WinAce SFX Error

[JP]

I'm trying to make WinAce EXE files and I'm always getting an error message if I select "Create self extracting Zip Archive)". Ok, this is an Ace archive and not a Zip. But if I tried using the -sfx option (this works for RAR ald should work for ACE), I get an ACE archive, not an EXE. Any suggestion?

[Hacker]

But if I tried using the -sfx option

Where and how?

TIA
Roman

[JP]

But if I tried using the -sfx option

Where and how?

TIA
Roman

Where:In the Alt+F5 window. I do the same thing for RAR and it works fine.

How: I select some files I wanted to compress, press Alt+F5, and in the compression window I get : "ace:C:\Temp\XYZ.ace"; so I add "-sfx" to create an EXE Ace, but it doesn't work.

[deus-ex]

2JP

I ran into the same problems as you did. Winace does'nt accept any standalone commandline-
switches unlike Winrar. If you want to add a switch, you'll have to provide an archivename, too.

Once i wanted to add switches to Winace permanently in TC's Packerconfigmenu. Since it is quiet
pointless to have files added always to the same archivename, i do without any switches for Winace.
Winrar appears to be more userfriendly here. (I'm a happy registered customer )

I posted this commandlineproblem in the Winaceforums: www.winace.de/forum, but i got no response.
Whow, that's support. (Yep, i'm a registered Winacecustomer, too )

[ghisler(Author)]

Yes, WinACE seems to have problems with switches when they are added AFTER the archive name. ace.exe should work fine, but may not handle long names.

[fabiochelly]

By the way, if you have winrar, why using winace? There is not function better in winace and the compression time and ratio are worse.

[deus-ex]

Winace and Winrar have there field of filetypes, where they're better in compression than the competitor.
Since i still store a lot of files on 3,5#-floppydisks, compression matters a lot to me.

I'm using both of them since many years, in the past Winace often succeeded over Winrar.
Today powers have shiftet towards Winrar in terms of speed and compression (filetype-dependent).
I use other solutions like Mscab http://mateusz.free.fr/mscab and TC's build in Zip, too.

And there's a new competitor at the horizon, who offers the strongest compression most of the time:
7-zip www.7-zip.org. At the moment, it lacks multivolume-archives and speed is low, but it's in
continious development and looks very promising. Best of all, it's freeware!

[fabiochelly]

Best of all, it's freeware!

And open sources! Very useful to use in your own developments

[JP]

If I use : "ace: -sfx C:\Temp\XYZ.ace" it works partially: I get an exe file, but with a DOS, not WIn, interface. Any idea about how to get the Win interface?

[fabiochelly]

Maybe there is a parameter to specify the SFX module to use?

[deus-ex]

Quote from Ace.txt, which is part of ace204.zip:

sfx<file> - Add certain SFX-module
using this switch you can specify a certain sfx file (*.SFX) where a SFX module is stored in;
typically you can find the SFX files in a sub directory, named SFXFILES, but you must not
specify the path as ACE looks for SFX files in the ACE and SFXFILES directory automatically
(example: -sfxSFXFILES\WIN32.SFX or -sfxWIN32)

Win32cl.sfx = Win32-console selfextractor
Wgui_en.sfx = Windows Graphic-User-Interface selfextractor

Btw., try Ace32.exe, it's a Win32-console application and should be faster than the DOS-executable Ace.exe.