System and method for manipulating and managing computer archive files
Certain embodiments of the present invention provide an archive management application that operates within a host application to provide access to an archive and/or allow access to and/or modification of files in an archive using the host application's interface, instead of operating as a separate standalone archive management application. In an embodiment of the present invention, a file archiving system may include a user interface component, a file management component and a compression/extraction engine component. The user interface component may include an enhanced user interface of a host application that provides an interface for a user. The file management component may include a central directory that provides a representation of the contents of an archive. The compression/extraction engine component may include a file size module and/or a security module. The file size module may be used to compress and/or decompress a file in an archive. The security module may be used to encrypt, decrypt, digitally sign and/or authenticate a file in an archive.
1 . An archive modification system including:
a user interface provided by a file management application; and
a .ZIP archive management application, wherein said .ZIP archive management application operates within said file management application to allow a user to modify an archive using said user interface.
2 . The system of claim 1 wherein said user interface is a graphical user interface.
3 . The system of claim 1 wherein said file management application operates on a personal computer.
4 . The system of claim 1 wherein said file management application operates on a portable device.
5 . The system of claim 4 wherein said portable device is a wireless device.
6 . The system of claim 4 wherein said portable device is a portable digital assistant.
7 . The system of claim 4 wherein said portable device is a portable music playing device.
8 . The system of claim 7 wherein said portable music playing device allows replay of pre-recorded music.
9 . The system of claim 4 wherein said portable device is a portable storage device.
10 . The system of claim 9 wherein said portable storage device operates using a Universal Serial Bus.
11 . The system of claim 1 wherein said file management application operates on a telephonic device.
12 . The system of claim 11 wherein said file management application operates on a cellular phone.
13 . The system of claim 1 wherein said file management application operates on a gaming device.
14 . The system of claim 1 wherein said file management application operates on an electronic game device.
15 . The system of claim 1 wherein said file management application operates on a television system.
16 . The system of claim 15 wherein said file management application operates on a satellite television system.
17 . The system of claim 15 wherein said file management application operates on a cable television system.
18 . The system of claim 1 wherein said file management application operates on an image capture device.
19 . The system of claim 18 wherein said image capture device is a camera.
20 . The system of claim 18 wherein said image capture device is a video recorder.
21 . The system of claim 1 wherein said file management application is Windows Explorer.
22 . The system of claim 1 wherein said file management application is Macintosh Finder.
23 . The system of claim 1 wherein said file management application operates on a UNIX platform.
24 . The system of claim 1 wherein said file management application operates on a LINUX platform.
25 . The system of claim 1 wherein said file management application operates on an operating system of a portable device.
26 . The system of claim 25 wherein said file management application operates on a Windows Pocket PC platform.
27 . The system of claim 25 wherein said file management application operates on a Windows Smartphone platform.
28 . The system of claim 25 wherein said file management application operates on a Palm platform.
29 . The system of claim 25 wherein said file management operates on an iPOD platform.
30 . The system of claim 1 wherein said file management application operates using a language interpreter.
31 . The system of claim 30 wherein said language interpreter processes byte code
32 . The system of claim 30 wherein said language interpreter processes a scripted programming language.
33 . The system of claim 30 wherein said language interpreter is JAVA.
34 . The system of claim 30 wherein said language interpreter is .NET.
35 . The system of claim 30 wherein said language interpreter is software based.
36 . The system of claim 30 wherein said language interpreter is hardware based.
37 . The system of claim 1 wherein modifying said archive includes modifying a file in said archive.
38 . An archive viewing system including:
a user interface provided by a file management application; and
a .ZIP archive management application, wherein said .ZIP archive management application operates within said file management application to allow a user to view contents of an archive using said user interface.
39 . The system of claim 38 wherein said file management application operates on a portable device.
40 . The system of claim 38 wherein said file management application operates on a telephonic device.
41 . The system of claim 38 wherein said file management application operates on a gaming device.
42 . The system of claim 38 wherein said file management application operates on an electronic game device.
43 . The system of claim 38 wherein said file management application operates on a television system.
44 . The system of claim 38 wherein said file management application operates on an image capture device.
45 . An archive accessing system including:
a user interface provided by a file management application; and
a .ZIP archive management application, wherein said .ZIP archive management application operates within said file management application to allow a user to access a file in an archive using said user interface.
46 . An archive modification method including:
providing a user interface using a file management application;
providing a .ZIP archive management application; and
operating said .ZIP archive management application within said file management application to allow a user to modify an archive using said user interface.
47 . An archive viewing method including:
providing a user interface using a file management application;
providing a .ZIP archive management application; and
operating said .ZIP archive management application within said file management application to allow a user to view contents of an archive using said user interface.
48 . An archive accessing method including:
providing a user interface using a file management application;
providing a .ZIP archive management application; and
operating said .ZIP archive management application within said file management application to allow a user to access a file in an archive using said user interface.