ZipSFX Component

Properties   Methods   Events   Configuration Settings   Errors  

The ZipSFX component implements a PKZip-compatible Zip compressor to create a self-extracting archive which will run natively on Windows platforms.

Syntax

nsoftware.IPWorksZip.Zipsfx

Remarks

The component uses the Deflate algorithm specified in RFC 1951 for compression, and then creates a self-extracting executable archive. This exe will bring up a dialog that will allow the user to select the target directory in which to decompress the files. There is also an optional splash screen that may be displayed before decompression. The text for this splash screen may be set with the BannerText property. You can also set the text that appears on the title bar of each dialog box using the CaptionText property.

Example (Creating a Self-Extracting Archive)


component.ArchiveFile = "c:\test.exe"
component.RecurseSubdirectories = true
component.SourceDirectory = "c:\foo\"
component.CaptionText = "Testing ZipSFX"
component.BannerText = "Press continue to decompress the archive."
component.CreateSFX()

Note: When creating a self-extracting archive which exceeds 4 GB or more of uncompressed data or which contains more than 64K files, the component will create a 64-bit Zip archive.

The self-extracting archive that is created by the ZipSFX component is a Windows application. However, there are command line options available if you wish to batch multiple files. The options are:

Option NameDescription
targetpathPath to decompress the archive to. This overrides the ExtractToPath. "." indicates the current directory (if no ExtractToPath was specified and no targetpath is given, the archive is decompressed to the current directory).
overwriteIf set to true, the archive will automatically overwrite existing files (thus suppressing the message box asking you to overwrite or not)
displaymessageIf set to false, it will suppress the display of the "Extraction Complete" message after the archive has finished (this may also be accomplished by setting the CompleteMessage config setting to "").
openfileIf set to false, this option will override opening the file indicated by FileToExecute. (Alternatively, set FileToExecute to "").
passwordThe password used to decrypt the archive. If the archive is not encrypted this option is ignored. However if the archive is encrypted and no password is supplied, decompression will fail.

For example, the following suppresses all questions and message boxes, and decompress to the current directory, use the following options:

  ZipExtractor /targetpath="." /overwrite=1 /displaymessage=0 /openfile=0 /password=pass

Note that if you run the self-extracting archive with any command line options, the pop up message box containing the BannerText will be suppressed.

Property List


The following is the full list of the properties of the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

ArchiveFileThe name of the self-extracting zip archive to create.
BannerTextOptional banner text to show before the self-extraction starts.
CaptionTextOptional caption (title) text for the self-extractor dialogs.
CompressionLevelThe compression level to use.
ExtractToPathOptional target directory for the self-extractor.
FileToExecuteOptional file to execute (open) after the archive is extracted.
PasswordAn optional password for the self-extracting archive.
RecurseSubdirectoriesWhether or not to recurse into subdirectories during archive creation.
SourceDirectoryDirectory to be compressed into a self-extracting archive.

Method List


The following is the full list of the methods of the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

ConfigSets or retrieves a configuration setting.
CreateSFXCompresses the files and creates a self-extracting archive.
ResetResets the component.

Event List


The following is the full list of the events fired by the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

ErrorInformation about non-fatal errors.
ProgressFired as progress is made.

Configuration Settings


The following is a list of configuration settings for the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

CompleteMessageMessage to notify user that extraction has finished normally.
ExtractorStubPath to optional self-extractor executable stub.
FileToExecuteParamsList of parameters to pass to FileToExecute.
InstallationModeThis setting will install to ExtractToPath, run FileToExecute, and then remove the extracted files.
RequireAdminPrivsSpecifies whether the created executable requires Administrator privileges.
SilentExtractionSpecifies whether the archive should hide all UI interaction while extracting.
BuildInfoInformation about the product's build.
GUIAvailableTells the component whether or not a message loop is available for processing events.
LicenseInfoInformation about the current license.
UseInternalSecurityAPITells the component whether or not to use the system security libraries or an internal implementation.

Copyright (c) 2022 /n software inc. - All rights reserved.
IPWorks ZIP 2020 .NET Edition - Version 20.0 [Build 8300]