> this is the stuff I wanted to know. Many thanks. Sounds like we will stick with PKZip. Like you, I really like having that CRC check. We don't use WinZip. We use the old DOS PKZip. (We actually purchased it about 10 years ago.) This way we don't have to install yet another windows program. Our customers are all small auto body repair shops with little or no tech support so the less the better. You just have to be sure you don't have any file names longer than 8.3. We install the public domain copy when we install our system so it's aways there.
Just a few caveats regarding the use of PKZIP/PKUNZIP. In addition to the DOS file name limitation in the older 2.04 release (I believe that some issues were addressed in the 2.50 release), PKZIP is sensitive to the memory environment it runs in (it gets confused by the plethora of EMS/XMS/DPMI memory settings provided in the various Win32 environments, requiring you to disable the use of these memory options via command line settings in many situations) and had problems with NetWare disk environments, which needed another flag setting as well. It also had a problem with long paths, even where the paths were 8.3 compliant. And it popped up an annoying DOS box.
The major issue is there is no 'public domain' version - it's all shareware, and although Phil Katz didn't do anything to prevent you from using it in unregistered form, it's a violation of the shareware agreement, and the spirit of the shareware industry. I believe in registering shareware for myself, am adamant about registering the software when included in commercial products like you're doing, and have already stated several times that there are few more hypocritical and unethical individuals than commercial software developers who effectively steal from shareware developers because they don't hold a gun to your head to get you to register. Phil Katz and crew deserve to be compensated at least as much as you do for producing the software that exploits their efforts.
For my part, I use WinZip (registered, and part of the cost of my applications that use it includes the registration of an appropriate license for the client) and control it through API_APPRUN, which can do a fine job of making a VFP app wait for a spawned WinApp to terminate (API_APPRUN can be downloaded for free from UT, and does not require payment of a royalty. As the author, I ask htat you use the class available in the Files Section; the sample code in the FAQ has been improved significantly in the Files offering.) In large-scale distribution, where the availability of a command-line and Explorer-linked Zip tool is unnecessary, DynaZip works, is reliable, and VFP works well with the ActiveX component. Other people may point you at other freeware offerings; I don't use them, and can't say if they do or do not work reliably. The recommendations above work for me.
I'd not be proud that I blatantly help to make the concept of shareware not work. It's people who exploited the shareware developers good will who made the shareware concept fai.
Just my $0.02 on an issue that deserves some thought and attention.
