🚀 go-pugleaf

I've tried a new archiever. It's called Diamond (version 2.1,
demo). It packs considerably better than StuffIt (se below for
figures). Diamond is somewhat slower than StuffIt to pack,
but it unpacks extremely fast.

I've done some 20 tests with Diamond, and the unpacked packed
archive has always been identical to the source (incl positions
and colors of icons).

It has three levels (fast, medium and compact). While the size
of the archive is about the same in my tests, the time spent
differs quite a lot. "Fast" is probably the best alternative.
It works with MultiFinder, but not in the background. It gives
some time (very little, but better than nothing) to background
applications.

It can pack a file, a folder, or a volume. If the destination
doesn't have enough free space, it just asks for another disk(s).
If you have an extra hard disk, it's convenient to backup one
disk to a single file on the other. This is generally not
possible in backup programs.

Times are measured on a Mac II, 5MB, System 6.0.3, MultiFinder
and a dozen inits. StuffIt configured to try LZW and Huffman
and to not allow background tasks.

Method               Size     Saved   Time to   Time to
                                        pack    unpack
Unpacked Application 590278
StuffIt              402079   31.88%    0.45     0.56
Diamond, fast        308579   47.72%    1.28     0.19
Diamond, medium      304446   48.42%    2.07     0.18
Diamond, compact     303931   48.51%    2.43     0.17
				
Unpacked Stack       349562
StuffIt              191841   45.12%    0.27     0.28
Diamond, fast        162627   53.48%    1.04     0.10
Diamond, medium      156681   55.18%    1.27     0.10
Diamond, compact     154820   55.71%    1.44     0.10
				
Unpacked Docs Folder 330816
StuffIt	             182545   44.82%    0.45     0.36
Diamond, fast        142490   56.93%    1.09     0.12
Diamond, medium      142430   56.95%    1.35     0.12
Diamond, compact     142426   56.95%    1.48     0.12

(Application: MacWrite II, Stack: Apple's Q&A 3.1,
Docs folder: ten documents (MacWrite, Word, MacPaint, 
MacDraw etc)).

I'll try to get permission to post the demo to infomac@sumex
and comp.binaries.mac. Diamond is developed by SOFT Technologies.
Their address is
  SOFT Technologies
  Denis SERSA
  9, rue des lilas
  67640 FEGERSHEIM, France
  Tl. (33) 88.64.31.74
  Fax. (33) 88.67.13.73
  Applelink: SOFT.TECH
  
Standard disclaimers apply.

-- 
Roland Mansson, Lund University Computing Center, Box 783, S220 07 Lund, Sweden
Phone: +46-46107436   Fax: +46-46138225   Bitnet: roland_m@seldc52
Internet: roland_m@ldc.lu.se   or   roland_m%ldc.lu.se@uunet.uu.net
UUCP: {uunet,mcvax}!sunic!ldc.lu.se!roland_m    AppleLink: SW0022