#Access
25 messages in this thread
I'm back with questions! O.K., I did what you said- dloaded (at least I hope)
ARC.EXE to a blank disk, along with a few short arced programs, like LIB 4.ARC
, so I could attempt to unarc them. Now I understand that to implement the
procedure you use the command "arc x filename", or "arc?". But how do I get to
that point, meaning I power up this confusing piece of hardware and WHAT DO I
DO? Use WBench and then somewhere insert the disk with my dloaded stuff on it?
Where and when do I type in that command? Oh the secrets just beyond my grasp!
Thanks so far for all the help, I'm almost there.
Mike
Mike,
Start with WBench, open a CLI. Rename ARC.EXE to ARC. Put ARC on the same
disk as the program you want to unarc. (With one drive it's easiest to copy a
file to ram:, switch disks, and copy it from ram: to the new disk). With that
disk in your drive (not WBench), type "arc x <filename>". There are more
elegant ways to handle it, but this is the simplest.
Hope I haven't missed anything…
Lee
Lee,
Thanks alot for the help. As soon as I finish up work I'll attempt my first
unarcing. I feel like I'm back in school without the threat
of grades or gym.
Mike
Mike,
Who said there weren't grades or gym? Where's your term paper on online
communications? Hit the floor, and give me twenty, mister.
Lee
Lee,
It seems school was alot easier than this! Even with all the help I got I
still got terribly confused and went down to the folks I bought the Amiga from
to help me out. I only have one drive and they seemed to think that most of the
info I received assumed I had two. I tried following everyone's directions and
it blew me away. I ended up having them show me that I needed to copy cli to my
ram using copy df0: c to ram: then open a path, path ram: c then use the arc x
filename or something along those lines, and it did work there. Now I get home
and am having problems. I did my the Amiga Dos Manual and plan on reading it
thoroughly as it should really help. According to the guy I talked to he said
that as long as I stick with a single disk drive I will ALWAYS have to copy cli
to my ram disk before I can use the downloaded stuff. At this point I am too
confused to know better. I did copy down everything you, Keith Young, and Doug
Winger so kindly informed me of so I can see how it all fits in. ARRGGHH!
Make that I did "buy" the manual,
Mike
Mike,
Well, remember you can think of ram: as a second disk drive, IF you have enough
memory, and if you remember it all goes away when the Amiga is turned off. I
hope you get things sorted out. I'll be away until Monday night, but there are
plenty of people here to help if you get stuck again.
Lee
P.S. I STILL think a second disk drive would be a good idea.
Mike,
One thing to keep in mind as you wade through all this is that when
specifying a path to a file or directory, there should not be any spaces.
(Unless the file or directory name itself has some spaces, and in that case,
you should quote the entire string.) When you say 'df0: c' that should be
replaced by 'df0:c'. See the diff? Good luck!
-John
Mike:
I don't sell hardware or anything, but it gets a LOT easier if you have a
second drive (and a WHOLE LOT easier {and more expensive} if that drive is a
hard one). I'd seriously consider getting a second floppy.
-tc
k3e,
Again, Lee has done a good job of explaining things… and it sounds like
you've got dloading under control for the time being. What you need to do is
spend some time in the CLI ( click on the "CLI" Icon on your workbench disk, if
you don't see it, look in the "system" drawer)… there are a few commands that
are _very_ useful… to enter them, just type their name and possibly an
arguement to the command. Here are a few that you'll want to play with… ( you
type these at the "1>" prompt, don't type the quotes, but everything I put in
the quotes)…. "dir" will give you a 'directory' of the current drive ( a list
of files ) "dir df1:" would give you a list of files on an external drive if
you have one "dir c:" _this_ one will give you a list of all the other commands
that you use in the CLI.
Gee, I just realized how drawn out this can get <grin>, but here's a few
more to play with: "list", "copy df0:filename ram:" (copies a file to ram:) "cd
df0:term" (this would make a directory named "term" on your internal drive the
"current directory", "delete ram:filename" (yes, it does what it sounds like
<grin> ), "rename ram:oldfilename ram:newfilename" (to rename a file), "copy
ram:arc.exe df0:c/arc" (copies "arc.exe" from ram: to your 'c' (command)
directory and renames it to "arc" while it's at it).
Once you play with these some, you'll get the hang of it… also for most
commands, you can type a '?' after them and get an idea of what the command
want's as an arguement.
