Zip Directory

To archive the contents of a directory (including subdirectories), select the directory in the tree and select the menu option Directories->Zip. The Zip Directory dialog will appear with the target directory set by options in the Zip page of the Settings notebook and a target directory name of 'noname00'. The default target options are a default directory, the path of the active Files window or the path of the inactive Files window.

The selected operation dialog appears in its last used position and size. The dialog is movable and may be resized in length to enhance viewing long paths and filenames.

Zip Directory Dialog

The dialog contains four data fields referred to on the left as:

Zip - The Zip field contains the full file path and file name of the first selected file and is read only.

No Label - The second field summarizes the additional directories included in the operation and is read only. This field will be blank when only one directory is selected. Zipping multiple directories is only possibe when directories are displayed in a Files window.

To - The To field contains the target path for the zip. It is initialized to the path set on the Zip page of the Settings notebook. This target path may be changed by mouse, keyboard or manual input. For zip operations, a "noname00" directory name is added to the target path. The directory name may be edited as desired. Error checking is performed on edited paths and directory names to ensure that they conform to the drive type requirements.

With - This field shows the zip switches to be used for the operation (defaults to the options previously set in the Settings notebook). It also contains an Options pushbutton which, when pressed, will popup the switch options dialog appropriate for the operation. Alternatively, the user may manually edit the switch field.

When the ZIP Directory dialog appears, the source File Window is locked from further normal user input until the selected operation is complete or cancelled. However, if multiple directories are displayed in a Files Window, the selected list can modified by holding down the Ctrl key and using the LMB to deselect directories or to select others to be added to the list. This is a common feature of the Copy, Move, Delete, Zip and Unzip dialogs.

The initialized target directory for zip is set on the appropriate page of the Settings notebook. The target path may be easily changed using the point and click method or manually entered.

Zipping a Directory

To archive the contents of a directory (including subdirectories), select the directory in the tree and select Zip from the Directory menu. The Zip Directory dialog will appear. You may change the selected directory after the dialog appears.

Zip Directory Dialog

The target directory is shown in the To field. Use point and click selection of the target path using a directory tree or type in the target directory path. Then edit the target file name for the file that will be created. Press Zip to start the zip operation.

You may modify the zip options by pressing Options on the dialog and selecting the desired options or directly editing the options string.

See Directory Operations for further discussion on using the dialogs to perform directory operations.

Initiating the Operation

When the desired path is displayed in the target field, click on the operation pushbutton (Zip or Unzip) to start the operation. The Ctrl key may be held down when the operation pushbutton is pushed to keep the Zip/Unzip windows from auto-closing. If there are errors, this is required to read the error message. The selection emphasis is removed from the files as they are sent to the executable programs, ZIP.EXE and UNZIP.EXE. The window(s) are automatically refreshed at the end of the operation as appropriate.

A foreground OS/2 window will pop up running ZIP.EXE or UNZIP.EXE. The user interacts with these windows if required to consent to certain actions. The foreground window will close automatically when the operation is finished.

Aborting the Operation

If more than one file is selected for the operation, a green pushbutton, labeled Press/Esc to Pause, will replace the Data Summary window at the bottom of the file window once the operation starts. Clicking this pushbutton with the mouse, or pressing Esc on the keyboard, will pause the operation. The user then has the option to Abort or Continue using a split version of the same pushbutton. Because most operations are very fast, there is hardly time to pause operations involving only a few files. Once the foreground OS/2 window running the ZIP or UNZIP executable appears, the operation on the current file cannot be aborted from FileStar. The foreground window executing ZIP or UNZIP may be aborted with a Ctrl+C from the keyboard.