Packing / unpacking with Windows Commander

From windows Commande Help

Unpacking

Open the file to be unpacked in one of the file Windows (by double clicking on its filename). Change the path of the other file window to the destination where you want to put the files. In the source directory, choose the files you want to unpack. Press F5 (copy). This opens the dialog for unpacking files. To unpack all files, just press ALT+F9. Windows Commander has built-in unpackers for ZIP, ARJ, LZH, .RAR, .TAR, .GZ, .CAB and .ACE files.

Packing


Choose the files you want to pack. Then choose pack from the menu Files or press ALT+F5. A dialog will appear, where you can select options for packing the files. ENTER the desired file name for the archive you want to create. After you press ENTER, the files are packed to this file.

To move (pack & delete) the selected files, press SHIFT while pressing ALT+F5 or choosing pack from the menu.
Important: In the dialog box you must specify the name of the packer (zip, arj, lha, rar, uc2 or ace) and a colon in front of the file name, e.g. zip:c:\test.zip, otherwise the files will be copied/moved normally!!!

If you have configured Windows Commander to use the internal ZIP packer you can still use the external packer (pkzip or zip-nt): Instead of ZIP: place the string EXT: (for external) in front of the ZIP filename! You can also force the internal ZIP packer by specifying INT:.

Adding files to an existing archive


If you want to add files to an existing archive, proceed as follows: open the archive file in one file window. Select the files and directories you want to add in the other window. Press F5 to pack the selected files. This will again show the dialog for packing
, pressing ENTER starts the appropriate packer. TAR, GZ and CAB archives cannot be modified.

Pressing F6 will move (pack & delete) the selected files.


Restriction: You cannot add files to any subdirectory of an archive, except with the internal ZIP packer and with UC2. However, you can add whole directories with all their files. You can choose whether you want to save the packed files including their paths, or simply the files alone. To add files to a subdirectory with the internal packer or with Uc2 you must separate the subdirectory with a forward slash / , not a backslash!
Example: zip:c:\test.zip/this\is\a\subdir

Deleting files from an archive

Open the archive you want to delete files from by double clicking on it. Select the files and/or directories you want to delete and press F8 to delete them.

List files from an archive

To show files with the built-in or external lister, just press F3. After a warning dialog box, the file is unpacked and then shown. After you close the lister, the temporary file is deleted though the original archive is not affected.

Edit files from an archive

To edit a file with the editor of your choice, just press F4. The file is then automatically unpacked and will be repacked into the archive if it was changed with the editor. Repacking will NOT work to TAR, GZ and CAB archives! Instead, the modified file will not be deleted and remain in the temporary directory.

To edit a file with its associated program, press ENTER, then select Unpack and Execute. The file is then automatically unpacked. It can also be repacked if it was changed.