLA-02.GIF 63,885 GiF Graphics File
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The files were then compressed using the three compression utilites keeping
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the same filename, with a new extension. (ie. .ZIP, .ARJ, or .LZH.)
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Data + Results.
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FileName Compression Name Original Size Compressed Size Rank
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------------- ---------------- ------------- --------------- ----
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SCANDISK.EXE SCANDISK.ZIP 124,262 120,715 #3
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SCANDISK.EXE SCANDISK.ARJ 124,262 120,696 #2
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SCANDISK.EXE SCANDISK.LZH 124,262 120,666 #1
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------------- ---------------- ------------- --------------- ----
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GENERIC1.TXT GENERIC1.ZIP 86,303 31,716 #1
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GENERIC1.TXT GENERIC1.ARJ 86,303 31,925 #2
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GENERIC1.TXT GENERIC1.LZH 86,303 33,517 #3
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------------- ---------------- ------------- --------------- ----
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TESLA-02.GIF TESLA-02.ZIP 63,885 63,775 #1
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TESLA-02.GIF TESLA-02.ARJ 63,885 63,911 #3
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TESLA-02.GIF TESLA-02.LZH 63,885 63,834 #2
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------------- ---------------- ------------- --------------- ----
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Conclusion
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The data shows that not all the compression utilites work the same
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on certain files. For executables (.EXE), Lharc is clearly the utility
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to use. For ascii text (.TXT), and for graphics files such as GiF (.GIF),
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PkZip should be used. Arj never placed 1st in any of the trials, but one
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would note that Arj actually increased the file size when attempting to
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compress the Gif file. All in all, either PkZip or Lharc are recommended for
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use in the compression field. Both have excellent help available, and are
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well documented. Keep in mind however, that these are not the ONLY
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compression programs available for the pc user. Not mentioned in this
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article were such compression utilites as .ZOO, and .UC2.
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==============================================================================
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Call Hell's Kitchen - (301) 989-8510
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==============================================================================
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