Compressing Archive Files

Create Archives. . .

When selected, the Create Archive window allows you to choose one or more files which will be compressed and combined into a single "archive" file. A compressed archive is a useful way of creating backups of data files or preparing collections of files for distribution to other systems or users. The archive file format used by The Almond Doubler is 100% compatible with the standard UNIX tar archive file format.

The Filter button and parameter allows you to enter a directory name or pattern selection to speed the process of selecting the desired directory or file to be compressed.

The Add and Delete buttons are used to build the list of files to be combined into the compressed archive.

The desired name of the compressed archive file should be entered into the selection box. Note that the suffix ".tar" will be automatically added to the archive file when it is created.

When the file list is configured as desired, press the OK button to build the compressed archive file.

Choosing Cancel will ignore any changes made and close the Compress Archive window.

Expand Archives. . .

When selected, the Expand Archive window allows you to choose an archive file which will have its contents extracted and decompressed.

The Filter button and parameter allows you to enter a directory name or pattern selection to speed the process of selecting the desired archive file to be decompressed.

When the desired archive file has been selected, press the OK button to extract and decompress the contents of the archive.

Choosing Cancel will ignore any changes made and close the Expand Archive window.

Distributing alunwrap

When you create compressed archives with The Almond Doubler, you may want to distribute the archive file to a user on a system which does not have its own copy of The Almond Doubler. As a courtesy to allow you to distribute compressed archive files without requiring the purchase of additional licenses of The Almond Doubler, a stand-alone expansion utility has been provided that you may freely distribute for use on other computer systems. The stand-alone expansion utility executable is named alunwrap, and can be found in your .doubler directory. When you are building a compressed archive for distribution to other systems, you include a copy of alunwrap along with any other compressed archive files you are delivering. To extract and decompress files from an Almond Doubler compressed archive file using alunwrap, first extract the file(s) from the archive using the standard UNIX tar command, then use alunwrap to decompress the file(s) as shown below:

./alunwrap [-t]archivename [filename. . .]

The optional -t flag allows you to list the compressed files within an archive file.