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 | Bulletin # 13     Notes on Split .TGZ Files (*.??)      Updated: 02/28/98 |
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    Some items offered on The SYS$COMMAND BBS are too big to be offered for 
    download in a single .TGZ file. So, to make downloading easier, these
    large compressed archives have been "split" into chunks that are about
    240K in size. Each chunk will take about 5 to 8 minutes to download at 
    9600 baud.

    What's a .TGZ file?

    This is known, in the UNIX world, as a "tarball": a Gnu-ZIPped "tar"
    archive. The UNIX "tar" program is roughly equivalent to OpenVMS
    BACKUP - it saves files or entire directory structures on tape or in
    a disk file. "tar" stands for Tape ARchiver, but it can be told to 
    write its output to a disk file or to a "pipe". Gnu-ZIP is a freeware
    compression program that can read a disk file or read from a pipe and
    write its output to a disk file or a pipe. Gnu-ZIPped "tar" archives
    are called "tarballs". 
    
    The OpenVMS equivalent is to write a BACKUP saveset using /BLOCK=2048,
    insert the saveset into a text library (.TLB) and then convert the .TLB
    to DCX Data-reduced format ($ LIBRARY/TEXT/DATA=REDUCE filespec).

    To re-assemble the chunks of a split .TGZ file on OpenVMS, get the 
    CAT_TGZS.COM file from File Area 7 (download it as ASCII - it's a DCL
    proc.). Invoke CAT_TGZS.COM with the name of the split archive(s) as
    a parameter:

    Example:
    $ @CAT_TGZS CMUIP66A

    CAT_TGZS.COM also supports wildcards.

    Example:
    $ @CAT_TGZS CMUIP66%

    To re-assemble the chunks of a split .TGZ file on DOS, get the 
    CAT_TGZS.BAT file from File Area 2 (download it as ASCII - it's a DOS
    batch file). Invoke CAT_TGZS.BAT with the name of the split archive(s) as
    a (list of) parameter(s):

    Example:
    C:\> CAT_TGZS CMUIP66A

    CAT_TGZS.BAT does _NOT_ support wildcards! However, you may specify up
    to eight (8) archive names on the command line.

    Example:
    C:\> CAT_TGZS CMUIP66A CMUIP66B CMUIP66C

    You can then FTP the re-assembled archive to your OpenVMS system, or
    transfer by some other means (ZMODEM, Kermit, etc.)

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