Chirolaz
10th February 2004 10:03 UTC

UHARC Compression?
Hi! Your work is very good, and I'd like so much the supports for LZMA compression, but I have a new idea... Why not add support for UHARC compression? This format is very great, and it's better than RAR format, and it's perfect to make a install files (and it's free). If somebody like read more info about this format, visit these links:

- http://www.cmetge.dixinet.com/archive.asp -> Comparison Winrar/Winace/UHARC
- http://www.cmetge.dixinet.com/compression.asp -> More comparison (in french)
- http://www.cmetge.dixinet.com/test3.asp -> Links for download...
- http://www.winuha.com/ -> A new UHA program for Windows...
- http://www.softpedia.com/public/cat/2/2-41.shtml UHARC GUI 1.1.5e
- http://www.softpedia.com/public/cat/2/2-49.shtml UHARC 0.4b GUI v2.0

What do you think about this format?...
Bye! :)

PS: If you like know more about this format, search in Google ;)
PS2: It's isn't a new format. The UHARC format was created in 2001.

Vytautas
10th February 2004 12:12 UTC

As far as I can tell from your links is that UHARC compression has equivalent results to LZMA (7-Zip) under most conditions. Therefore I do not see a real need to add support for yet another compression system unless there are some significant benifits.

I one really wanted to compress files with this format one could create a plugin similar to ZipDll.

Vytautas

kichik
10th February 2004 12:36 UTC

As far as I can tell it's not open source. This means we can not integrate it nicely into NSIS. It is also an archiver and not a compression algorithm, which makes it not ideal for installers. On top of that, results shown in many sites show that 7zip and UHARC preform pretty much the same and from my old experience with I know UHARC is very slow on decompression. So basically I don't see any need for it.

Chirolaz
11th February 2004 00:55 UTC

OK, if it's not possible, don't problem...
I only say add support for UHARC compression as an add-on (as a external dll, for example), not internal support.
But it's OK, if don't like this format, don't problem...
Bye, bye...

Vytautas
11th February 2004 01:48 UTC

If you could get the source code for it you could quite easily write a ZipDLL like plugin so that one could uncompress UHARC files from nsis. But as kickik mentioned it does not appear to be open source thus getting a legit copy of the source code might be impossible.

Vytautas

rjstephens
11th February 2004 05:43 UTC

I wouldn't mind seeing LZO added to NSIS: http://www.oberhumer.com/opensource/lzo/

it's open source and has a major advantage because it is extremely fast.

Joost Verburg
11th February 2004 11:46 UTC

There are no plans to add other compression methods. The LZMA method decompresses quite fast and results in very good compression ratios.

kichik
13th February 2004 09:18 UTC

LZO is GPL. It can not be used.

rjstephens
13th February 2004 09:22 UTC

why does something being GPL prevent it from being used?

kichik
13th February 2004 09:36 UTC

Because NSIS uses the zlib license. For more information, read the GPL and compare it with the zlib license.

rjstephens
13th February 2004 09:53 UTC

I have looked at both licenses, whats wrong with them?

Joost Verburg
13th February 2004 12:10 UTC

GPL has many restrictions that BSD-style licenses have not.

sag47
19th December 2006 17:11 UTC

Here is your solution!
Here is your solution!

This script is for an NSIS based SFX (self extracting archive) for UHARC. This is also the base for the UHARC CMD software created by Sam Gleske as a frontend for UHARC in Windows. It integrates UHARC into the Windows shell allowing to compress files/folders by simply right clicking on them and selecting compress.

It also includes features such as encrypting archives with a password just as easy as it is to create a non-password archive. Another cool feature is being able to convert that password-encrypted archive in a secure SFX.

What is a secure SFX?
A secure SFX is a self extracting archive (requires no extra software installed). It requires a password to extract.

Code can be edited for use as part of a full software install.

Instructions:
1. Download and extract attached file
2. Read the about for further instructions

UHARC CMD Compressor Homepage
Direct Download Link (2.5MB)

I am the original creator of UHARC CMD so I have the rights to distribute it's source. I have also included a license with references proving I have the rights to distribute UHARC (included in zip file is UNUHARC).

sag47
5th January 2007 16:55 UTC

The UHARC CMD Direct Download link has changed:
It can now be accessed from:
http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~sag47/uharc

It incorporates UHARC 0.6b and it now has a web update that makes it easy to check your installed version against the current version on the server.
SAM

sag47
13th August 2007 06:31 UTC

Here is an updated version that is slightly more secure. It does an MD5 on the extractor right before extracting the archive, this ensures that the extractor isn't tampered with and the user isn't tricked into giving their password away.

sag47
13th August 2007 06:36 UTC

Forgot to attach the file...