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  CiderPress Features




Full access to ShrinkIt archives (.shk, .sdk, .bxy, .sea, .bse) is
provided, including:

    * View files without having to extract them first.  Special
      converters are provided for several popular file formats.
    * Extract files and directories, optionally converting them.  File
      type information and resource forks can be preserved in Windows,
      using the method
      <http://www.nulib.com/library/nulib2-preserve.htm> developed for
      use in NuLib2.  It's possible to extract all files from a GS/OS
      boot disk to Windows, add them to a new disk image, and then boot
      that image in an emulator.
    * Add files, directories, and disk images.
    * Convert the contents of a ShrinkIt file archive directly to a
      ProDOS disk image, and vice-versa.
    * Re-compress entries with a different algorithm.  All compression
      methods defined in the NuFX specification are supported, as well
      as gzip "deflate".
    * Rename entries.
    * Test entries or whole archives.
    * Delete entries.
    * Add, update, and delete comments.
    * Edit file type, aux type, and access permissions of archived files. 
    * Print file listings.
    * Copy & paste files between archives and disk images.

It's like having "ShrinkIt for Windows".  Viewing and extracting files
from Binary II files (.bny, .bqy) and AppleLink Compression Utility
archives (.acu) is also supported.  ShrinkIt archive access is provided
by NufxLib, the library used by the NuLib2 <http://www.nulib.com/>
archive utility since early 2000.  Archives created with NufxLib are
nearly identical to those created with GS/ShrinkIt.



CiderPress has the ability to identify nearly all Apple II disk image
formats automatically.  Supported file formats include:

    * Universal Disk Images (.2mg, .2img)
    * DiskCopy 4.2 (.dsk)
    * Copy II Plus (.img)
    * Sim //e HDV images (.hdv)
    * TrackStar 40-track images (.app)
    * Dalton's Disk Disintegrator (DDD v2.1+, DDD Pro v1.1+) (.ddd)
    * Raw FDI images of 5.25" and 3.5 disks (read-only) (.fdi)
    * Unadorned sector-format files (.po, .do, .d13, .raw, .hdv, .iso,
      most .dc6)
    * Unadorned nibble-format files (.nib, .nb2)
    * Any of the above compressed with gzip (.gz) or zip (.zip)
    * ShrinkIt (NuFX) compressed disk images (.shk, .sdk)

The image file format, filesystem, and sector ordering are *determined
automatically* for most disks.  The settings can be overridden if
necessary.  Images larger than floppies, such as ProDOS and HFS hard
drive partition images, are fully supported.

The recognized filesystem formats are:

    * DOS 3.2/3.3 (13, 16, or 32 sectors, up to 50 tracks)
    * ProDOS
    * UCSD Pascal
    * HFS (up to 2GB)
    * CP/M
    * SSI's RDOS (13-sector, 16-sector, and converted 13-to-16-sector
      formats)

DOS, ProDOS, HFS, and UCSD Pascal filesystems are fully supported.  You
can view, add, extract, rename, and delete files, as well as create
bootable blank disk images.  Change disk volume names and DOS volume
numbers.  Create subdirectories and change file types on ProDOS disks. 
Files on CP/M and RDOS disks can be extracted and viewed.  CiderPress
also recognizes the following "meta-formats":

    * UNIDOS / AmDOS / OzDOS (two 400K DOS volumes on an 800K disk)
    * ProSel Uni-DOS / DOS Master (one or more DOS volumes embedded in
      an 800K ProDOS disk)
    * Macintosh-style disk partitioning (for hard drives, CD-ROMs,
      flopticals, etc).
    * CFFA-style partitioning (fixed-size 32MB/1GB volumes, for Compact
      Flash cards).
    * ///SHH Systeme MicroDrive partitioning (allows up to 16 partitions
      on IDE hard drives).
    * Parsons Engineering FocusDrive partitioning (allows up to 30
      partitions).



With CiderPress you can directly access physical devices on your PC. 
For example:

    * Read and write ProDOS-formatted 720KB and 1.4MB floppy disks.  If
      you have a SuperDrive or floptical drive connected to your Apple
      II, you can transfer files around without needing to use MS-DOS
      utilities.  [Works for PC-format disks.  Does not work with
      Apple-format 800KB and 1.6MB disks, nor 140KB 5.25" disks.]
    * Read and write files on every ProDOS partition of a CFFA card. 
      4-part and 8-part configurations are automatically detected.
    * Read files from ProDOS partitions of CD-ROMs.  If you have Apple
      II CD-ROMs with multiple 32MB ProDOS partitions, CiderPress will
      find every file on them.
    * Read and write files on every partition of an Apple II hard
      drive.  Got an external SCSI drive connected to your //gs?  Plug
      it into a SCSI card on a PC and open it.

With the included volume copier, you can also copy partitions or
multi-partition volumes to and from physical media.  This allows you to
extract partitions from CFFA cards, CD-ROMs, and hard drives, and use
them with an emulator.  Back up your hard drive to a block image file in
seconds, and restore the whole drive, a single partition, or individual
files quickly and easily.

All of the above requires appropriate hardware, and some versions of
Windows work better with certain hardware than others.  See the Hardware
Compatibility <hardware.htm> page for details about what you need and
what you can expect.



