Newsgroups: comp.virus Path: network.ucsd.edu!ihnp4.ucsd.edu!swrinde!gatech!birdie-blue.cis.pitt.edu!dsinc!netnews.upenn.edu!netnews.cc.lehigh.edu!news From: Jim Wright Subject: Brief guide to file formats last changed 17 February 1994 Sender: virus-l@lehigh.edu Message-ID: <0003.9404061756.AA21974@bull-run.ims.disa.mil> Approved: news@netnews.cc.lehigh.edu Date: Mon, 04 Apr 94 15:37:13 -1000 Distribution: world Lines: 234 Brief guide to file formats last changed 17 February 1994 -- The most recent copy of the complete text may be anonymous ftp'd -- -- from ftp.cso.uiuc.edu (128.174.5.61) in the directory doc/pcnet. -- -- That file is maintained by David Lemson (lemson@uiuc.edu). -- -- Please do not strip this note from this list when passing it on. -- ARC (.arc) This format is most popular on PCs. Compresses and stores multiple files in a single archive. PC - arc 6.02, pk361 Mac - ArcMac 1.3c Unix - arc 5.21 VM/CMS - arcutil Amiga - Arc 0.23, PKAX VMS - arcvms Apple2 - dearc Atari - arc 5.21b, pkunarc OS/2 - arc2 ARJ (.arj) ARJ is a new archive format for DOS. Compresses and stores multiple files in a single archive. The author is Robert K Jung, robjung@world.std.com. PC - arj 2.30 (arj230.exe) Unix - unarj 2.30 Amiga - unarj 0.6 BinHex (.hqx) A Macintosh format. Converts a binary Mac file, including data and resource forks, into an archive of only printing ASCII characters. Note that BinHex4.0 will create and decode the ASCII hqx encoding used on Usenet, while BinHex5.0 will decode the ASCII hqx encoding but will create a non-ASCII binary file. PC - xbin 2.3 Mac - BinHex4.0, BinHex5.0, StuffIt 1.6, Compact Pro 1.32 Unix - mcvert VM/CMS - binhex binscii ( ) A favorite Apple2 file transmission format. Similar to uu{en,de}code except it can handle multiple files in a single package. Apple2 - binscii Compact Pro (.cpt) A new Macintosh format. Compresses and stores multiple files in a single archive. Mac - Compact Pro 1.32, Extractor 1.21 PC - EXTRACT compress (.Z) A Unix format. Compresses a single file in an archive. PC - u16, comprs16, comp430d Mac - MacCompress3.2A Unix - compress VM/CMS - compress Amiga - compress VMS - lzcomp Apple2 - compress Atari - compress Disk Masher (.dms) This is an Amiga format. Compresses and stores an entire floppy in a single archive. Amiga - DMS GZIP (.gz, .z, .tar.z, .tar.gz, .tgz) The GNU implementation of ZIP. Replaces Unix "compress" for GNU software. The last three file extensions above are for gzip'd tape archives. Unix - gzip 1.2.4 PC - gzip 1.2.4 OS/2 - gzip 1.2.4 VMS - gzip 1.2.4 Amiga - gzip 1.2.4 Atari - gzip 1.2.4 Primos - gzip 1.2.4 HPACK (.hpk) A multi-system archiver. Shareware. PC - hpack 0.79a0 Mac - hpack 0.79a0 Unix - hpack 0.79a0 OS/2 - hpack 0.79a0 Amiga - hpack 0.79a0 Atari - hpack 0.79a0 Archimedes - hpack 0.79a0 LHarc (.lzh) This format originated on PCs, and is now popular on Amigas. Compresses and stores multiple files in a single archive. PC - lha 2.13 (lha213.exe) Mac - MacLHarc 0.41 Unix - lha 1.00 Amiga - LHarc 1.30 [Only .lh0 and .lh1], LhA 1.32, LZ 1.92 Atari - lharc113 LHWarp (.lzw) This is an Amiga format. Compresses and stores an entire floppy in a single archive. Better compression than plain Warp. Amiga - Lhwarp LU (.lbr) This is an