Chapter 3: Getting Free Scripts

Compressed Files

You'll very often find files in a compressed form on the Web. File compression makes them smaller so they take less time to upload and download. These compressed files are often archives which contain several compressed files. This is good, since you only need to download one file.

These files most commonly end in ".zip." You'll need an unzipping program such as WinZip to restore them to their original size before you can use them. Using WinZip (and other similar programs) is convenient for a number of reasons. It's possible to display a compressed file while the archive is still "zipped." That way, you can check for any text files that may contain instructions you need to read *before* you unzip the archive. Some folks are putting the instructions in HTML files these days. How nice...

Other compressed file types include ".gz" and ".tar.gz." These files are for Unix users and often will not work on a Windows PC or a Mac. Some unzipping programs for PCs and MACs actually do open these, though. Recent versions of WinZip have this ability. Full versions of WinZip, PKZip and others will give you a lot more features, especially for creating your own ZIP files, password-protecting them, etc.

You can download WinZip from www.WinZip.com. The price is $29 for a registered version but you can try it out for 21 days for free. Get the "Evaluation Version" if you want to try it first. You'll be downloading what's called a "self-extracting zip file." That just means that the filename will end in .exe and it will unpack itself without an unzipping program.

Just download the file, locate it on your hard drive with Windows Explorer and double-click the file name. It will unzip itself and start installing. Follow any instructions you get on your screen. Once you've got it installed you can double-click any .zip file on your hard drive and it will 1) start WinZip and 2) unzip the file.

WinZip will open a window that shows you the files inside the "archive" (the ZIP file). These files are already extracted to a temporary folder but you will need to extract them to some place on your hard drive where you'll be able to find them later. You can also view files, using either one of WinZip's built-in viewer or another program such as NotePad.

Tip: It's usually a good idea to look for a text file (usually named "readme.txt" or something similar) right after WinZip opens the archive. Often there are instructions in that file that you should read before you install software that came as a ZIP file. Also take a look at the filenames/paths - sometimes the archive contains folders and subfolders.

If the files in the archive are organized into folders, it's usually best to click the checkbox that says "Use folder names" before you extract the files. Sometimes things don't work right if they aren't in the folders where they belong.

Also, if it's something you're going to upload to your site with FTP you'll find it much easier to drag one folder than dragging a bunch of separate files. Oh, yeah...it's faster, too!

Be a considerate webmaster. Files that people are going to download from your site should usually be compressed. About half of your visitors will probably be using a dialup connection. Compressed files take less time to download and this matters a lot at low connection speeds like 56K.

Oddly enough, the unzipping utility that comes with most versions of Unix and Linux can uncompress a zip file. You can then read any text files that were included, although the program itself might not work on a Unix machine. Be sure you get the right type of compressed archive for your particular machine. At a Linux/Unix command prompt you can type "man gzip" (without the quotes) to get a description of how the command works.

Copyright © 2004 Steve Humphrey