Index of /806atari/001-200/051/ARCDOC
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ARCSHELL.TXT 19-Nov-1985 18:10 30k
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LHARC.DOC 19-Nov-1985 18:10 20k
This archive contains an updated and improved version of
ARC 5.21 called for identification purposes ARC 5.21C.
ARC 5.21C features:
o larger buffers for file buffering (28,672 bytes as opposed
to 512) for greater speed.
o new data compression algorithms for greatly improved speed
AND compression.
o allowing invocation of 12, 13, 14, 15, or 16 bit file
crunching. To select bit size, insert 12-16 in the command
line (e.g. "a16 sample game.prg", "c14 sample", etc.). Each
larger bit size requires more free memory. The resultant
compression ratio grows more dramatic the larger the file.
o on some files, 12 bit crunching (the default) results in a
smaller compressed file than ARC 5.12 produces, although it
is completely compatible with the original ARC 5.12.
o a bug in all version of ARC that causes a crash whenever a
verbose list of a file with an invalid month (less than 1
or greater than 12) has been fixed. I've run into this on
STart disks.
o the bug in ARC 5.21 that allows an archive to be built that
is larger than the sum of its included files has been fixed.
o the original wild card expansion algorithm has been
reinstated ('*.*' means ALL files again, not just all files
with extensions).
The speed improvements are sometimes dramatic over earlier versions
of ARC. Below are the results of running a suite of functions between
each version of the ARC program currently circulating.
To conduct the tests, two double sided disk drives were used. All
temporary files were written to a floppy disk. Some randomly selected
files of various types were read from disk B:\ to an archive created in
disk A:\. After each archive was finished, the archive was tested,
which actually extracts the file without writing it out to disk. Then a
"verbose" listing was made of the archive. The exact elapsed time for
these operations was then recorded. Then a disk directory was recorded
that shows the file length of the completed archive.
Each version of the ARC program started with the same disk setups.
Each test was done from a script without any human intervention. The
time and size differences reflect only the performance of the ARC
programs themselves.
=========================================================================
arc512.ttp
Name Length Stowage SF Size now Date Time CRC
============ ======== ======== ==== ======== ========= ====== ====
EXAMPLE.PRG 116939 Crunched 36% 75184 1 Dec 89 9:53p 99A0
PICTURE.NEO 32128 Squeezed 51% 15816 1 Feb 88 9:24a 6B0F
RLE.DOC 505 Crunched 92% 44 1 Dec 89 10:03p 5008
SAMPLE.ARC 7808 Packed 1% 7758 1 Dec 89 10:35p CD5A
SAMPLE.DOC 189180 Crunched 48% 98922 2 Dec 89 9:24a 4ADC
SUMTHIN.SEQ 96572 Crunched 58% 40789 1 Dec 89 10:27p FE71
TEST.ARC 127693 -- 0% 127693 1 Dec 89 11:30p 5452
==== ======== ==== ========
Total 7 570825 36% 366206
elapsed time:
00:28:16.655
directory listing:
-rw-- 366411 Sat Dec 2 09:24 test.arc
=========================================================================
arc521.ttp
Name Length Stowage SF Size now Date Time CRC
============ ======== ======== ==== ======== ========= ====== ====
EXAMPLE.PRG 116939 Crunched 42% 67922 1 Dec 89 9:53p 99A0
PICTURE.NEO 32128 Squeezed 51% 15816 1 Feb 88 9:24a 6B0F
RLE.DOC 505 Crunched 92% 44 1 Dec 89 10:03p 5008
SAMPLE.ARC 7808 Packed 1% 7758 1 Dec 89 10:35p CD5A
SAMPLE.DOC 189180 Crunched 47% 102118 2 Dec 89 9:24a 4ADC
SUMTHIN.SEQ 96572 Crunched 58% 41019 1 Dec 89 10:27p FE71
TEST.ARC 127693 -- 0% 127693 1 Dec 89 11:30p 5452
==== ======== ==== ========
Total 7 570825 37% 362370
elapsed time:
00:20:54.135
directory listing:
-rw-- 405406 Sat Dec 2 09:24 test.arc
=========================================================================
arc521b.ttp
Name Length Stowage SF Size now Date Time CRC
============ ======== ======== ==== ======== ========= ====== ====
EXAMPLE.PRG 116939 Crunched 42% 67922 1 Dec 89 9:53p 99A0
PICTURE.NEO 32128 Squeezed 51% 15816 1 Feb 88 9:24a 6B0F
RLE.DOC 505 Crunched 92% 44 1 Dec 89 10:03p 5008
SAMPLE.ARC 7808 Packed 1% 7758 1 Dec 89 10:35p CD5A
SAMPLE.DOC 189180 Crunched 47% 102118 2 Dec 89 9:24a 4ADC
SUMTHIN.SEQ 96572 Crunched 58% 41019 1 Dec 89 10:27p FE71
TEST.ARC 127693 -- 0% 127693 1 Dec 89 11:30p 5452
==== ======== ==== ========
Total 7 570825 37% 362370
elapsed time:
00:15:46.390
directory listing:
-rw-- 362575 Sat Dec 2 09:24 test.arc
=========================================================================
arc.ttp (version 5.21C)
Name Length Stowage SF Size now Date Time CRC
============ ======== ======== ==== ======== ========= ====== ====
EXAMPLE.PRG 116939 Crunch12 44% 65763 1 Dec 89 9:53p 99A0
PICTURE.NEO 32128 Squeezed 51% 15816 1 Feb 88 9:24a 6B0F
RLE.DOC 505 Crunch12 92% 44 1 Dec 89 10:03p 5008
SAMPLE.ARC 7808 Packed 1% 7758 1 Dec 89 10:35p CD5A
SAMPLE.DOC 189180 Crunch12 49% 97696 2 Dec 89 9:24a 4ADC
SUMTHIN.SEQ 96572 Crunch12 58% 40762 1 Dec 89 10:27p FE71
TEST.ARC 127693 -- 0% 127693 1 Dec 89 11:30p 5452
==== ======== ==== ========
Total 7 570825 38% 355532
elapsed time:
00:09:52.300
directory listing:
-rw-- 355737 Sat Dec 2 09:24 test.arc
=========================================================================
It's interesting to note that ARC 5.21C performed the functions 3
times faster than the original 5.12, and that's without using a ramdisk
or hard disk for temporary files! Also note that while EXAMPLE.PRG is
smaller in 5.21C, the original ARC 5.12 has no trouble whatsoever with
extracting it.
Notice that both EXAMPLE.PRG and SAMPLE.DOC compress to a larger
size in the ARC521 archive. And look at the final size of the archive,
405,406 bytes!
Even ARC521B pales with both compressed file size and elapsed time,
although at least it doesn't add garbage like ARC521.
Enjoy!
Patrick Dell'Era
Compuserve 73157,2623
GEnie DELL-ERA
Delphi DELL_ERA