Re: A bit Lost on Null Modem Xfer's and .ZIP files !

[CUTblakeney@home.com (Jeff Blakeney)]

On Sat, 25 Nov 2000 20:17:38 -0000,
salfter@salfter.ncc74656.dyndns.org (Scott Alfter) wrote:

>There is software to deal with .ZIP archives on the II, of both 8-bit and
>GS-only varieties (with more choices in the latter).  The one thing I'm not
>sure about is if any II-based unzippers handle the different compression
>that was introduced in PKZIP 2.04g in 1993 or whenever (or maybe in a
>slightly older version, but 2.04g was the mainstay for many years).

All the unzip utilities for the Apple II that I know of support v2.04g
of PKZIP.

>Another consideration is that there's a chance the whole process will go
>faster if you unzip and then send, as the unzip process will be fairly slow
>on the II and often can't be automated (given that most unzip
>implementations for the II are either menu-driven or GUI and therefore not
>automatable), unless somebody ported Info-Zip's utilities to GNO.

There is an unzip utility for the IIgs that runs under a shell such as
the Orca, GNO or similar shells.  There is also at least one shell
utility for unpacking ShrinkIt archives.  Using GNO, the r*/s*
utilities and these shell utilities, you can set up a pretty automatic
transfer/unpack system although I thnk it might be hard to get it to
work perfectly.

If using an unaccelerated Apple II and the zip files are quite large,
then unzipping before transfer might save some time.  However, zip
compression can be quite good so you could increase the transfer time
by up to four times or so.  This can make a significant difference in
transfer times, especially if transferring at 9600 bps or less, so you
have to figure out which is the better way to go for your own personal
set up and needs.

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