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ARC(fileformat)Wikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia
ARC(fileformat)
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia
ARCisalosslessdatacompressionandarchivalformat
bySystemEnhancementAssociates(SEA).Itwasvery
popularduringtheearlydaysofnetworkeddialupBBS.
ThefileformatandtheprogramwerebothcalledARC.
TheARCprogrammadeobsoletetheprevioususeofa
combinationoftheSQprogramtocompressfilesandthe
LUprogramtocreate.LBRarchives,bycombiningboth
compressionandarchivingfunctionsintoasingle
program.UnlikeZIP,ARCisincapableofcompressing
entiredirectorytrees.Theformatwassubjectto
controversyinthe1980sanimportanteventindebates
overwhatwouldlaterbeknownasopenformats.
ARC
Filenameextension
.arc,.ark,.sue
Internetmediatype
application/octet
stream
UniformType
Identifier(UTI)
public.archive.arc
Developedby
SystemEnhancement
Associates
Typeofformat
Datacompression
The.arcfileextensionisoftenusedforseveralfilearchivelikefiletypes.Forexample,theInternet
ArchiveusesitsownARCformattostoremultiplewebresourcesintoasinglefile.[1][2]TheFreeArc
archiveralsouses.arcextension,butusesacompletelydifferentfileformat.
Nintendousesanunrelated'ARC'formatforresources,suchasMIDIandvoicesamples,inGameCubeand
Wiigames.SeveralunofficialextractorsexistforthistypeofARCfile.
Contents
1History
2Lawsuits
3Filenameextension
4Seealso
5References
6Externallinks
History
In1985,ThomHendersonofSystemEnhancementAssociateswroteaprogramcalledARC,[3]basedon
earlierprogramssuchasar,thatnotonlygroupedfilesintoasinglearchivefilebutalsocompressedthem
tosavediskspace,afeatureofgreatimportanceonearlypersonalcomputers,wherespacewasverylimited
andmodemtransmissionspeedswereveryslow.ThearchivefilesproducedbyARChadfilenamesending
in".ARC"andweresometimescalled"arcfiles"asaresult.
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ThesourcecodeforARCwasreleasedbySEAin1986andsubsequentlyportedtoUnixandtheAtariST
in1987byHowardChu(http://www.highlandsun.com/hyc/).Thismoreportablecodebasewas
subsequentlyportedtootherplatformsincludingVAX/VMSandIBMSystem/370mainframes.Howard's
workwasalsothefirsttodisprovetheprevalentbeliefthatLempelZivencodedfilescouldnotbefurther
compressed.AdditionalcompressioncouldbeachievedbyusingHuffmancodingontheLZWdata,and
Howard'sversionofARCwasthefirstprogramtodemonstratethisproperty.Thishybridtechniquewas
laterusedinseveralothercompressionschemesbyPhilKatzandothers.
Later,PhilKatzdevelopedhisownsharewareutilities,PKARCandPKXARC,tocreatearchivefilesand
extracttheircontents.ThesefilesworkedwiththearchivefileformatusedbyARC,andweresignificantly
fasterthanARContheIBMPCplatformduetoselectiveassemblylanguagecoding.UnlikeSEA,which
combinedarchivecreationandarchivefileextractioninasingleprogram,Katzdividedthesefunctions
amongtwoseparateutilities,reducingtheamountofmemoryneededtorunthem.PKARCalsoallowedthe
creationofselfextractingarchives,whichcouldunpackthemselveswithoutrequiringanexternalfile
extractionutility.
FollowingtheSystemEnhancementAssociates,Inc.vsPKWAREInc.andPhillipW.Katzlawsuit,SEA
withdrewfromthesharewaremarketanddevelopedARC+Plus.[4]Thisversionincludedafullscreenuser
interface,withthelastknownversionbeing7.12.[5]SEAwaseventuallysoldtoaJapanesecompanyin
1992.
TheARCformatisnolongercommononPCdesktops,butmostantivirusscannerscanstilluncompress
anyARCarchivesfoundinordertodetectviruseswithinthecompressedfiles.
