Introduction

What is ZipStream ? 

ZipStream is an exciting new concept in automatic file compression, that 
harnesses the power and features of OS/2 2.1, 2.11, Warp Version 3 and 
higher. 

ZipStream is an OS/2 Installable File System (IFS) that mirrors access to 
existing OS/2 File Systems simultaneously providing automatic transparent 
file compression and decompression. 

The ZipStream Concept 

To further understand the ZipStream concept, consider the following 
scenario. 

You have an existing OS/2 system with the file letter.doc in the root 
directory of the C: drive. 

ZipStream is installed and drive C: is mirrored as compressed drive X:. 
 This is achieved using the ZSAttach utility as follows: 

zsattach x: c:\ 

Access to all files on drive C: is now possible simultaneously via drive 
X:.  i.e.  The commands 

type C:\letter.doc 

and 

type X:\letter.doc 

will achieve the same results. 

Now letter.doc  is compressed with the ZipStream file compression utility 
ZSPack as follows: 

zspack c:\letter.doc 

Typically, a text file like letter.doc will be reduced in size by at least 
50 percent.  Compression ratios of around 80 percent can generally be 
expected on large text files. 

Access via C:\letter.doc will reveal its compressed contents, but access 
via X:\letter.doc will allow access as if the file is uncompressed. That 
is, ZipStream recognises that the file is compressed and transparently 
decompresses it. 

Transparent Background Compression 

Any new files copied to a ZipStream compressed drive will be automatically 
and transparently compressed in the background.