graphics.library, KS1.3

[olsen]

Is there a way to extract graphics.library  version 37 from ROM ?

That depends upon how you are intending to use it. Figuring out where the module starts and where it ends is not that hard (well, I can look it up in certain build protocol files, so that's probably not a fair assessment). Extracting and relocating it would be the difficult bit.

Are you sure you want V37? That's in Kickstart 2.04, not in Kickstart 1.3 (V34).

[olsen]

problem is, Unix version doesn't seem to produce the identical output and its missing some options. compressed size is slightly different with some files

Could you provide some context as to why this is a show-stopper for you?

As far as I know the "original" LhA (MS-DOS) and the Unix version evolved on different paths. The Amiga version is more closely related to the original version, hence the difference in performance and output.

If I remember correctly, the Unix version stores more information in the file headers than the original MS-DOS version, and it supports compression methods which were not available at the time when the Amiga version was created.

[olsen]

I'm trying to re-pack all the lha archives with zero compression, using a script. So that they can be better packed with 7z solid. But, I'd like to keep all the metadata, and find good compress algorithm, to recreate original identical archive one day, if need be.

If I understand you correctly you are using LhA to create archives which preserve the contents and the Amiga-specific metadata (comment, protection flags, owner ID and group ID), so that these may be restored properly when the archive is unpacked.

Is there any other reason for using LhA in this context? I am asking because you might get the same effect (Amiga-specific metadata being preserved) if you use the "zip" command. When "zip" was still under active development as "PKZIP" in the late 1980'ies "AmigaOS" was a well-supported platform.

If I remember correctly, the "zip" archive format preserves Amiga-specific metadata. I'll have to check first, though.

[olsen]

well I prefer LhA. I'm creating uncompressed lha (-lh0-). Metadata (headers) are kept in a special small file. I'd like to write a script that can later re-create identical compressed .lha, without having to use real Amiga or UAE. Problem is not in metadata, but compressed data.

You can tell "zip" not to compress the files ("zip -0 archive.zip file1 file2 ..."), which would give you in about the same functionality as with LhA. The source code to zip is available, there is at least one Amiga port which is fully compatible with the open source version and which is not 20 years old.

Even if you prefer LhA, by now it seems inevitable that you will not be able to perfectly reproduce the archive file format.

So maybe zip would not be such a bad alternative after all.