The file viewer can convert several formats for easier viewing on modern
systems:

    * ProDOS text with carriage returns to Windows "CRLF" format.
    * DOS 3.3 "high ASCII" text to Windows text.
    * CP/M text converted to Windows format (stops at first Ctrl-Z).
    * UCSD Pascal editor text to plain text.
    * UCSD Pascal code to a segmented hex dump.
    * Applesoft BASIC to text (matches output of "LIST" command), with
      or without color syntax highlighting.
    * Integer BASIC to text (matches output of "LIST" command), with or
      without color syntax highlighting.
    * Apple /// Business BASIC to text (matches output of "LIST"
      command), with or without color syntax highlighting.
    * S-C Assembler source files to text.
    * LISA tokenized assembly source to text (versions 2.x - 5.x).
    * Merlin assembly sources to properly-spaced text.
    * 65C02/65816 code disassembly.  Output matches //e and IIgs monitor
      listings, with the addition of Nifty List annotations
      (descriptions of F8 ROM routines, softswitches, and ProDOS, GS/OS,
      and toolbox calls are shown).
    * Magic Window / Magic Window II "formatted" documents to text.
    * AppleWorks 3.0 documents:
          o Word processor to Rich Text Format (supports left/right
            margins, centering, bold, italic, etc).
          o Database to CSV (suitable for import into Excel or other
            applications).
          o Spreadsheet to CSV (for import into Excel or other
            spreadsheets; some formulas may not convert).
    * IIgs text documents:
          o Generic GWP to Rich Text Format.  Converts non-ASCII
            characters, such as symbols and letters with accents, to
            Windows equivalents.  Non-English text converts correctly.
          o Teach documents to Rich Text Format (supports different
            fonts, font sizes, and style changes).
          o AWGS Word Processor documents to Rich Text format (supports
            different fonts, font sizes, style changes, and paragraph
            justification).
    * Hi-Res graphics to 560x384 16-color .BMP (B&W or color with
      half-pixel shifting).
    * Double Hi-Res graphics to 560x384 16-color .BMP (B&W or color).
    * Super Hi-Res graphics to 640x400 256-color .BMP.  Supported
      formats include unpacked ($c1/0000), Paintworks ($c0/0000), packed
      ($c0/0001), DreamGrafix ($c0/8005), and Apple Preferred Format
      ($c0/0002) up to 1280x1024.
    * 3200-color Super Hi-Res graphics to 640x400 24-bit .BMP. 
      Supported formats include unpacked ($c1/0002 or ".3200"), packed
      (".3201"), DreamGrafix ($c0/8005), and Apple Preferred Format
      ($c0/0002 with "MULTIPAL").
    * Print Shop and Print Shop GS clip art to 88x52 .BMP.
    * MacPaint image to 576x720 B&W .BMP.
    * Apple IIgs resource forks are split into individual resources and
      displayed as hex dumps.

In addition, any fork of any file can be viewed in its "raw" state or as
a hex dump.

Text and graphics can be cut & pasted from the file viewer to other
applications, or sent directly to your printer.  The file converters can
be applied when extracting files as well, allowing you to convert disks
full of source code or images easily.  It takes the same amount of
effort to convert one AppleWorks document or one hundred.

Unsupported formats with recognizable extensions, such as ".GIF" and
".JPG", are displayed in an external viewer when double-clicked.



The disk image creation tool allows you to create blank, bootable disk
image for DOS 3.2/3.3, ProDOS, HFS, and Pascal disks.  ProDOS volumes
can have arbitrary sizes up to 32MB, and HFS can go up to 2GB.  Resize
volumes by copying & pasting between them, or use the one-step
disk-to-file-archive and file-to-disk-archive features.

The disk image converter easily converts disk images to any other
suitable format.  Use it to add or remove 2MG headers, or convert .PO to
.NIB and back again.  Convert your 800K ShrinkIt disk images to and from
DiskCopy 4.2.  You can optionally add gzip compression for reduced
storage size.

If you have a large collection of images that you want to convert to a
different format, use the bulk image converter to migrate them all in a
few easy steps.



CiderPress includes some other handy tools:

    * Disk Viewer - Examine disk images as 512-byte blocks, 256-byte
      sectors or raw nibblized tracks.  Open and follow individual files
      and embedded sub-volumes.  Examine blocks on CF cards and other
      Windows volumes.
    * Volume Copier - Copy data to and from Windows volumes, such as CF
      cards and floppy disks.  Extract ProDOS partitions from CD-ROMs
      and copy them to a hard drive partition.  Back up your Apple II
      hard drive directly.
    * SST Image Merge - Combine SST-generated disk image pairs into .NIB
      files without having to run SST in an emulator.  Just generate the
      images on the Apple II, transfer them to the PC, and let
      CiderPress do the reassembly for you.
    * 2MG Properties Editor - Change the "locked" flag, disk volume
      number, and edit the comment in a 2MG disk image file.
    * EOL Scanner - Identify disk images and file archives damaged by
      ASCII-mode transfers.  Figure out what OS a text file is formatted
      for.
    * Cassette Import - Capture your Apple II cassette tape in a WAV
      file, then use CiderPress to extract every program it contains. 
      Automatically identifies file type and length for most programs. 
      It can even decode some tapes that no longer work on a real Apple II.
    * Import BASIC from text file - Convert a text listing of an
      Applesoft program into a BAS file on a disk image.  Handy for
      converting programs scanned from hardcopy.

Included as a separate application, Multi-Disk Catalog (MDC) allows you
to generate file listings <mdc-out.txt> from hundreds of disk images
with only a few mouse clicks.  Just select the images and the automatic
format recognition does the rest.