@2{DMC GOLD 100% Compatible With CMania Files
      @3
      }By Andy Gibson
      @4

      Have  you  ever  wondered  how  the professional disk magazines fit
      hundreds of files on their disks?  Well wonder no more .....

      They simply crunch all the files, thus saving valuable disk space.

@3
      "What does crunching a file involve"?
@4
      Well,  a  number of cruncher programs are avilable on the Amiga and
      the  best  one  that  I  have  ever  used is Crunch-Mania by Thomas
      Schwarz.  It compresses files to (sometimes) 50% smaller than their
      original size (sometimes even more !!!)
@3
      "Yeah OK, but how will DMC load these files"?
@4
      Simple,  a  patch  program  is required which automatically unpacks
      these files as they load.
@3
      "Do the files have to be saved to disk as they load then"?
@4      No.    What these patch programs do is sort of trick the Amiga into
      thinking  that  they are normal unpacked files.    This is a clever
      piece  of  programming  and usually many patches have to be made to
      certain system libraries to achieve the results.
@3
      "How  do  I  run  this patch program to make DMC compatible with my
      crunched files then"?
@4
      You don't!  DMC does it for you.
@3
      "Does it load this patch program from disk then or what"?
@4
      No!     DMC  is  very  clever  and  hold  this  patch in memory and
      automatically  intsalls  the patch on starting and removes it again
      when quitting.
@3
      "So that's what that RTDD screen is when load I DMC is it"?
@4
      You got it.  RTDD stands for Real Time Data Decruncher and for this
      to  work,  you  require  the  Crm.Library  in  your  systems  Libs:
      Directory.
@3
      "What  happens  if  I  boot from my Hard Drive and try and load DMC
      from there? Surely I need to copy the Crm.Library to my Libs: Dir"?
@4      Don't  worry, DMC will install the Crm.Library for you if it cannot
      be found.
@3
      "I'm  not  too  keen on that!    What happens if there isn't enough
      space on my disk for the library, will DMC still try and save it to
      the disk"?
@4
      Nope.     DMC is very clever and won't save the Crm.Library to disk
      if  there is not enough space for it.    However, you can't use any
      files  crunched  with CMania then as RTDD won't patch the system if
      the library is missing!
@3
      "So  what  happens  if I forget to uncrunch one of my files in that
      situation?    Will DMC just crash and quit"?
@4
      It  shouldn't!     It should just report that the file(s) have been
      crunched  with  CMania  instead.    However, if DMC does quit, then
      chances are that something else is wrong!
@3
      "Will DMC ever try to run RTDD if the Crm.Library is missing"?
@4
      No  chance,  so  don't  even  attempt  to use crunched files if the
      library is missing! As I said above, DMC is pretty itelligent.

@3      "OK, I think I get the idea, but I'm not too sure how to use CMania
      to  crunch  my  files!     It  looks complicated to use!    I might
      bugger up all my hard work by using it.    What will I do"?
@4
      Wimp!  Read my quick instructions and you shouldn't have any probs.
      The  space  saving is amazing and if I had crunched all my files on
      this disk, it would be half as full as it is now!
@3
      "So why didn't you do that and include more files then"?
@4
      To  save you the hassle of uncrunching all these files to learn how
      to use DMC. ie, So you can load them into a text editor.
@3
      "That was kind of you. What files can be crunched safely then"?
@4
      DMC.ClipArt,   DMC.Config1,  DMC.Config2,  DMC.Music1,  DMC.Music2,
      DMC.Music3,   DMC.Panel,  DMC.Pic1  (up  to  DMC.Pic10),  All  your
      articles (ie text files) and all your pictures also.
@3
      "Great,  I  can  save loads of space then and also protect my files
      from lamers from ripping me off"?
@4
      Well,  erm, if you like!!!    I would strongly advise you to crunch
      your config files especially.  Idiots won't have a clue!!!
@3      "My  friend said he uses Power Packer to crunch his files.    Can I
      do this"?
@4
      NO! NO! NO!  DMC is not compatible with these type of files!
@3
      "Why not"?
@4
      Well,  PPacker does not crunch files as small as CMania for a start
      and the patch util for PPacker doesn't always work on all Amiga's!
@3
      "So  who else uses CMania and its patch util, RTDD, then instead of
      using PPacker and its patch util"?
@4
      Many  people  are now doing this and they include LSD for all their
      Dox  Disks and probably Grapevine now, Amoszine Disk Mag, Moviezone
      Disk  Mag, Malcom Lavery for Codename Nano game and probably anyone
      else that has ever used past releases of DMC.
@3
      "That's impressive, if LSD use it, it must be the right choice.  So
      where do I get Crunch-Mania from"?
@4
      I  have included the Shareware Version on the DMC GOLD EXTRAS DISK,
      but I would strongly advise you to register with the author, Thomas
      Schwarz,  for the latest version. 
@4      It  is  a  lot  faster and it also ensures that Thomas will work on
      updates too.
@3
      "OK,  I  will  keep  that  in mind.    After all, it's authors like
      yourself and Thomas that help to keep the Amiga alive."
@4
      Thanks for those kind words.
@3
      "I'm going to go and crunch all my files now and see how much space
      I will save ..... "
@4
      Cheerio then.

      Oh and don't forget to write back if you need any more help.    And
      thanx for indluding the stamp for this reply.



      Next .......

@1
      End.