BackupToZip 1.4 build: 9518 released: 2011-03-26

Maintains a backup mirror of a set of files in a single ZIP file using TrueZip 6.8.1..

Java application.
Download from: http://mindprod.com/products1.html#BACKUPTOZIP
View formatted HTML Manual online at: http://mindprod.com/application/backuptozip.manual.html

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Notes:

You must install the Java JRE to use this program.
See http://mindprod.com/jgloss/jgloss/jre.html

This program can only be used from the command prompt, (or via an command
line style icon shortcut) e.g. under Windows command.exe or JPSoft
tcmd.exe, formerly called the DOS box. Just clicking the programs in a
directory listing will not do anything useful. Just typing the program
names at the command prompt will not either.

This program requires a manual install! See below.

This program works with vanilla text files, (e.g. ASCII files or UTF-8
Unicode files). You will need a text editor to create and view them, not a word
processor. e.g. notepad, Visual Slick Edit or other suitable text editor
http://mindprod.com/jgloss/editor.html. You must use a monospaced font
http://mindprod.com/jgloss/monospacedfonts.html (aka fixed pitch, aka
programmer font) to view your files, or they won't look properly aligned.

I put out an avalanche of free software into the world, and submit PAD
files to hundreds of distribution sites, but I rarely hear back from
anyone. What's happening? Does it all just work fine? It is so
complicated nobody can figure out how to use it and they give up on it?
It is it useful? Since everyone has the source, do people just fix the
programs to their liking themselves? Did you have trouble installing? Do
I presume you know too much? I would be happy to hear from you about your
experiences, positive or negative and your requests for improvements. A
one-line email to roedy@mindprod.com would be great.

===> Free <===
Full source included.
You may even include the source code, modified or unmodified
in free/commercial open source/proprietary programs that you write and distribute.
May be used freely for any purpose but military.
For more details on this restriction, see
http://mindprod.com/contact/nonmil.html
If you include any Canadian Mind Products code in your own applications,
your app too must be labelled non-military use only.
All Java jars and source code are included.

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Prerequisites:

This program runs under any OS that supports Java,
(e.g.W2K/XP/W2003/Vista/W2008/W7-32/W7-64/W8-32/W8-64/Linux/LinuxARM/LinuxX86
/LinuxX64/Ubuntu/Solaris/SolarisSPARC/SolarisSPARC64/SolarisX86/SolarisX64/OSX/AIX...)
so long as you have
<><> Java version 1.6 <><> or later installed (32-bit or 64-bit Java).
See http://mindprod.com/jgloss/installingjava.html for details.

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Installing on a PC:

Download source and compiled class files to run on your own machine as an application.
First install a recent Java JDK or JVM.
See http://mindprod.com/jgloss/installingjava.html.
To install, extract the zip download with WinZip
(or similar unzip utility) into any directory you please,
often J:\ -- ticking off the <span class="click">use folder names</span> option.
To run as an application, type:
java -ea -jar J:\com\mindprod\backuptozip\backuptozip.jar {put any parms here}

adjusting as necessary to account for where the jar file is.

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Installing on a MacIntosh:

Use Safari to download source and compiled class files to run on your own machine as an application.
Safari will automatically unpack the zip into ~/Downloads (version 10.5)
[or on the Desktop (version 10.4 and earlier)].
First install a recent Java JDK or JVM.
See http://mindprod.com/jgloss/installingjava.html.
You may optionally move the download tree to a permanent home.
I don't have a MacIntosh, just a PC, so I can't test my Java programs for Mac compatibility.
In theory they should work without problems, but in practice that does not always happen.
If you have problems please, let me know, preferably with screenshots and complete verbatim error messages.
To run as an application, without parameters, just double click the jar file.

To run as an application with parameters, in bash shell type:
open Terminal.app
cd ~/Desktop
java -ea -jar com/mindprod/backuptozip/backuptozip.jar {put any parms here}

adjusting as necessary to account for where the jar file is.

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Rebuilding:

The zip already contains the necessary class and jar files, so unless you modify
the program, there is no need to recompile the source or rebuild the jar.
Configure.java basedir="E:/" in rebuild.xml to the drive where your files are.
Use ANT and rebuild.xml, not build.xml, to recompile and recreate the jar.

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Use:

BackupToZip is a simple backup program. It maintains a compressed mirror
of a set of files in a single large ZIP file. You can then copy this ZIP
file to DVD, flash drive, hard disk or CD for backup. Unlike a
compression utility, such as WinZIP, if you delete files, the next time
you run BackupToZip it will automatically delete those deleted files from
the backup archive. It will also automatically update changed or add new
files as needed.

To restore, you would use a conventional ZIP tool such as WinZIP to fetch
replacements for the damaged files from the archive.

BackupToZip is much faster than recreating the archive from scratch each
time with WinZIP. It also avoids the usual problem of gradually
accumulating more and more junk in your backup archive files that have
long been deleted from your actual files. With an ordinary archiving
utility, come time to restore, you have to manually sort through the
accumulated chaff.

For details on its advantages, disadvantages, installing, use etc. See
the on-line manual at
http://mindprod.com/application/backuptozip.manual.html

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Version History:

1.0 2009-05-12 initial version

1.1 2009-05-18 Update the last modified date of the archive if changed. TrueZip does not do it automatically.

1.2 2010-10-06 convert to TrueZip 6.1.8

1.3 2011-01-30 use UTF-8 filename encoding to allow awkward characters in file names.

1.4 2011-03-26 add online HTML manual.

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