ZipSFX Class

Properties   Methods   Events   Config Settings   Errors  

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

Syntax

ZipSFX

Remarks

The class 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)

class.ArchiveFile = "c:\test.exe" class.RecurseSubdirectories = true class.SourceDirectory = "c:\foo\" class.CaptionText = "Testing ZipSFX" class.BannerText = "Press continue to decompress the archive." class.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 class will create a 64-bit Zip archive.

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

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 class with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

Method List

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

Event List

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

Config Settings

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

ArchiveFile Property (ZipSFX Class)

The name of the self-extracting zip archive to create.

Syntax

• C++
• C
• Qt

ANSI (Cross Platform)
char* GetArchiveFile();
int SetArchiveFile(const char* lpszArchiveFile);

Unicode (Windows)
LPWSTR GetArchiveFile();
INT SetArchiveFile(LPCWSTR lpszArchiveFile);

char* ipworkszip_zipsfx_getarchivefile(void* lpObj);
int ipworkszip_zipsfx_setarchivefile(void* lpObj, const char* lpszArchiveFile);

QString GetArchiveFile();
int SetArchiveFile(QString qsArchiveFile);

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property specifies the name of the archive to be written when CreateSFX is called. Any pre-existing archive file will be overwritten.

The filename may be specified with or without a path. Paths may be relative or absolute, and should be specified in the format native to the host operating system. The filename should be specified with the appropriate ".exe" extension. An extension will not automatically be appended by the class.

If the file cannot be written a trappable error will be generated.

Example (Creating a Self-Extracting Archive)

class.ArchiveFile = "c:\test.exe" class.RecurseSubdirectories = true class.SourceDirectory = "c:\foo\" class.CaptionText = "Testing ZipSFX" class.BannerText = "Press continue to decompress the archive." class.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 class will create a 64-bit Zip archive.

Data Type

String

BannerText Property (ZipSFX Class)

Optional banner text to show before the self-extraction starts.

Syntax

• C++
• C
• Qt

ANSI (Cross Platform)
char* GetBannerText();
int SetBannerText(const char* lpszBannerText);

Unicode (Windows)
LPWSTR GetBannerText();
INT SetBannerText(LPCWSTR lpszBannerText);

char* ipworkszip_zipsfx_getbannertext(void* lpObj);
int ipworkszip_zipsfx_setbannertext(void* lpObj, const char* lpszBannerText);

QString GetBannerText();
int SetBannerText(QString qsBannerText);

Default Value

""

Remarks

If this property is set, a dialog box will pop up displaying the contents of this property as soon as the SFX executable is run. If this property is set to an empty string (default) no banner dialog will be displayed.

Example (Creating a Self-Extracting Archive)

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

Data Type

String

CaptionText Property (ZipSFX Class)

Optional caption (title) text for the self-extractor dialogs.

Syntax

• C++
• C
• Qt

ANSI (Cross Platform)
char* GetCaptionText();
int SetCaptionText(const char* lpszCaptionText);

Unicode (Windows)
LPWSTR GetCaptionText();
INT SetCaptionText(LPCWSTR lpszCaptionText);

char* ipworkszip_zipsfx_getcaptiontext(void* lpObj);
int ipworkszip_zipsfx_setcaptiontext(void* lpObj, const char* lpszCaptionText);

QString GetCaptionText();
int SetCaptionText(QString qsCaptionText);

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property contains the text which will appear on the title bar of the dialog boxes that appear when running the SFX executable file. If this property is not set, "IPWorks Zip Self Extractor - www.nsoftware.com" will appear in the title bar.

Example (Creating a Self-Extracting Archive)

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

Data Type

String

CompressionLevel Property (ZipSFX Class)

The compression level to use.

Syntax

• C++
• C
• Qt

ANSI (Cross Platform)
int GetCompressionLevel();
int SetCompressionLevel(int iCompressionLevel);

Unicode (Windows)
INT GetCompressionLevel();
INT SetCompressionLevel(INT iCompressionLevel);

int ipworkszip_zipsfx_getcompressionlevel(void* lpObj);
int ipworkszip_zipsfx_setcompressionlevel(void* lpObj, int iCompressionLevel);

int GetCompressionLevel();
int SetCompressionLevel(int iCompressionLevel);

Default Value

4

Remarks

This property specifies the level of compression to be used, between 0 and 6. Higher values will cause the class to compress better; lower values will cause the class to compress faster. A value of 0 will store the file without compression.

