portable UnZip, version 5.31, source code distribution

This is the README file for the 31 May 1997 (5.31, get it?) public release

of the Info-ZIP group's portable UnZip zipfile-extraction program (and related

utilities).

unzip531.zip      portable UnZip, version 5.31, source code distribution

unzip531.tar.Z    same as above, but compress'd tar format

unzip531.tar.gz   same as above, but gzip'd tar format

__________________________________________________________________________

BEFORE YOU ASK:  UnZip, its companion utility Zip, and related utilities

and support files can be found in many places; read the file "Where" for

further details.  To contact the authors with suggestions, bug reports,

or fixes, continue reading this file (README) and, if this is part of a

source distribution, the file "ZipPorts" in the proginfo directory.  Also

in source distributions:  read "BUGS" for a list of known bugs, non-bugs

and possible future bugs; INSTALL for instructions on how to build UnZip;

and "Contents" for a commented listing of all the distributed files.

__________________________________________________________________________

GENERAL INFO

------------

UnZip is an extraction utility for archives compressed in .zip format (also

called "zipfiles").  Although highly compatible both with PKWARE's PKZIP

and PKUNZIP utilities for MS-DOS and with Info-ZIP's own Zip program, our

primary objectives have been portability and non-MSDOS functionality.

This version of UnZip has been ported to a stupendous array of hardware--

from micros to supercomputers--and operating systems:  Unix (many flavors),

VMS, OS/2 (including DLL version), Windows NT and Windows 95 (including DLL

version), Windows CE (GUI version), Windows 3.x (including DLL version),

MS-DOS, AmigaDOS, Atari TOS, Acorn RISC OS, BeOS, Macintosh (GUI version),

SMS/QDOS, MVS, VM/CMS, Human68k (mostly), AOS/VS (partly) and TOPS-20 (partly).

UnZip features not found in PKUNZIP include source code; default extraction

of directory trees (with a switch to defeat this, rather than the reverse);

OS/2, VMS, Unix, RISC OS, Macintosh and BeOS extended file attributes; and,

of course, the ability to run under most of your favorite operating systems.

Plus, it's free. :-)

For source distributions, see the main Contents file for a list of what's

included, and read INSTALL for instructions on compiling (including OS-

specific comments).  The individual operating systems' Contents files (for

example, vms/Contents) may list important compilation info in addition to

explaining what files are what, so be sure to read them.  Some of the ports

have their own, special README files, so be sure to look for those, too.

See unzip.1 or unzip.doc for usage (or the corresponding UnZipSFX, ZipInfo,

fUnZip and zipgrep docs).  For VMS, unzip_def.rnh or unzip_cli.help may be

compiled into unzip.hlp and installed as a normal VMS help entry; see

vms/descrip.mms.

CHANGES AND NEW FEATURES

------------------------

The 5.31 release includes nothing but small bug-fixes and typo corrections,

with the exception of some minor performance tweaks.

The 5.3 release added still more ports and more cross-platform portability

features:

   - new BeOS port

   - new SMS/QDOS port

   - new Windows CE graphical port

   - VM/CMS port fully updated and tested

   - MVS port fully updated and tested

   - updated Windows DLL port, with WiZ GUI spun off to a separate package

   - full Universal Time (UTC or GMT) support for trans-timezone consistency

   - cross-platform support for 8-bit characters (ISO Latin-1, OEM code pages)

   - support for NT security descriptors (ACLs)

   - support for overwriting OS/2 directory EAs if -o option given

   - updated Solaris/SVR4 package facility

What is (still!) not added is multi-part archive support (a.k.a. "diskette

spanning") and a unified and more powerful DLL interface.  These are the

two highest priorities for the 6.x releases.  Work on the former is almost

certain to have commenced by the time you read this.  This time we mean it!

You betcha. :-)

Although the DLLs are still basically a mess, the Windows DLLs (16- and 32-

bit) now have some documentation and a small example application.  Note that

they're really *only* for C programmers; they have not been tested with Visual

Basic and need help to work with Borland Delphi.  Anything else is Right Out.  

