ReZiping with RC

[neoforma]

I have noticed that after reziping my files with RC they have become bigger. For example, before reziping my CPS-1 ROMs were 108 MB in size, but now they are 110 MB. Well, 2 MB is not much, but what if after reziping my Neo-Geo ROMs which are more than 4 GB I'll end up with something more significant? Why reziping is ineffective?

[Wanderer]

I have noticed that after reziping my files with RC they have become bigger.

I don't have RC in front of me atm but i remember there is a "compression level" setting somewhere at the preferences screen. Is there a chance you have it at the default or perhaps a low-compression level? Try setting it at max compression to see what happens.

[neoforma]

No, I was using maximum compression. I checked before (and after) the compression.

[Wanderer]

Hmmm... Maybe the files you have were compressed with a commercial zip version which may have a newer and more efficient algorithm. RC is probably using some free libraries which may not be as effective as commercial software.

[neoforma]

Well, yes. I'm using WinRAR. Is there any way to exchange free version with commercial one? If not, is this feature planned for the next release?

[RomCenter]

There is actually no zip library replacement planned for rc in its actual state, but I'm more and more interested in moving to vs c#, and I will have to switch to a new zip library (don't know which one, if someone have advices).

[Wanderer]

I think our friend neoforma here has made an interesting question. For some reason, a user may wish to use an external packer/unpacker of his own. Would it be possible for RC to be "generic" in how it uses the packer/unpacker? For instance, have some settings in which a user would be able to define an external packer exe (or perhaps even dll) and how RC can use them to pack/unpack roms? I don't think it would be easy to use dlls that way but how about exes?

[neoforma]

I think it's possible to use WinRAR, because it has command line version. And 7-Zip has one too.

[Wanderer]

I think it's possible to use WinRAR, because it has command line version. And 7-Zip has one too.

I know but it may be a little tricky to adjust RC to use an external packer. The internal way (via a dll) seems more safe and perhaps easier. With an external exe the correct parameters must be passed, check it's return code to see if everything is OK, not to mention that RC would have to wait for the external packer process to finish in order to continue with the next rom. All of these must be handled in a generic way by RC because every packer has its own parameters and return codes. It must be possible but don't know how easy it is to adjust RC to do such a thing. I suppose Eric will tell us if it is feasible.

[neoforma]

I think it's possible. If you want to use internal dll which is native to RC, you may do so. But if you want better compression you may configure RC to work with external archiver. All parameters must be configured manually. Just like with emulator.

[Wanderer]

I think it's possible.

Well, of course it is possible, i just don't know how easy would be to implement.

[neoforma]

If RC can run an external application like emulator and after the game is closed, RC gets focus and is ready for work, it shouldn't be that hard to implement. I realize that this feature is not on to-do list, but it would be great to have better compression.