XZ Utils on DOS =============== DOS-specific filename handling xz detects at runtime if long filename (LFN) support is available and will use it by default. It can be disabled by setting an environment variable: set lfn=n When xz is in LFN mode, it behaves pretty much the same as it does on other operating systems. Examples: xz foo.tar -> foo.tar.xz xz -d foo.tar.xz -> foo.tar xz -F lzma foo.tar -> foo.tar.lzma xz -d foo.tar.lzma -> foo.tar When LFN support isn't available or it is disabled with LFN=n environment setting, xz works in short filename (SFN) mode. This affects filename suffix handling when compressing. When compressing to the .xz format in SFN mode: - Files without an extension get .xz just like on LFN systems. - *.tar files become *.txz (shorthand for *.tar.xz). *.txz is recognized by xz on all supported operating systems. (Try to avoid confusing this with gzipped .txt files.) - Files with 1-3 character extension have their extension modified so that the last character is a dash ("-"). If the extension is already three characters, the last character is lost. The resulting *.?- or *.??- filename is recognized in LFN mode, but it isn't recognized by xz on other operating systems. Examples: xz foo -> foo.xz | xz -d foo.xz -> foo xz foo.tar -> foo.txz | xz -d foo.txz -> foo.tar xz foo.c -> foo.c- | xz -d foo.c- -> foo.c xz read.me -> read.me- | xz -d read.me- -> read.me xz foo.txt -> foo.tx- | xz -d foo.tx- -> foo.tx ! Note that in the last example above, the third character of the filename extension is lost. When compressing to the legacy .lzma format in SFN mode: - *.tar files become *.tlz (shorthand for *.tar.lzma). *.tlz is recognized by xz on all supported operating systems. - Other files become *.lzm. The original filename extension is lost. *.lzm is recognized also in LFN mode, but it is not recognized by xz on other operating systems. Examples: xz -F lzma foo -> foo.lzm | xz -d foo.lzm -> foo xz -F lzma foo.tar -> foo.tlz | xz -d foo.tlz -> foo.tar xz -F lzma foo.c -> foo.lzm | xz -d foo.lzm -> foo ! xz -F lzma read.me -> read.lzm | xz -d read.lzm -> read ! xz -F lzma foo.txt -> foo.lzm | xz -d foo.lzm -> foo ! When compressing with a custom suffix (-S .SUF, --suffix=.SUF) to any file format: - If the suffix begins with a dot, the filename extension is replaced with the new suffix. The original extension is lost. - If the suffix doesn't begin with a dot and the filename has no extension and the filename given on the command line doesn't have a dot at the end, the custom suffix is appended just like on LFN systems. - If the suffix doesn't begin with a dot and the filename has an extension (or an extension-less filename is given with a dot at the end), the last 1-3 characters of the filename extension may get overwritten to fit the given custom suffix. Examples: xz -S x foo -> foox | xz -dS x foox -> foo xz -S x foo. -> foo.x | xz -dS x foo.x -> foo xz -S .x foo -> foo.x | xz -dS .x foo.x -> foo xz -S .x foo. -> foo.x | xz -dS .x foo.x -> foo xz -S x.y foo -> foox.y | xz -dS x.y foox.y -> foo xz -S .a foo.c -> foo.a | xz -dS .a foo.a -> foo ! xz -S a foo.c -> foo.ca | xz -dS a foo.ca -> foo.c xz -S ab foo.c -> foo.cab | xz -dS ab foo.cab -> foo.c xz -S ab read.me -> read.mab | xz -dS ab read.mab -> read.m ! xz -S ab foo.txt -> foo.tab | xz -dS ab foo.tab -> foo.t ! xz -S abc foo.txt -> foo.abc | xz -dS abc foo.abc -> foo ! When decompressing, the suffix handling in SFN mode is the same as in LFN mode. The DOS-specific filenames *.lzm, *.?-, and *.??- are recognized also in LFN mode. xz handles certain uncommon situations safely: - If the generated output filename refers to the same file as the input file, xz detects this and refuses to compress or decompress the input file even if --force is used. This can happen when giving an overlong filename in SFN mode. E.g. "xz -S x foo.texinfo" would try to write to foo.tex which on SFN system is the same file as foo.texinfo. - If the generated output filename is a special file like "con" or "prn", xz detects this and refuses to compress or decompress the input file even if --force is used. Bugs xz doesn't necessarily work in Dosbox. It should work in DOSEMU. Pressing Ctrl-c or Ctrl-Break won't remove the incomplete target file when running under Windows XP Command Prompt (something goes wrong with SIGINT handling). It works correctly under Windows 95/98/98SE/ME.