INTERNET RESOURCES

------------------

Info-ZIP's web site is at http://www.cdrom.com/pub/infozip/ and contains the

most up-to-date information about coming releases, links to binaries, and

common problems.  (See http://www.cdrom.com/pub/infozip/FAQ.html for the

latter.)  Files may also be retrieved via ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/infozip/ .

Thanks to Walnut Creek CD-ROM for hosting our primary site.

DISTRIBUTION

------------

If you have a question regarding redistribution of Info-ZIP software,

either as-is, as packaging for a commercial product, or as an integral

part of a commercial product, read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

section of the included COPYING file.

Insofar as C compilers are rare on some platforms and the authors only have

direct access to a subset of the supported systems, others may wish to pro-

vide ready-to-run executables for new systems.  In general there is no prob-

lem with this; we require only that such distributions include this README

file, the Where file, the COPYING file (contains copyright/redistribution

information), and the appropriate documentation files (unzip.doc and/or

unzip.1 for UnZip, etc.).  If the local system provides a way to make self-

extracting archives in which both the executables and text files can be

stored together, that's best (in particular, use UnZipSFX if at all possible,

even if it's a few kilobytes bigger than the alternatives); otherwise we

suggest a bare UnZip executable and a separate zipfile containing the re-

maining text and binary files.  If another archiving method is in common

use on the target system (for example, Zoo or LHa), that may also be used.

BUGS AND NEW PORTS:  CONTACTING INFO-ZIP

----------------------------------------

All bug reports and patches (context diffs only, please!) should go to

Zip-Bugs@lists.wku.edu, which is the e-mail address for the Info-ZIP

authors.  (Note that a few rare systems require the Zip-Bugs part to be

capitalized as shown; most systems work OK with lowercase "zip-bugs,"

however.)  "Dumb questions" that aren't adequately answered in the docu-

mentation should also be directed here rather than to a global forum such

as Usenet.  (Kindly make certain that your question *isn't* answered by

the documentation, however--a great deal of effort has gone into making

it clear and complete.)

Suggestions for new features can be sent to info-zip@lists.wku.edu, a

mailing list for the Info-ZIP beta testers, for discussion (the authors

hang out here as well, of course).  We make no promises to act on all

suggestions or even all patches, but if it is something that is manifestly

useful, sending the required patches to Zip-Bugs directly (as per the

instructions in the ZipPorts file) is likely to produce a quicker response

than asking us to do it--the authors are always somewhat short on time.

(Please do NOT send patches or encoded zipfiles to the info-zip address.

Please DO read the ZipPorts file before sending any large patch.  It would

be difficult to emphasize this point too much...)

If you are considering a port, not only should you read the ZipPorts file,

but also please check in with Zip-Bugs BEFORE getting started, since the

code is constantly being updated behind the scenes.  For example, VMOS,

VxWorks and Netware ports are claimed to be under construction, although

we have yet to see any up-to-date patches.  We will arrange to send you the

latest sources.  The alternative is the possibility that your hard work will

be tucked away in a sub-archive and mostly ignored, or completely ignored

if someone else has already done the port (and you'd be surprised how often

this has happened).

BETA TESTING:  JOINING INFO-ZIP

-------------------------------

If you'd like to keep up to date with our UnZip (and companion Zip utility)

development, join the ranks of beta testers, add your own thoughts and con-

tributions, etc., send a two-line mail message containing the commands HELP

and LIST (on separate lines in the body of the message, not on the subject

line) to mxserver@lists.wku.edu.  You'll receive two messages listing the

various Info-ZIP mailing-list formats that are available (and also various

unrelated lists) and instructions on how to subscribe to one or more of them

(courtesy of Hunter Goatley).  As of mid-1997, subscribing to the announce-

ments list requires a command of the form

SUBSCRIBE Info-ZIP-announce "Joe Isuzu"

The discussion list is called Info-ZIP; it can be set for either normal or

digest-style delivery.

-- Greg Roelofs (sometimes known as Cave Newt), principal UnZip developer guy,

   with inspiration from David Kirschbaum