Data Type

Integer

ExtractToPath Property (ZipSFX Class)

Optional target directory for the self-extractor.

Syntax

• C++
• C
• Qt

ANSI (Cross Platform)
char* GetExtractToPath();
int SetExtractToPath(const char* lpszExtractToPath);

Unicode (Windows)
LPWSTR GetExtractToPath();
INT SetExtractToPath(LPCWSTR lpszExtractToPath);

char* ipworkszip_zipsfx_getextracttopath(void* lpObj);
int ipworkszip_zipsfx_setextracttopath(void* lpObj, const char* lpszExtractToPath);

QString GetExtractToPath();
int SetExtractToPath(QString qsExtractToPath);

Default Value

""

Remarks

If set to empty string (default), the self-extractor will attempt to extract files into a subdirectory of the directory it is being executed from.

The name of the subdirectory is derived from the name of the self-extracting archive by removing its extension.

Data Type

String

FileToExecute Property (ZipSFX Class)

Optional file to execute (open) after the archive is extracted.

Syntax

• C++
• C
• Qt

ANSI (Cross Platform)
char* GetFileToExecute();
int SetFileToExecute(const char* lpszFileToExecute);

Unicode (Windows)
LPWSTR GetFileToExecute();
INT SetFileToExecute(LPCWSTR lpszFileToExecute);

char* ipworkszip_zipsfx_getfiletoexecute(void* lpObj);
int ipworkszip_zipsfx_setfiletoexecute(void* lpObj, const char* lpszFileToExecute);

QString GetFileToExecute();
int SetFileToExecute(QString qsFileToExecute);

Default Value

"."

Remarks

This property specifies an executable file which will be run after the archive has completed decompressing. This must be a relative path to a file located within ExtractToPath. If this property is set to ".", the folder to which the archive has been decompressed will open in Windows Explorer. If this property is set to "" (empty string), the extractor will close and take no action.

Data Type

String

Password Property (ZipSFX Class)

An optional password for the self-extracting archive.

Syntax

• C++
• C
• Qt

ANSI (Cross Platform)
char* GetPassword();
int SetPassword(const char* lpszPassword);

Unicode (Windows)
LPWSTR GetPassword();
INT SetPassword(LPCWSTR lpszPassword);

char* ipworkszip_zipsfx_getpassword(void* lpObj);
int ipworkszip_zipsfx_setpassword(void* lpObj, const char* lpszPassword);

QString GetPassword();
int SetPassword(QString qsPassword);

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property specifies a case-sensitive password used to encrypt or decrypt the archive. If set to an empty string (default), no encryption is used.

The maximum supported length of the password is 128 characters.

Example (compressing an SFX archive):

class.ArchiveFile = "c:\test.exe" class.RecurseSubdirectories = true class.SourceDirectory = "c:\foo" class.Password = "nsoftware" class.CreateSFX()

Data Type

String

RecurseSubdirectories Property (ZipSFX Class)

Whether or not to recurse into subdirectories during archive creation.

Syntax

• C++
• C
• Qt

ANSI (Cross Platform)
int GetRecurseSubdirectories();
int SetRecurseSubdirectories(int bRecurseSubdirectories);

Unicode (Windows)
BOOL GetRecurseSubdirectories();
INT SetRecurseSubdirectories(BOOL bRecurseSubdirectories);

int ipworkszip_zipsfx_getrecursesubdirectories(void* lpObj);
int ipworkszip_zipsfx_setrecursesubdirectories(void* lpObj, int bRecurseSubdirectories);

bool GetRecurseSubdirectories();
int SetRecurseSubdirectories(bool bRecurseSubdirectories);

Default Value

TRUE

Remarks

If this property is set to true, when calling CreateSFX the class will recurse into all the subdirectories under SourceDirectory and include them in the self extracting archive. If this property is false, only the files in SourceDirectory will be included in the archive.

Data Type

Boolean

SourceDirectory Property (ZipSFX Class)

Directory to be compressed into a self-extracting archive.

