README
1VMS README for UnZip 5.3 and later, 25 February 1997
2----------------------------------------------------
3
4Notes about using UnZip and zipfiles under VMS (see INSTALL for instructions
5on compiling):
6
7 - Install UnZip as foreign symbol by adding this to login.com:
8 $ unzip == "$disk:[dir]unzip.exe"
9 $ zipinfo == "$disk:[dir]unzip.exe ""-Z"""
10 where "disk" and "dir" are location of UnZip executable; the "$" before
11 the disk name is important. Some people, including the author, prefer
12 a short alias such as "ii" instead of "zipinfo"; edit to taste. (All of
13 the quotes around the -Z are necessary, but don't ask us to explain it...)
14
15 - Optionally install UnZipSFX for use with the MAKESFX.COM command file:
16 $ unzipsfx :== disk:[dir]unzipsfx.exe
17 Thereafter an archive "foo.zip" may be converted to "foo.exe" simply by
18 typing "@makesfx foo" (assuming MAKESFX.COM is in the current directory).
19 Note that there is *no* leading "$" in this case.
20
21 - After proper installation, the default version of UnZip is invoked just
22 as in Unix or MS-DOS: "unzip -opts archive files". The hyphen ('-') is
23 the switch character, not the slash ('/') as in native VMS commands. An
24 alternative is available if VMSCLI is defined during compilation; this
25 version does provide a native VMS-style command interface (e.g., /ZIPINFO
26 instead of -Z). Both versions accept the command "unzip -v", which can
27 be used to check whether VMSCLI was defined or not; but an even simpler
28 method is to type "unzip" and look at the help screen. Note that options
29 placed in an environment variable (UNZIP_OPTS) must be of the short, hy-
30 phenated form regardless of how UnZip was compiled.
31
32 - The VMS C runtime library translates all command-line text to lowercase
33 unless it is quoted, making some options and/or filenames not work as
34 intended. For example:
35 unzip -V zipfile vms/README;*
36 is translated to
37 unzip -v zipfile vms/readme;*
38 which may not match the contents of the zipfile and definitely won't
39 extract the file with its version number as intended. This can be
40 avoided by use of the -C option (/CASE_INSENSITIVE) or by enclosing
41 the uppercase stuff in quotes:
42 unzip "-V" zipfile "vms/README;*"
43 Note that quoting the whole line probably won't work, since it would
44 be interpreted as a single argument by the C library.
45
46 - Wildcards that refer to files internal to the archive behave like Unix
47 wildcards, not VMS ones (assuming UnZip was not compiled with VMSWILD
48 defined). This is both a matter of consistency (see above) and power--
49 full Unix regular expressions are supported, so that one can specify
50 "all .c and .h files that start with a, b, c or d and do not have a 2
51 before the dot" as "[a-d]*[^2].[ch]". Of course, "*.[ch]" is a much more
52 common wildcard specification, but the power is there if you need it.
53 Note that "*" matches zipfile directory separators ('/'), too. If UnZip
54 *was* compiled with VMSWILD defined (do "unzip -v" to check), the single-
55 character wildcard is "%" rather than "?", and character sets (ranges)
56 are delimited with () instead of [] (for example, "*.(ch)").
57
58 - Wildcards that refer to zipfiles (i.e., external VMS files) behave like
59 normal VMS wildcards regardless of whether VMSWILD was defined or not.
60 Ranges are not supported. Thus "unzip *font-%.zip" is about as much as
61 one can do for specifying wildcard zipfiles.
62
63 - Created files get whatever permissions were stored in the archive (mapped
64 to VMS and/or masked with your default permissions, depending on the
65 originating operating system), but created directories additionally in-
66 herit the (possibly more restrictive) permissions of the parent directory.
67 And obviously things won't work if you don't have permission to write to
68 the extraction directory.
69
70 - When transferring files, particularly via Kermit, pay attention to the
71 settings! In particular, zipfiles must be transferred in some binary
72 mode, which is NOT Kermit's default mode, and this mode must usually be
73 set on BOTH sides of the transfer (e.g., both VAX and PC). See the notes
74 below for details.
75
76
77
78
79From Info-ZIP Digest (Wed, 6 Nov 1991), Volume 91, Issue 290:
80
81 Date: Tue, 5 Nov 91 15:31 CDT
82 From: Hugh Schmidt <HUGH@macc.wisc.edu>
83
84 ****************************************************
85 *** VMS ZIP and PKZIP compatibility using KERMIT ***
86 ****************************************************
87
88 Many use Procomm's kermit to transfer zipped files between PC and VMS
89 VAX. The following VMS kermit settings make VMS Zip/UnZip compatible
90 with PC Zip/UnZip or PKZIP/PKUNZIP:
91 VMS kermit Procomm kermit
92 ------------------- --------------------
93 Uploading PC zipfile to VMS: set file type fixed set file type binary
94 Downloading VMS zipfile to PC: set file type block set file type binary
95
96 "Block I/O lets you bypass the VMS RMS record-processing capabilities
97 entirely", (Guide to VMS file applications, Section 8.5). The kermit
98 guys must have known this!
99