Extracting Files Directly Into VT Folders-OS X (w/solution)

BlindedByTheLight · Post #1by **BlindedByTheLight** » 22.03.2005, 23:27

Got a question... per the instructions on most VT close-ups, it seems that people are able to extract their various "levelled" image files directly into the appropriate level folder automatically:

<<Find in Celestia the "/BlueMarble DDS/textures/hires/earth" folder and Extract the zip file in it. This way any files will go directly into their respective level6 or higher folders.>>

I'm on Mac OS X and have been having some trouble with this. Experiments with StuffIt Deluxe and StuffIt Expander do not seem to allow for this. The closest I've gotten is the expanding Zip either completely overwrites the ENTIRE Level 5, 6, 7 (and so on) folders OR creates duplicate folders in the same directory (Level 5.1, Level 6.1, Level 7.1, etc. folders appear).

Of course, I can just extract/expand the zip someplace else and drag and drop the images into the right folders... but it adds up - especially since I've been installing Celestia on various friends computers (and they all have their favorite Earth VTs).

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

Post #2by **dirkpitt** » 23.03.2005, 02:34

If you're willing to use the Terminal, the unzip command is a lot more usable. Type "unzip" on its own to get help.

"unzip vt.zip" should unzip into the correct level folders, creating new files and folders as necessary and overwriting only
files that have the same name.

"unzip -u vt.zip" will only overwrite if the filename matches and the file in the zip archive is newer. This is likely the
behaviour that you want.

"unzip -n vt.zip" will prevent any overwriting. Missing files are still unzipped.

BlindedByTheLight · Post #3by **BlindedByTheLight** » 23.03.2005, 02:49

Thanks dirkpitt! I'll give it a try! One question about your rec for which behaviour I'd probably prefer...

<<"unzip -u vt.zip" will only overwrite if the filename matches and the file in the zip archive is newer. This is likely the behaviour that you want. >>

I guess it depends on the creation dates of the various VTs. For example, if I had just cleanly installed a really new whole earth VT and then wanted to pop an old VT close-up in there... I WOULDN'T want to restrict the the extraction overwriting to just the newer one, would it?

BlindedByTheLight · Post #4by **BlindedByTheLight** » 23.03.2005, 03:10

Just tried out your suggestion... works like a charm (after I figured out that I had to "move" the terminal... shell? into the right... directory? (and how to do that!). I'm a Mac guy from the beginning so it was an uphill battle. But I actually like typing away in Terminal like I actually know what I'm doing...

but if anyone has any non-Terminal ways of doing this, feel free to chime in. Ultimately, I'd like to write some kind of drag-and-drop scriptlet to do all this for me... once I figure out AppleScript, that is...

Post #5by **dirkpitt** » 23.03.2005, 11:28

BlindedByTheLight wrote:Just tried out your suggestion... works like a charm (after I figured out that I had to "move" the terminal... shell? into the right... directory? (and how to do that!). I'm a Mac guy from the beginning so it was an uphill battle. But I actually like typing away in Terminal like I actually know what I'm doing... but if anyone has any non-Terminal ways of doing this, feel free to chime in. Ultimately, I'd like to write some kind of drag-and-drop scriptlet to do all this for me... once I figure out AppleScript, that is...

Sorry about not providing more details but glad you got it to work. Actually I myself have been recently looking for a good zip tool on the Mac, one that has a nice gui and can do segmented archives but I can't find any. ZipIt worked all right on the classic Mac OS, but I can't recommend it on OS X.

BlindedByTheLight · Post #6by **BlindedByTheLight** » 24.05.2005, 19:18

Dirkpitt - you may have already found this out, but I have just discovered that the freeware product StuffIt Expander...

http://homepage.mac.com/aladdin/.Public ... nstall.dmg

...seems to do exactly what were are looking for. You can set it to prompt for a destination when unzipping/unstuffing and there is a check-box (set on by default) for "merging" into the chosen location. I have done a test-run with non-Celestia files - and it seems to work like a charm. I'll test it on the big puppy when I get home... curious to hear your thoughts.

Thanks,
Steve