Re: CRT.WRITER

[Andy McFadden <fadden@fadden.com>]

Simon Williams <spam@luddite.ca> wrote:
> In this case it should be fine to post the file as a [smaller] SHK file
> rather than SDK since it is ProDOS. You could also post a zipped disk
> image for emulator users. I only mention this because you complained of
> having too much time on your hands a while back ;-)

Whether file archives are smaller or larger than the corresponding disk
image depends on lots of factors.  I wouldn't automatically assume that
SHK is smaller than SDK, especially if the disk has lots of small files
on it.

In general it's easier for an owner of a real II to handle a disk archive
than it is for an emulator user to handle a file archive.  (Unless they
have CiderPress, in which case it's trivial to convert from one to the
other.  But I digress.  And self-promote.)  So given the choice of one
or the other, I'd say disk image is the right way to go.


FWIW, zipping it didn't do much (about 4K smaller):

% unzip -v BigU.zip 
Archive:  BigU.zip
 Length   Method    Size  Ratio   Date   Time   CRC-32    Name
--------  ------  ------- -----   ----   ----   ------    ----
   85648  Defl:N    81586   5%  07-20-03 16:21  bb5ff5f5  BIGU.SDK
--------          -------  ---                            -------
   85648            81586   5%                            1 file

The best way to store it when concerned about space is to make it a
simple or 2MG format and then compress it with gzip.  Same algorithm
as ZIP, can be unpacked by just about anything, and some emulators can
open .gz files directly.  Applying ZIP or gzip to LZW-compressed data
isn't going to help much.

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