Lawsuits
Inthelate1980sadisputearosebetweenSEA,makeroftheARCprogram,andPKWARE,Inc.(PhilKatz
Software).SEAsuedKatzfortrademarkandcopyrightinfringement.Itwasrumoredthatanindependent
softwareexpertwasappointedbythecourttocomparethetwoprograms,andstatedthatPKARCwasa
derivativeworkofARC,pointingoutthatcommentsinbothprogramswereoftenidentical,including
spellingerrors.However,accordingtoanarticlewrittenbyJudyGettsMilwaukeeinPCWorldMagazinein
1988,[6]nosuchexpertwaseverhired.
OnAugust2,1988,theplaintiffanddefendantsannouncedasettlementofthelawsuit,whichincludeda
ConfidentialCrossLicenseAgreementunderwhichSEAlicensedPKWAREforalltheARCcompatible
programspublishedbyPKWAREduringtheperiodbeginningwiththefirstreleaseofPKXARCinlate
1985throughJuly31,1988,inreturnforanundisclosedpayment.Intheagreement,PKWAREpaidSEAto
obtainalicensethatallowedthedistributionofPKWARE'sARCcompatibleprogramsuntilJanuary31,
1989,afterwhichPKWAREwouldnotlicense,publishordistributeanyARCcompatibleprogramsor
utilitiesthatprocessARCcompatiblefiles.Inexchange,PKWARElicensedSEAtouseitssourcecodefor
PKWARE'sARCcompatibleprograms.PKWAREalsoagreedtoceaseanyuseofSEA'strademark'ARC'
andtochangethenamesormarksusedwithPKWARE'sprogramstononconfusingdesignations.The
remainingdetailsoftheagreementweresealed.Inreachingthesettlement,thedefendantsdidnotadmitany
faultorwrongdoing.[7]TheWisconsincourtordershoweddefendantswereorderedtopaydamagesto
plaintifffordefendants'actsofinfringingPlaintiff'scopyrights,trademark,andactsofunfairtradepractices
andunfaircompetition.[8]
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Theleakedagreementdocumentrevealedunderthesettlementterms,thedefendantshadpaidplaintiff
$22,500forpastroyaltypayments,and$40,000forexpensereimbursements.Inaddition,defendantswould
payplaintiffaroyaltyfeeof6.5%ofallrevenuereceivedforARCcompatibleprogramsonallorders
receivedaftertheeffectivedateofthisAgreement,suchrevenueincludinganylicensefeesorshareware
registrationsreceivedaftertheexpirationofthelicense,forARCcompatibleprograms.Inexchange,
plaintiffwouldalsopayacommissionintheamountof6.5%ofanylicensefeesreceivedbyplaintifffrom
anylicenseereferredtoplaintiffbydefendants,whetherbeforeorafterthelicenseterminationdate.[9]
Afterthelawsuit,PKWAREreleasedonelastversionofhisPKARCandPKXARCutilitiesunderthenew
names"PKPAK"and"PKUNPAK",andfromthenonconcentratedondevelopingtheseparateprograms
PKZIPandPKUNZIP,whichwerebasedonnewanddifferentfilecompressiontechniquesandarchivefile
formats.However,followingtherenaming,SEAfiledalawsuitagainstPKWAREforcontempt,for
continuallyusingplaintiff'sprotectedmarkARC,byturningARCfromnounintoverbinthePKPAK
manual.[10]TheUSdistrictcourtoftheEastDistrictofWisconsinruledSEA'smotionwasdenied,andthe
defendantwasentitledtorecoverthelegalcostof$500.[11]
TheSEAvs.PKWAREdisputequicklyexpandedintooneofthelargestcontroversiestheBBSworldever
saw.[12]ThesuitbySEAangeredmanysharewareuserswhoperceivedthatSEAwasa"large,faceless
corporation"andKatzwas"thelittleguy".Infact,atthetime,bothSEAandPKWAREweresmallhome
basedcompanies.However,thecommunitylargelysidedwithKatz,duetothefactthatSEAwas
attemptingtoretroactivelydeclaretheARCfileformattobeclosedandproprietary.Katzreceivedpositive
publicitybyreleasingtheAPPNOTE.TXTspecificationdocumentingtheZIPfileformat,anddeclaringthat
theZIPfileformatwouldalwaysbefreeforcompetingsoftwaretoimplement.Thenetresultwasthatthe
ARCformatquicklydroppedoutofcommonuseasthepredominantcompressionformatthatPCBBSs
usedfortheirfilearchives,andafterabriefperiodofcompetingformats,theZIPformatwasadoptedasthe
predominantstandard.