Good luck,
– Keith
Keith,
Thanks again for your patience, time, and help. Like I told Lee, as soon
as I put in a few hours at work I'll be back! I sure am gett ing alot of help
here online which is great. Hopefully the questions will become somewhat more
astute(?) as time progresses.
Mike
Suggestion #2: I spent one Sunday afternoon a few years ago curled up with
Compute's "Amiga DOS Reference Guide", and it was invaluable in learning how to
live through the CLI. It explains the two editors, the file system, and of
course, the CLI commands. MIne is at a WB 1.0 level (I'm sort of an Amiga
oldtimer), but I still use it in my 1.2 environment. I don't know if it's
still available (it may even have been updated for 1.2), but I thought it was
great. Another suggestion is to join your local users' group. You'll find a
LOT of helpful people. I spent a year as our Public Domain coordinator, and
learned just about everything about the CLI that way. I also became great at
PD criticism (as in a review, not as negativistic bitching), and was able to
find the best PD/Shareware term pgms, CLI aids, picture viewers, etc. IMHO,
you have the best Shareware term pgm (Access).
-tc
Terry,
I did go out and get the AmigaDos Manual after that was suggested by Keith
Young and a few others. I have gotten lots of help here in
regards to my inability to use the ARC.EXE with stuff I've downloaded. I have
spent two afternoons with the manual and though I know more
than I did I still am thoroughly confused as to how I do it all. All I am
initially trying to do is unarc files but if I ask 4 different pe
ople I get 4 different responses. I'm sure they are all correct but I just
can't assimilate it all. I can't get what I need copied to RAM a
nd if I do then using the arc x filename doesn't seem to work, etc. etc. Soon,
soon…
Mike
Maybe some advise from another amateur will help. Take ARC.EXE and
rename it to ARC. Copy ARC into your C directory. Then if your real lazy like
me you can use one of the Directory Utilities that allows you to select an
ARCed file with your mouse and then select ARC E from the menu. Hope this
helps and doesn't add to your confusion.
Bill
Mike,
OK, basics. Boot the WB, open the system drawer,and open a CLI. Exppand it
to cover the entire window if you wish.
Now, I assume one drive on your part, and will call it Downloads. Use the
actual disk name during your typing.
cd downloads: ;note the ':' which indicates a root directory.
rename arc.exe Arc ;
arc x lib4 ;Note also that .ARC MUST be on the end of the
; filename, but my be left off when invoking Arc.
You should see 'extracting <filename>' and then the 1> should return. You
should now DIR to see a listing of files on the disk. TYPE lib4 (or whatever
filename arc extracted) to have it list to the CLI window, hitting any key to
stop, and Backspacing to restart.
Now, as long as we're here, let's set things up for later use.
cd sys: ; log back to WB, which should be the COPY you
; booted with, not the release disk!
delete demo#? all ; Chuck the demos and the .info files with it to
; make some space on the disk. Note the wildcard
; #? which reads 'Any number (#) of any char (?)
copy downloads:Arc c: ; put Arc in the C: directory, so you can use it
<continued>
I see, so we can't do this basic operation from WorkBench? (giggle)
Henry, did you miss all of the comments about someone claiming copyright to the
ARC code? We can't modifiy the program to be WB based if we wanted to.
It occurs to me also, that unless you want to extract ALL files from a given
.arc file, that ANY attempt to use solely the WB (or any point & click method)
will sorely tax the ingenuity of both the writer of such a program (and _worse_
tax the ingenuity of the USER who will be far LESS capable of dealing with it).
UNless they have ARexx. <smug grin, looking at WB-driven ARC program> –Ben–
Um, it seems like a relatively simple project to me! Just make a unARCer
that puts up a file requester, "Whaddya want me to unARC?", where you select
the ARC file. Then, the program would do a listing of what was in the ARC.
"Which files should be unARCed? Press the ALL button for all."
Finally, a requester: "Where should I put the unARCed files?" Seems like it
would take no more than a week of modification of any current unARCer…
<<RON>>
Why not write a seperate program that would let you set-up to arc/unarc from
WorkBench which would then in turn Execute() Arc with the proper command line??
Seems like that would work just fine… may even be a fun project for someone
with time to blow….
Ray
<continuation>
; whenever you boot from that disk.
