About The Almond Doubler

Welcome to The Almond Doubler for UNIX. The Almond Doubler provides transparent, automatic file compression and expansion for UNIX Operating System users, as well as the ability to easily build compressed archive files. Files can also be compressed or expanded manually. We hope you will find this tool useful and valuable.

The Almond Doubler uses the proven and reliable STAC LZS algorithm, a data compression algorithm in use on tens of millions of PC systems. An average compression ratio of 2:1 or more should be attainable (may vary depending on file type and contents). Compressed files look like ordinary UNIX files to all application programs, users and/or other utilities. The Almond Doubler works transparently to your normal operations. The only difference is typically doubling the amount of available space on your disk drives.

The Almond Doubler uses standard UNIX file system technology and does not modify your system kernel or hardware in any way. It supports any disk hardware you are currently using and does not add any device drivers to your system. Installation is simple and does not even require rebooting your system. Data integrity is checked before and after compression to ensure no loss of data.

Unlike traditional compression utilities which require you to manually decompress files before they can be read again, The Almond Doubler provides transparent, "on-the-fly" data expansion. You can compress any program or data file, and when it is opened again it will be automatically decompressed and returned to its original size and format without any user action or intervention required. You retain complete flexibility over when, where and why files will or will not be compressed. You may also choose when files will be compressed, by time of day or whenever the cpu is idle. Users may also specify directories or file names and patterns to be excluded from automatic compression. Files larger or smaller than user specified parameters can be left uncompressed.

Multiple files can also be combined into a single compressed archive file. Individual files can be extracted from the compressed archive as the user desires. A Self Expanding Utility is included that may be freely copied and distributed with compressed archives or files. This is ideal for distributing software on diskettes or across a network.

A user-selectable option is provided to automatically expand files during system backup, or to leave data in its compressed state. A command-line interface is also provided to allow the backup option to be selected from a shell script or cron job.