Syntax

• C++
• C
• Qt

ANSI (Cross Platform)
char* GetSourceDirectory();
int SetSourceDirectory(const char* lpszSourceDirectory);

Unicode (Windows)
LPWSTR GetSourceDirectory();
INT SetSourceDirectory(LPCWSTR lpszSourceDirectory);

char* ipworkszip_zipsfx_getsourcedirectory(void* lpObj);
int ipworkszip_zipsfx_setsourcedirectory(void* lpObj, const char* lpszSourceDirectory);

QString GetSourceDirectory();
int SetSourceDirectory(QString qsSourceDirectory);

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property specifies the name of the directory containing the files to be compressed. This may be a local or absolute path. If the RecurseSubdirectories property is true, all the subdirectories under SourceDirectory will be recursed into, and those files will also be compressed.

Example (Creating a Self-Extracting Archive)

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

Data Type

String

Config Method (ZipSFX Class)

Sets or retrieves a configuration setting.

Syntax

• C++
• C
• Qt

ANSI (Cross Platform)
char* Config(const char* lpszConfigurationString);

Unicode (Windows)
LPWSTR Config(LPCWSTR lpszConfigurationString);

char* ipworkszip_zipsfx_config(void* lpObj, const char* lpszConfigurationString);

QString Config(const QString& qsConfigurationString);

Remarks

Config is a generic method available in every class. It is used to set and retrieve configuration settings for the class.

These settings are similar in functionality to properties, but they are rarely used. In order to avoid "polluting" the property namespace of the class, access to these internal properties is provided through the Config method.

To set a configuration setting named PROPERTY, you must call Config("PROPERTY=VALUE"), where VALUE is the value of the setting expressed as a string. For boolean values, use the strings "True", "False", "0", "1", "Yes", or "No" (case does not matter).

To read (query) the value of a configuration setting, you must call Config("PROPERTY"). The value will be returned as a string.

Error Handling (C++)

This method returns a String value; after it returns, call the GetLastErrorCode() method to obtain its result code; 0 indicates success, while a non-zero error code indicates that this method encountered an error during its execution. If an error occurs, the GetLastError() method can be called to retrieve the associated error message.

CreateSFX Method (ZipSFX Class)

Compresses the files and creates a self-extracting archive.

Syntax

• C++
• C
• Qt

ANSI (Cross Platform)
int CreateSFX();

Unicode (Windows)
INT CreateSFX();

int ipworkszip_zipsfx_createsfx(void* lpObj);

int CreateSFX();

Remarks

Invoking CreateSFX creates the archive specified by ArchiveFile. When the method is called, all files specified by SourceDirectory will be compressed and written to ArchiveFile. If RecurseSubdirectories is true, all the subdirectories under SourceDirectory and the files they contain will also be compressed and written to ArchiveFile.

If ArchiveFile exists when you call CreateSFX it will be overwritten.

As the files in SourceDirectory are being compressed, the Progress event will fire periodically to indicate how many bytes have been processed and the percentage of compression that has been completed.

To include your own custom text on the title bar of all of the self-extractor dialog boxes, set the CaptionText before calling CreateSFX. Setting the optional BannerText property will cause a small dialog to pop up when the self-extractor is run. You can put in a description of the contents, instructions, or any text you like.

Example (Creating a Self-Extracting Archive)

class.ArchiveFile = "c:\test.exe" class.RecurseSubdirectories = true class.SourceDirectory = "c:\foo\" class.CaptionText = "Testing ZipSFX" class.BannerText = "Press continue to decompress the archive." class.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 class will create a 64-bit Zip archive.

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

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.

Error Handling (C++)

This method returns a result code; 0 indicates success, while a non-zero error code indicates that this method encountered an error during its execution. If an error occurs, the GetLastError() method can be called to retrieve the associated error message. (Note: This method's result code can also be obtained by calling the GetLastErrorCode() method after it returns.)

Reset Method (ZipSFX Class)

Resets the class.

Syntax

• C++
• C
• Qt

ANSI (Cross Platform)
int Reset();

Unicode (Windows)
INT Reset();

int ipworkszip_zipsfx_reset(void* lpObj);

int Reset();

Remarks

Reset resets the state of the class. All properties will be set to their default values, and any files open will be closed.

Error Handling (C++)

This method returns a result code; 0 indicates success, while a non-zero error code indicates that this method encountered an error during its execution. If an error occurs, the GetLastError() method can be called to retrieve the associated error message. (Note: This method's result code can also be obtained by calling the GetLastErrorCode() method after it returns.)