Inaninterview,ThomHendersonofSEAsaidthatthemainreasonhedroppedoutofsoftware
developmentwasbecauseofhisinabilitytoemotionallycopewithwhatheclaimedwasthehatemail
campaignlaunchedagainsthimbyKatz.[13]
Filenameextension
.arc(allsystems)
.ark(adoptedbysomebulletinboardsasanamingconventionindicatingthatthefilecontained
softwareforCP/MratherthanDOS).
.sue(duetoallthelegalissues)
Seealso
Listofarchiveformats
References
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1. ^"13.InternetArchiveARCfiles"(http://crawler.archive.org/articles/developer_manual/arcs.html).
Crawler.archive.org.Retrieved20120717.
2. ^"InternetArchive:ARCFileFormatReference"(http://www.archive.org/web/researcher/ArcFileFormat.php).
Archive.org.Retrieved20120717.
3. ^PhilKatz(http://www.esva.net/~thom/philkatz.html)
4. ^Article:ARC+Plus7.12.(SoftwareReview)(oneofsevenevaluationsofdatacompressionutilityprogramsin
'SpaceSavers:DataCompressionUtilities')(Evaluation)(http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G111476636.html)
5. ^PackingTestforPak/PKArc/PKZip/Zoo/LHArc/Hyper/ARJ/ARC(http://www.bio.net/bionet/mm/bio
soft/1991December/002929.html)
6. ^http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/library/CONTROVERSY/LAWSUITS/SEA/
7. ^Jointpressrelease(http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/library/CONTROVERSY/LAWSUITS/SEA/release.txt)
8. ^SystemEnhancementAssociates,Inc.v.PKWare,Inc.andPhillipW.Katz,No.88C447,Judgmentfor
PlaintiffonConsent
(http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/library/CONTROVERSY/LAWSUITS/SEA/judgment.txt),E.D.Wisc.(Aug.
1.,1988)
9. ^SystemEnhancementAssociatesvs.PKware,IncCONFIDENTIALCROSSLICENSEAGREEMENT
(http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/library/CONTROVERSY/LAWSUITS/SEA/agrement.txt)
10. ^SystemEnhancementAssociatesvs.PKware,Inc
(http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/library/CONTROVERSY/LAWSUITS/SEA/contempt.txt)
11. ^UNITEDSTATESDISTRICTCOURTEASTERNDISTRICTOFWISCONSINCaseNo.88C447
(http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/library/CONTROVERSY/LAWSUITS/SEA/contempt.spk)
12. ^BBSDocumentary,Episode8,[1](http://archive.org/details/BBS.The.Documentary),Accessedasof
13.07.2012
13. ^BBS:TheDocumentary,Episode3.03Compression.
Externallinks
ARCfileformatdescription(http://www.fileformat.info/format/arc/corion.htm)
FileExtensionARC(http://en.filesupport.org/fileextension/arc)
ARC(http://sourceforge.net/projects/arc/)freesoftwareLinux/Unixportofthe.arccompression
program
nomarch(http://www.svgalib.org/rus/nomarch.html)anotherfreesoftware.arccompression
programforLinux/Unix
TheBBSDocumentary:Compression(http://video.google.com/videoplay?
docid=4358667732166276191)AdocumentarythatdiscussesARChistory,inthecontextofBBS
CONTROVERSY:LAWSUITS:SEAvs.PKWARE
(http://www.bbsdocumentary.com/library/CONTROVERSY/LAWSUITS/SEA/)
Retrievedfrom"http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ARC_(file_format)&oldid=630517423"
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