self extracting zip files

[Andrew Edwards]

I have program that downloads a file from the internet and extracts it using
calls to system(). All files are extracted into the directory where my
program is located. How do I redirect the extracted files to a specified
directory?

I can use the following:

system("move *.* c:\directory");

However, this will move my program. I end up having to call system for every
file in the directory since most of them are .exe.

Your assistance is greatly appreciated.
Andrew

[Emmanuel Delahaye]

In 'comp.lang.c', "Andrew Edwards" <ed*******@spam freeusa.com> wrote:

I have program that downloads a file from the internet and extracts it
using calls to system(). All files are extracted into the directory
where my program is located. How do I redirect the extracted files to a
specified directory?

I can use the following:

system("move *.* c:\directory");

However, this will move my program. I end up having to call system for
every file in the directory since most of them are .exe.

By-definition, the contain of the string passed to system() is strongly
system-dependent. Better to ask on a newsgroup dedicated to your platform.

--
-ed- em**********@no os.fr [remove YOURBRA before answering me]
The C-language FAQ: http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/top.html
<blank line>
FAQ de f.c.l.c : http://www.isty-info.uvsq.fr/~rumeau/fclc/

[Mr. 4X]

"Andrew Edwards" <ed*******@spam freeusa.com> wrote:

I have program that downloads a file from the internet and extracts it
using calls to system(). All files are extracted into the directory
where my program is located. How do I redirect the extracted files to
a specified directory?

I can use the following:

system("move *.* c:\directory");
Well... system(...) is standardized, but the OS commands that you can pass
to it are system specific.

BTW if you want to redefine the target directory into which a zip SFX is
unzipped to then you could try unzipping it with an unzip utility instead
of running it. Or maybe some kinds of the self extracting ZIPs could have a
command line switch to redefine the target directory. End of off topic
stuff :)
However, this will move my program. I end up having to call system for
every file in the directory since most of them are .exe.

Your assistance is greatly appreciated.
Andrew

[ak]

On Sat, 12 Jul 2003 19:19:13 GMT, "Andrew Edwards" <ed*******@spam freeusa.com>
wrote:

|I have program that downloads a file from the internet and extracts it using
|calls to system(). All files are extracted into the directory where my
|program is located. How do I redirect the extracted files to a specified
|directory?
|
|I can use the following:
|
| system("move *.* c:\directory");
|
|However, this will move my program. I end up having to call system for every
|file in the directory since most of them are .exe.
|
|Your assistance is greatly appreciated.
|Andrew
|

maybe you could use the lib "Info-Zip" and build in the extract
function into your program, that would give you more control.

http://www.info-zip.org/pub/infozip/

hth
ak


--
g a n d a l f @ p c . n u

[Andrew Edwards]

"Emmanuel Delahaye" <em**********@n oos.fr> wrote:

By-definition, the contain of the string passed to system() is strongly
system-dependent. Better to ask on a newsgroup dedicated to your platform.

I would much rather eliminate the use of system(); However, since I'm new to
programming and did not want to ask you to do the work for me, I decided to
use the best thing I could find. Maybe you could give me a few pointers on
how to do this in standard C.

Thanks,
Andrew

[Andrew Edwards]

"ak" <ak @ workmail.com> wrote...

maybe you could use the lib "Info-Zip" and build in the extract
function into your program, that would give you more control.

http://www.info-zip.org/pub/infozip/

Thanks, I'll look into it immediately.

Andrew

[Malcolm]

"Andrew Edwards" <ed*******@spam freeusa.com> wrote in message

I would much rather eliminate the use of system();
system() is cluntzy. You will hardly ever find it in real code (at least in
a games programming environment).
Maybe you could give me a few pointers on how to do this in standard C.

C has no directory functions in the standard library. This was probably a
bad decison, but was presumably done since some platforms don't have
anything that could be described as a hierarchical filing system.

It is unusual for a non-trivial C program to rely entirely on the standard
library. You don't need to worry too much about using a platform-specific
extension to handle your directory operations. If portability is a concern,
you can isolate the platform-specific code in its own files. Then you
provide an interface to the rest of the program.

eg

char **listdir(char *path)

is your function to list all files in a directory (you will have to make a
decison on sub-directories and special files like UNIX ..).

Then for each platform you write code to list the directory. Under Windows
you use repeated calls to FindNextFile() after setting up FindFirstFile() .