old format that originated with CP/M. It is virtually non-existent now. Collects multiple files into a single archive with no compression. PC - lue220 Mac - ArcMac 1.3c Unix - lar VM/CMS - arcutil VMS - vmssweep LZ (.lha .lzh) This format is popular on Amigas. Compresses and stores multiple files in a single archive. Will extract .lzh or .lza, and will produce .lza. Is fast when extracting files. Amiga - LZ 1.92 MSX (.msx) A new format for CP/M machines. Is also able to extract lharc archives. CP/M - PMARC and PMEXT nupack ( ) A favorite Apple2 archive format. Apple2 - nupack PackIt (.pit) An old Macintosh format. Compresses and stores multiple files in a single archive. PC - UnPackIt 1.0 Mac - PackIt3.1.3 Unix - unpit PAK (.pak) An old PC format. Compresses and stores multiple files in a single archive. Also the name of an Amiga format which produces self-extracting archives. Also the name of a new PC format. PC - PAK 2.51 Unix - arc 5.21 Amiga - PAK 1.0 shell archive (.shar, .sh) A Unix format. Stores multiple files in a single archive without compression. PC - unshar Mac - UnShar2.0 Unix - sh, unshar Amiga - UnShar Apple2 - unshar Atari - shar ShrinkIt ( ) A favorite Apple2 archive format. Apple2 - ShrinkIt Squeeze (._Q_) An old PC (CP/M?) format. Compresses and stores multiple files in a single archive. PC - sqpc131 VM/CMS - arcutil Amiga - Sq.Usq VMS - vmsusq Atari - ezsqueeze StuffIt (.sit) A Macintosh format. Compresses and stores multiple files in a single archive. PC - mactopc, UnStuffit 1.0 Mac - StuffIt 1.6 Unix - unsit Amiga - unsit tape archive (.tar) A Unix format. Stores multiple files in a single archive without compression. PC - tar, tarread, pax, pdtar Mac - UnTar2.0 Unix - tar, GNU tar Amiga - TarSplit, pax, GNUtar 1.09 VMS - vmstar Atari - sttar uuencode (.uu, .uue) A Unix format. Converts a binary file into an archive of only printing ASCII characters suitable for mailing. PC - uuexe 5.15 Mac - UMCP Tools 1.5.1 Unix - uuencode, uudecode VM/CMS - arcutil Amiga - uuencode, uudecode VMS - uudecode2. Apple2 - uu.en.decode Warp (.wrp) This is an Amiga format. Compresses and stores an entire floppy in a single archive. Amiga - WarpUtil xxencode (.xx, .xxe) A Unix format. Converts a binary file into an archive of only printing ASCII characters suitable for mailing. Solves many of the problems of uuencode. PC - uuexe 5.15 Unix - xxencode, xxdecode VM/CMS - xxencode ZIP (.zip) This format is popular on many systems. Compresses and stores multiple files in a single archive. PC - PKZIP/PKUNZIP 2.04g, Portable unzip 5.1, Portable zip 2.0 Mac - UnZip1.02c Unix - Portable unzip 5.1, Portable zip 2.0 VM/CMS - arcutil 2.0 (uncompress only) Amiga - PKAZip 1.01, Portable unzip 5.1, Portable zip 2.0 Atari - STZip 0.9 beta VMS - Portable unzip 5.1, Portable zip 2.0 OS/2 - PKZIP/PKUNZIP 1.02, Portable unzip 5.1, Portable zip 2.0 ZOO (.zoo) This format is popular on USENET. Compresses and stores multiple files in a single archive. PC - zoo 2.10 Mac - MacBooz2.1 Unix - zoo 2.10 VM/CMS - zoo Amiga - zoo 2.10 VMS - zoo 2.10 Atari - zoo 2.10 OS/2 - zoo 2.10 ZOOM (.zom) This is an Amiga format. Compresses and stores an entire floppy in a single archive. Not in common use due to program speed. Amiga - zoom .