[Macworld]

Post your comments for Beyond .zip: Secrets of the Archive Utility here

[n4hhe]

The InfoZip command line utility is included in MacOS X at the expected /usr/bin/zip and "man zip" for how to use it. It is most useful for opening PC self-expanding zip files with the .exe extension.

[cdumez]

The Mac OS compression utility works well, but does a very frustrating thing: It adds "._" resource files into the .zip archive. In practical reality, this is a very big problem. When I send a Mac-compressed .zip to a Windows recipient, I often get an e-mail telling me they can't open the files. The "._filename" files are listed first alphabetically, and the client tries to open that.

My workaround is to go to a Windows PC, open the .zip, delete all "._" files from the archive, then send it. Major pain! If anyone knows a way to compress without these useless files being added...please post it!

[RobLewis]

The author of The Unarchiver also produces Archive Browser, which lets you examine the contents of an archive without expanding it, and selectively extract files (although you can't modify the contents).

[Standy]

I'm on Snow Leopard and cannot find this nifty tool. Does it not exist for me? I can't find anything that seems equivalent in Disk Utility/

[willcol]

Standy, on 01 May 2012 - 09:11 AM, said:

I'm on Snow Leopard and cannot find this nifty tool. Does it not exist for me? I can't find anything that seems equivalent in Disk Utility/

Archive Utility is in System > Library > CoreServices

[objectivesea]

[A: The zip format will fit the bill for 99.9 percent of people trying to compress a file. But if you’re a Unix person, you might be happy to find two other options the Archive Format menu. Compressed Archive, also know as a .cpgz archive, is a common Unix compression format. Regular Archive, also know as a .cpio archive, puts a group of files into an archive without compressing them.]

Three typos in the above text. It should be:

A: The zip format will fit the bill for 99.9 percent of people trying to compress a file. But if you’re a Unix person, you might be happy to find two other options <b>in</b> the Archive Format menu. Compressed Archive, also <b>known</b> as a .cpgz archive, is a common Unix compression format. Regular Archive, also <b>known</b> as a .cpio archive, puts a group of files into an archive without compressing them.]

[MichaelSalmon]

cdumez, on 01 May 2012 - 07:17 AM, said:

The Mac OS compression utility works well, but does a very frustrating thing: It adds "._" resource files into the .zip archive. In practical reality, this is a very big problem. When I send a Mac-compressed .zip to a Windows recipient, I often get an e-mail telling me they can't open the files. The "._filename" files are listed first alphabetically, and the client tries to open that.

My workaround is to go to a Windows PC, open the .zip, delete all "._" files from the archive, then send it. Major pain! If anyone knows a way to compress without these useless files being added...please post it!

The ._ files contain information about the corresponding files and as you say it is a pain for those unenlightened users who haven't switched yet.

I don't think that you can avoid those files with the Archive Utility but I noticed that YemuZip does allow you to not include them.

This post has been edited by MichaelSalmon: 03 May 2012 - 06:11 AM

[Jasonmwa]

There are other alternatives or supplemental offerings in the App Store. Beware: though you may be shopping in your home country's store (I've noticed this in the US store), there are foreign language apps available. While they work, their actual functionality and warnings will be in another language, in my case, German and Russian.

[trixiesirisheyes]

I find Stuffit compresses it a little more. How can I change the compression of the Archive utility so I'm not a slave to Stuffit?

[Flavum]

I'm 7 months late to the party, but can anyone tell me how to keep Archive Utility in the background? I often unzip a few dozen small archives at a time, and each time AU opens it jumps to the foreground, interrupting whatever I'm doing. It's a major PITA.

[nicolems]

Thought you and your readers could benefit from http://findthatzipfile.com It is an internet zip search engine that searches millions of sources. It's a great tool for searching for a lost file or whichever and searches within the zip files.