Error Event (ZipSFX Class)

Information about non-fatal errors.

Syntax

• C++
• C
• Qt

ANSI (Cross Platform)
virtual int FireError(ZipSFXErrorEventParams *e);

typedef struct {
  const char *Description;
  int ErrorCode;
  int Index;
  const char *Filename;
  int Ignore;
  int reserved;
} ZipSFXErrorEventParams;


Unicode (Windows)
virtual INT FireError(ZipSFXErrorEventParams *e);

typedef struct {
  LPCWSTR Description;
  INT ErrorCode;
  INT Index;
  LPCWSTR Filename;
  BOOL Ignore;
  INT reserved;
} ZipSFXErrorEventParams;

#define EID_ZIPSFX_ERROR 1

virtual INT IPWORKSZIP_CALL FireError(LPSTR &lpszDescription, INT &iErrorCode, INT &iIndex, LPSTR &lpszFilename, BOOL &bIgnore);

class ZipSFXErrorEventParams {
public:
  const QString &Description();

  int ErrorCode();

  int Index();

  const QString &Filename();

  bool Ignore();
  void SetIgnore(bool bIgnore);

  int EventRetVal();
  void SetEventRetVal(int iRetVal);
};

// To handle, connect one or more slots to this signal.
void Error(ZipSFXErrorEventParams *e);

// Or, subclass ZipSFX and override this emitter function.
virtual int FireError(ZipSFXErrorEventParams *e) {...}

Remarks

The Error event is fired when non-fatal errors occur during compression or decompression. Note that if this event is fired during decompression this may indicate that the archive is corrupt.

By default these errors will cause the component to fail with an exception. The exception may be overridden by setting Ignore to true. This will cause the error to be ignored, the file will be skipped if necessary, and the class will continue operation.

ErrorCode will correspond to one of the following errors:

Description contains a textual description of the error. Index and Filename contain the array index (where appropriate) and filename of the file being processed at the time of the error.

Progress Event (ZipSFX Class)

Fired as progress is made.

Syntax

• C++
• C
• Qt

ANSI (Cross Platform)
virtual int FireProgress(ZipSFXProgressEventParams *e);

typedef struct {
  const char *Filename;
  int64 BytesProcessed;
  int PercentProcessed;
  int reserved;
} ZipSFXProgressEventParams;


Unicode (Windows)
virtual INT FireProgress(ZipSFXProgressEventParams *e);

typedef struct {
  LPCWSTR Filename;
  LONG64 BytesProcessed;
  INT PercentProcessed;
  INT reserved;
} ZipSFXProgressEventParams;

#define EID_ZIPSFX_PROGRESS 2

virtual INT IPWORKSZIP_CALL FireProgress(LPSTR &lpszFilename, LONG64 &lBytesProcessed, INT &iPercentProcessed);

class ZipSFXProgressEventParams {
public:
  const QString &Filename();

  qint64 BytesProcessed();

  int PercentProcessed();

  int EventRetVal();
  void SetEventRetVal(int iRetVal);
};

// To handle, connect one or more slots to this signal.
void Progress(ZipSFXProgressEventParams *e);

// Or, subclass ZipSFX and override this emitter function.
virtual int FireProgress(ZipSFXProgressEventParams *e) {...}

Remarks

The Progress event is automatically fired as compression is performed.

Filename contains the name of the file being written.

BytesProcessed contains the total number of uncompressed bytes processed.

PercentProcessed contains the percent of uncompressed bytes processed, corresponding roughly to the running time of the operation.

Config Settings (ZipSFX Class)

ZipSFX Config Settings

Base Config Settings

Trappable Errors (ZipSFX Class)

Error Handling (C++)

Call the GetLastErrorCode() method to obtain the last called method's result code; 0 indicates success, while a non-zero error code indicates that this method encountered an error during its execution. Known error codes are listed below. If an error occurs, the GetLastError() method can be called to retrieve the associated error message.

The following errors may be generated by the class. Note that frequently the error message will contain more specific information than what is listed here.

Note that some non-fatal errors may be trapped and explicitly ignored in the Error event. This will allow the class to continue operation even in case of error.

ZipSFX Errors