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                   XPK - The external compression library
                   ======================================


This is distribution 2.4 of the xpk compression package. The following 
files are part of this archive:


 LIESMICH
 README

Overview of files in archive, German and English.

 libs/xpkmaster.library
 libs/powerpacker.library
 libs/iff.library

xpkmaster.library is the main library. It's the interface between programs
and compression libs. Using powerpacker.library, the masterlib can also
decompress powerpacker files. iff.library has been adapted to XPK so 
programs that use it will automatically decompress XPK files. Copy these
files to LIBS: using the Install script from Workbench or CLI.

 libs/compressors/xpkBLZW.library
 libs/compressors/xpkNONE.library
 libs/compressors/xpkNUKE.library
 libs/compressors/xpkRLEN.library
 libs/compressors/xpkIMPL.library
 libs/compressors/xpkENCO.library

These are the compression libs. You must create a compressors/ directory
withing LIBS: and copy them there. Here's a quick overview of their
properties:
    +---------------------------------------------------------+
    |             CF        CSpeed      USpeed        Modes   |
    | NUKE        +           +           ++            n     |
    | IMPL        +           0           +             y     |
    | BLZW        0           ++          +             y     |
    | RLEN        -           ++          ++            n     |
    | NONE        --          ++          ++            n     |
    +---------------------------------------------------------+
ENCO is a very simple encoding library, RLEN very simple compression
(both mainly programming examples) and NONE does just nothing.


 Docs/BLZW.doc
 Docs/FEAL.doc
 Docs/HUFF.doc
 Docs/IDEA.doc
 Docs/NUKE.doc

Descriptions of those compressors.


 Shell/README
 Shell/xDir
 Shell/xDisk
 Shell/xLoadSeg
 Shell/xPK
 Shell/xQuery
 Shell/xType
 Shell/xUP

The shell-based XPK programs. See README inside


 Workbench/xDrop
 Workbench/xDrop.doc
 Workbench/ShowIFF
 Workbench/ShowIFF.doc
 Workbench/MoviePRO
 Workbench/MoviePRO.doc

xDrop requires OS 2.0. It opens an App-Icon on the WB screen which you can
drag files on. They get compressed and their uncompressed original gets
deleted. Double-click on the app-icon to get a control panel. ShowIFF
is the well-known IFF displayer, now can decompress XPK-files thanks to
the new iff.library. MoviePro does the same for anims.


 XFH/

XFH is a decompressing file handle for XPK. It makes the files on a 
partition appear as though they were uncompressed. The way to go
(decompression only):
      Assign XFH0: DH1:
      Mount XH0: from Mountlist
After that you can use XH0: just like DH1:, but files are decompressed
on the fly. You may of course use several XFH partitions, read the
documentation.


                                  ---------
                                  COPYRIGHT
                                  ---------

XPK is copyrighted by its authors. It may be used for non-commercial
purposes. For further questions refer to

   Urban Dominik Müller
   Schulhausstrasse 83
CH-6312 Steinhausen
   SCHWEIZ

   umueller@amiga.physik.unizh.ch



                                   -------
                                   AUTHORS
                                   -------

U. Dominik Mueller  XPK concept, xpkmaster.library, NUKE, RLEN, NONE, ENCO
Bryan Ford          XPK concept, xpkmaster.library, BLZW
Peter Struijk       Imploder, IMPL
Nico Francois       PowerPacker
Kristian Nielsen    XFH
Martin A. Blatter   xDrop
Christian Schneider XPK concept, xLoadSeg
Christian Weber     iff.library adaptation, ShowIFF, MoviePro
Markus Wild         GCC interface & examples
Hartmut Goebel      Oberon interface & examples