Now, lets's de-arc something to ram: as an exercise.
cd ram: ; Here's where it will end up, your current
; directory
arc x downloads:file.arc ; Note the path to the file, spelling out how
; the OS will look for it.
dir downloads: ; some demonstrations of pathing.
dir
dir c:a#?
cd downloads:
dir ram:
dir:
As you can see, not too hard once you remember to path to things. If you
have two drives, all the swapping you've been doing is eliminated as you just
log into a directory or drive (cd df1: for instance) and let the OS keep track
of where things are.
If you need any further help, just yell.
Doug
Doug,
Thanks for all the information. I may never leave the keyboard at this
rate, what with all the help I am receiving. I've got it all written down, and
as soon as I put it all to work I will be saving it to disk instead of paper. I
really appreciate the effort on your part in making this learning process as
easy as possible. Thanks!
Mike
Mike,
Always happy to help. Since I now know you have a single drive I do have
some general tips/rules for you.
If it's not on the WB disk, resist the temptation to PATH. Pathing is a
powerful method of configuring your command set, but unless the OS can access
it immediately, your "Insert Volume Bargle:" requesters will increase
expontentialy.
Copy your most used commands to ram: and _then_ path to that. This may seem
contridictory to the above, but ram: is _always_ available. A 'copy c:copy
ram:' then a 'path ram: add' will mean when you invoke COPY, you won't get the
'Insert Volume WorkBench'. Use it sparingly. Anothr method is to copy the
commands you'll be using to ram: and then ASSIGNing c: to ram: This eats a lot
of memory, so pick your command set with care. A simple script file in your s:
directory to do it is handy. The Amiga OS is very flexible in this regard,
with pathing and assigning add a great deal of power to setting things up to
ease your chores.
ALWAYS REMEMEBER TO PATH TO THINGS! With a single drive, the system must be
told where things are. Even with multiple floppy drives and HD, pathing things
out is a necesity at times, and makes use of the CLI a lot easier.
Learn how to set up your Startup-Sequence. You need a text editor, but once
you learn the AmigaDOS commands, you can have the system boot to _YOUR_
<continued>
<continuation>
taste, executing scripts, copying things to ram:, doing assigns, starting
programs; all done at the beginning during boot time. If you have highly
memory intensive programs, and want to save a bit of ram, you can even have the
system NOT load WB, and to leave it in CLI. Lots of things are possible.
Once you learn what is needed when, you might make up some special boot
disks. Each one would have a different command set, and configure the system
differently. Make a couple copies of WB, then go through them, eliminating
things you won't need for the task at hand. I used to make 'stripper' WB
disks, eliminating seldom used c: commands, extraneous printer drivers, the
fonts I wouldn't be using, drivers and handlers, like narrator, and if I
intended to make it a CLI disk, eliminating all the .info files and the LoadWB
command. I would then add things, turning each one into a bootable disk set up
with the files I _would_ be using at the time. Make a Telecommunications disk,
for instance.
Also, since you are going to be using pathing a lot, keep names _short!_
While Amigatech_downloads:text_type_files/original.capture may be allowed and
highly descriptive, Amit=]S"JaQ{Bpt.1 is easier to type.
Practice. Experiment. YU're going to make mistakes but they won't hurt
anything. Make backups, so if you _do_ accidently type delete sys:c/#? you
won't be more than a copy backup:c sys:c all quiet away from fixing it. You're
already starting right, by asking questions. Explore, keep asking questions,
and someday _you'll_ be answering the guy who asks "How do I..?"
<continued>
Doug,
I wrote down most of what you had to say so I can refer to it as I gradual
become aware of all the ideas, concepts, and commands that are necessary to
understand in order to get along with my Amiga. I guess I should just keep
practicing and ask questions, like you said. If I repeat myself and you have to
answer the same question twice it's not that I'm not paying attention, it's
just that I'm probably
not sure what you really told me. Thanks!
Mike
Here's another suggestion that you will probably want to wait on until you're
pretty familiar with the CLI, but write it down, and read it again in a couple
of months: There is a great PD program called REZ. YOu tell REZ a list of CLI
commands. The first time you use the command, you'll have to put the diskette
with the command in, but from then on, it'll hang around in memory. Quite
nice. My first 'DIR' command requires me to put in my WB disk, but all the
later uses of DIR do not. Saves time and frustration on disk swapping.
-tc