What the heck is a ShrinkIt (.shk) file?
Paul Graves
be a "ShrinkIt" file -- some sort of compressed file format. How can I
decompress it? I found a .sea file which appeared to be the ShrinkIt
program, but I couldn't get that to self-extract. Are these Unix or Mac
formats or something? Is there anyway to decompress these on a PC?
--
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Robbo
company though)?
David Empson
> I keep finding Apple II software with a .shk extension. It appears to
> be a "ShrinkIt" file -- some sort of compressed file format.
ShrinkIt (.shk) is the standard LZW compression format used on the Apple
II. It is similar in concept to compressed file formats like Zip and
StuffIt, i.e. it is an archive format supporting multiple files, rather
than a single file compression format like UNIX compress or gzip. The
.shk file format isn't compatible with any of the other archive formats.
The original program ("ShrinkIt") was written by Andy Nicholas, and was
freeware. He published the file format specification, so that others
could implement it as well.
The ShrinkIt program requires a 128K IIe (probably an enhanced IIe at
that) or a later machine. It supports both compressing and expanding
archives, and has a variety of other file management tools.
Andy also wrote simpler 40-column versions that worked on an Apple II+,
with separate programs for compressing and expanding (IIPlus.ShrinkIt
and IIPlus.Unshrink).
At a later stage, he wrote a IIgs native version (ShrinkIt.GS or GSHK),
which requires IIgs System 5.0.4 or later.
> How can I decompress it?
The best method is to do it on an Apple II with ShrinkIt, or one of its
variants (IIPlus.Unshrink or ShrinkIt.GS). If the file is specific to
the IIgs, it must be extracted using the IIgs version of ShrinkIt.
There is also a commercial Mac application whose name I forget ("Shrink
II" perhaps?). I don't know if it is still available. It was sold by
EGO Systems (publishers of the GS+ magazine). I bought it but found it
somewhat unreliable and didn't use it very much.
Another option is the cross-platform public domain software called NuLib
(by Andy McFadden, if I remember right). The main problem with using
NuLib is that you will lose the file system metadata (particularly the
file type and auxiliary type), which may cause problems if you copy the
extracted files to an Apple II and expect them to work. You will also
lose the resource fork for any IIgs-specific file, which is likely to
render the file useless.
> I found a .sea file which appeared to be the ShrinkIt program, but I
> couldn't get that to self-extract. Are these Unix or Mac formats or
> something? Is there anyway to decompress these on a PC?
The usual method of "bootstrap loading" ShrinkIt onto an Apple II is to
start with a small version like IIPlus.Unshrink which is distributed as
an executable text file, or is distributed uncompressed in Binary II or
BinSCII format (assuming you already have a Binary II or BinSCII
decoder, either of which can be implemented in Applesoft BASIC and are
able to be distributed as an executable text file).
Once you have IIPlus.Unshrink, you can use it to extract the full
version of ShrinkIt, which was typically distributed as a .shk file.
The IIgs version (GSHK or ShrinkIt.GS) cannot be extracted with the
8-bit version of ShrinkIt, because it contains a resource fork. The
usual method of distributing this is as a IIgs self-extracting archive,
transferred in a form which preserves the Apple II file type (Binary II
or BinSCII). Once you had a version of ShrinkIt.GS, you could use it to
extract later versions which could be distributed in .shk format
(avoiding the overhead of the self extraction code, and simplifying file
type issues).
--
David Empson
dem...@actrix.gen.nz
Paul Graves
to track down the various support files I need, starting with the
unshrink file (I'm using AppleWin, which is a IIe emulator, and I don't
know whether it has a simulated 128k). Wish me luck!
--Paul
left_the_scene
a self extracting executeable made to run on an apple II.
So NO, these are not Mac or Linux formats, they are APPLE II formats.
:-) (makes sense, no?)
I THINK fishwings can handle the shk files on the PC side. do a google
search on "fishwings" for more info.
Paul Graves
all point to the same place
(http://www3.bboard.com/charlied/fishwings.htm)
which is either down or doesn't exist anymore. Oh well. I notice
that others have questions about .shk files also. To date, I've never
been able to get a .shk file unshrunk and loaded into Applewin. If you
have any other advice, I'd really appreciate it.
If you know of some place I can pick up fishwings, I'd be interested
in that too.
--Paul
"left_the_scene" <postm...@nyc-strip-clubs.com> wrote in message
news:3C8E49DA...@nyc-strip-clubs.com...
> These are apple ii shrink it archive files. the .sea shrinkit program is
> a self extracting executeable made to run on an apple II.
>
> So NO, these are not Mac or Linux formats, they are APPLE II formats.
> :-) (makes sense, no?)
>
> I THINK fishwings can handle the shk files on the PC side. do a google
> search on "fishwings" for more info.
Charlie
> I went searching for fishwings and found 18 links in Altavista. They
> all point to the same place
> (http://www3.bboard.com/charlied/fishwings.htm)
> which is either down or doesn't exist anymore.
The site still exists but it is down as I write this. Unfortunately,
It goes down often.
I expect that in the near future I'll have to get a new internet
provider.
By the way, FishWings does NOT unshrink "ShrinkIt" files. What it
does is allow you to import the file into a ProDOS (.dsk, .po or 2mg)
disk image. FishWings prompts you to enter the filetype($E0) and
auxtype (8002) for a ShrinkIt file. You then can unshrink the file on
Applewin (or other Apple emulator) using ShrinkIt.
You can get ShrinkIt (it's freeware) at the following site:
ftp://ftp.apple.asimov.net/pub/apple_II/images/utility/disk_utils/
The file name is shrinkit1.dsk.gz
It is already in a .dsk image but it must be uncompressed. You can
uncompress the .dsk image on a PC using WinZip.
>Oh well. I notice
> that others have questions about .shk files also. To date, I've never
> been able to get a .shk file unshrunk and loaded into Applewin. If you
> have any other advice, I'd really appreciate it.
>
> If you know of some place I can pick up fishwings, I'd be interested
> in that too.
>
> --Paul
Keep trying at:
http://www3.bboard.com/charlied/fishwings.htm
eventually it will be back up. I hope.
Charlie
Paul R. Santa-Maria
> I notice
> that others have questions about .shk files also. To date, I've never
> been able to get a .shk file unshrunk and loaded into Applewin. If you
> have any other advice, I'd really appreciate it.
See section six of the Apple II Emulator Resources Guide at
http://www.zip.com.au/~alexm/faq/.
The most important thing to know is when you use NULIB to extract
a disk image from a SHK file then the resulting disk image is in
ProDOS order (PO). Most emulators assume that a DSK image is in
DOS order (DO). You must use a utility like MAPPER to convert the
PO image to a DO image.
Whether a disk image is PO or DO has no bearing on the contents of
the disk image. A PO image can be a DOS disk and vice versa; it
is a matter of the ordering of the sectors within the image that
distinguishes a PO image vs a DO image, nothing more.
Paul R. Santa-Maria
Monroe, Michigan USA
Paul Graves
shrinkit1 disk, which asks you to install something. I aborted that
and ran off the shrinkit2 disk. I have no idea what that install
step is about (any help?).
I previously had created a prodos disk which I move the .shk file to
(using dsk2file, a PC program). I made a copy of that disk (because
making a prodos disk is a pain in AppleWin), then cleared out.
Using unshrink, I put the original .shk file in drive 1 and the blank
in drive 2, and, whaddya know, it worked.
It would probably take me a few more times to get this process in
better shape. If there's anything I'm doing wrong (or extra), I'll
take any advice.
Thanks all for the help.