pz

I apologize for the delay posting this article. I have been experiencing technical difficulties and have been unable to log in. I believe everything has been resolved and I will be able to return to the normal posting schedule. Now on to the article.

pz by Hoshi Takanari is a file compression utility for Palm OS. It allows you to archive files on your Palm while limiting the amount of space they consume.

When launched, pz lists each file on your Palm unit. By default, it displays the kind of file (data, application, system, doc, hack, etc.), the file name, the file four character file type (appl, HACK, TEXt, etc.), and the creator ID. This is highly configurable. The first column can show either the kind of file, whether the file is in local memory or ROM, or be omitted entirely. The second column is the only fixed column; it always shows the file name. The third and fourth columns can show any of the following information: file type, creator ID, number of records, file size, file attributes, creation date, last modification date, last backup date, and version number. They, too, can be eliminated of you prefer. The drop-down menu at the top of each configurable column lets you select your desired option for that column.

There are some simple filters available for this file list. You can chose to show only files residing in a specific type of memory or you can chose to show all of a specific kind of file. These filters are controlled by the two drop-down menus on the bottom left side of the main window. The first one filters by memory location and the second by file type.

Highlight any file in the list to compress it or view all of its available information. Tap the info button to launch an editable window displaying the file name, type, creator ID, attributes, creation date, modification date, backup date, version number, number of records, and file size. The done button returns you to the main file list without saving any changes. If you made any changes you must tap the modify button to save them. Changing any of this information should be done cautiously.

To compress a file, select it in the main file list and tap the compress button. By default, a new archive with the name of the highlighted file will be created. If you prefer, you can add the file to an existing archive instead. Select the time checkbox to view a mini-report at the end of each file compression. pz will not overwrite zip files that already exist. The author says the compression is very slow, but I didn't think it was unbearably slow.

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