Delphi-5 single-file storage solution?

Question

Is there a Delphi-5 solution to easily integrate single-file storage into existing code? I would like to have files like Java *.jar or Openoffice document files which are zipped/compressed files and folders but with their own file extension.

Edit: I know some ZIP capable components but in a nutshell I want to access files within the "container" and use normal file handling routines on them (eg. TStringList.SaveToFile). Any overhead about compress/uncompress should be handled by the component.

Answer 1

It looks like AidAim Software might have what you need.

Answer 2

Just use the .zip format. You can change the file extension to whatever you want, its the file contents that are important. There are many third-party Zip solutions available for Delphi, both freeware and commercial. Look around (my company uses ZipForge)

Answer 3

I use THKStream for this task. It works good and fast and is easy to use, you can store normal Streams in it and it compresses them to a single file. Freeware. Here is a Link: http://www.xarka.com/freeware/components.html

Answer 4

SolFS is the answer. Check the link for comparison with AidAim.

Answer 5

Take a look at this OpenSource SynZip unit. It's even faster for decompression than the default unit shipped with Delphi, and it will generate a smaller exe (crc tables are created at startup).

For Delphi 5, take a look at this another Open Source pure pascal unit, named PasZip.

I use it in very small installer exe. It can uncompress any zip content, and you can even append the zip to the exe. See this link to get how to use such a zip embedded to the exe.