Systems and methods for manipulating and managing computer archive files
A computer program for managing and manipulating archive zip files of a computer. The program includes a system and method for opening, creating, and modifying, and extracting zip archive files. The program is fully integrated into Microsoft Windows Explorer and is accessed via Explorer menus, toolbars, and/or drag and drop operations. An important feature of the program is the archive manager which may be used to open a zip file, create a new zip file, extract zip files, modify zip files, etc. The program is integrated into Microsoft Windows Explorer using the shell name space extension application program interface developed by Microsoft.
1 . A method for compressing a data file, said method including:
providing a graphical user interface using a browser;
providing a .zip management application, wherein said .zip management application allows a user to compress a file for inclusion in a .zip archive using said graphical user interface;
identifying a data file to be compressed using said graphical user interface;
providing a plurality of user-selectable compression options; and
compressing said data file using one of said plurality of user-selectable compression options selected by a user.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein said browser is Microsoft Windows Explorer.
3 . The method of claim 1 wherein said plurality of compression options include .zip compression options.
4 . The method of claim 3 wherein said plurality of compression options include a Deflate compression option.
5 . The method of claim 4 wherein said plurality of compression options include a first Deflate compression option operating at a first compression level and a second Deflate compression option operating at a second compression level, wherein said first compression level is different from said second compression level.
6 . The method of claim 1 wherein said plurality of compression options include a DCL Implode compression option.
7 . The method of claim 6 wherein said plurality of compression options include a first DCL Implode compression option operating at a first dictionary byte size and a second DCL Implode compression option operating at a second dictionary byte size, wherein said first dictionary byte size is different from said second dictionary byte size.
8 . The method of claim 1 wherein said plurality of compression options include a compression option wherein said data file is stored without compression.
9 . The method of claim 1 further including:
providing a plurality of user-selectable encryption options; and
encrypting said data file using one of said plurality of encryption options selected by a user.
10 . The method of claim 9 wherein said plurality of encryption options include an asymmetric encryption option.
11 . The method of claim 10 wherein said asymmetric encryption option includes a public key based encryption option.
12 . The method of claim 11 wherein said public key uses the X.509 format
13 . A method for providing a plurality of compression options for use with a file, said method including:
providing a graphical user interface using a browser; and
providing a .zip management application, wherein said .zip management application allows a user to compress a file for inclusion in a .zip archive using said graphical user interface,
wherein said .zip management application provides a plurality of compression options for use with a file.
14 . The method of claim 13 wherein said browser is Microsoft Windows Explorer.
15 . The method of claim 13 wherein a user selects one of said plurality of compression options to determine a selected compression option.
16 . The method of claim 13 wherein said selected compression option is applied to said file.
17 . A method for determining a compression option for use in compressing a data file, said method including:
identifying a data file using a compression management application;
determining a compression option to apply to said data file, wherein said compression option is determined from a plurality of compression options available at said compression management application.