|---------------/------------------------------------------------------------
| 19/08/2006  /
|-----------/

                     _   __________________________       
                    | | |_________________________ \_____ 
                    | |___    ________     _____  \__   _|
                    |  __ \  |  _   _ \   / ___ |    | |  
                    | |__) ) | | | | \ | ( (__/ |    | |  
                    |_____/  |_| |_| |_|  \___/\_\ __| |_ 
                         _________________________/ _   _|
                    /__ |__________________________/ | |  
                    \                              [==U==]


                                                         /-------------------|
                                                       /  Version: 1.33 beta |
-----------------------------------------------------/-----------------------|

Description:
------------

  BMA - The experimental archiver  (only  console  version  for  Windows).
  It is still under development, so you use this program at your own risk.
  DON'T   USE  THIS   ARCHIVER   TO   BACKUP   YOUR   CRITICAL   DATA!!!!!


The archiver works under following scheme:
------------------------------------------

  1. Set of filters;
  2. Burrows-Wheeler Transform (BWT).
  3. Advanced "Move To Front" (MTF).
  4. 1-2 encoding.
  5. Arithmetic coding with use of Peter Fenwick's structural model.


The archiver has  some  methods  of  data  preprocessing  for  improvement  of
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  compression:
  ------------

  * Preprocessing of texts  data:  EOL-coding  and  upper-case  to  lower-case
      convertion.
  * Two variants of preprocessing for 32 bit tables (gives better  compression
      of executable files and Microsoft Office documents).
  * Transformation of relative  addresses  in  absolute  (call/jmp convertion)
      for better compression of executable files.
  * Delta-encoding improves compression of PCM WAVE files and 24 bit  puctures
      (not compressed BitMap, Targa).
  * LZ preprocessing speeds up BWT, but essentially slows down  decompression.
  * Run Length Encoding (RLE).


Command line usage:
-------------------

  Usage: BMA <command> [<switches>...] <archive_name> [<file_names>...]
         [<@listfiles...>]

  <Commands>
    a:         Add files to archive
    e:         Extract files from archive
    x:         eXtract files with full pathname
    d:         Delete files from archive
    l:         List content of archive
    t:         Test integrity of archive
    i:         Info about archive
    h:         Help message

  <Switches>
    -mN<k|m>   sorting block size
                Nk: N = [1..16384](kBytes)
                Nm: N = [1..16](MBytes)
                (default -m2048k, maximum -m16m)
    -a[e]      Adaptive block size [for PE Executable files only]
    -rv[-]     enable/disable ReVerse sorting order (def.: auto)
    -pe[-]     enable/disable Preprocessing of Executable files (def.: auto)
    -t<1|2|->  enable/disable preprocessing of 32 bit Tables (def.: auto)
    -d<N|->    enable/disable Delta encoding (def.: auto)
                N = [1..4] - distance of Delta encoding
    -l<N|->    enable/disable run Length encoding (def.: auto)
                N = [2..255] - order of RLE
    -z<N|->    enable/disable LZP preprocessing (def.: auto)
                N = [2..255] - order of LZP
    -r         Recurse subdirectories
    -o<Dir>    set Output directory
    -x<filename|@listfile> eXclude files from operation of compression
    -tx[-]     enable/disable preprocessing of TeXt files (def.: auto)


Roadmap (I want to do:-):
-------------------------

  * Speed up BWT. 
  * Improve compression. 
  * Add solid mode.


What's new:
-----------

1.33 beta (19/08/2006)
  * Switñh -mx added as default.
  * Better compression of DLL ('.reloc' section).
  * Fixed several small bugs.
  * Warning: This version is not compatible with previous!

1.32 beta (26/02/2006)
  * Added  the  new  switch  -tx[-]:  Preprocedding  of  English  and  Russian
      (ANSI) texts.
  * Figed great bug: packing crash when used switch -x<filename|@filelist>.
  * Better compression of 'none-comptessed' data (JPEG, MPEG, etc...).
  * Fixed several small bugs.

1.31 beta (22/09/2005)
  * Added the new switch -ae: Adaptive block  size  for  PE  executable  files
      only. Because segmentation of this file type works much faster  than  of
      any other file type.
  * Added  the  new  switch  -x<filename|@filelist>:      Exclude  files  from
      compression. In next version I tried to implement this option for  other 
      operations.
  * The compression ratio was improved.
  * Fixed several small bugs.

1.30 beta (05/09/2005)
  * Fixed bug: Sometimes archiver crashes when using switch -a. 
  * Program doesn't need libmmd.dll.
  * Fixed bug: Loss of memory at decompression. 
  * Fixed several small bugs.

1.29 beta (31/08/2005)
  * Now the switch -a works on files of any type! 
  * Fixed bug: Switch -r did not work correctly. 
  * Fixed several small bugs.

1.28 beta (28/08/2005)
  * Fixed bug: Compression with use of the switch -m16m. 
  * Speed of compression/decompresiion is a little increased. 
  * Improved compression, especially of executable files. 
  * Added the new switch -mx: Improves compression of big files. 
  * Optimization: Reduced the file size. 
  * Warning: The current version is not compatible with previous!

1.27 beta (28/06/2005)
  * First public release

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                Alexander Cherenkov, 2003-2006
                                                 E-mail: mailto:forrox@mail.ru
                                                   Web: http://forrox.narod.ru
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