PA Command Line Manual (PACL)

PACL is an advanced command line archiving utility for Windows console environments. It fully supports a variety of the most popular compressed file formats, including: ZIP, 7-ZIP, CAB, JAR, TAR, TAR.GZ, TAR.BZ2, yENC, Base64, CAB SFX and many others. PACL also includes 5 different encryption methods.

• PAEXT {-command …} {d:}{\path\}filespec{.ext} {@list} {files …}

• e : extract files from archive (default)
• v : list contents of archive
• t : test achive integrity
• o+ : overwrite existing files without prompting
• o- : do not overwrite existing files
• or : allow overwriting read-only files
• r : rename – automatically rename files if they already exist
• d : restore/create directory structure stored in archive
• c : use character translations (use if you have problems with special characters)
• q : quiet mode
• l<file> : quiet mode + moves output to <file>
• s<pwd> : decrypt with password
• cert<file> : use certificate from <file>
• p<outputpath>: extract files to outputpath (default is current directory)
• psub : extract files to filename/ subdirectory (subdirectories - if extracting multiple archives)
• $<directory> : set custom temp directory
• @list : specify list of files for extraction (use filename instead of list - see example) Note: this does not mean list of archives for extraction
• 0 : start process as low priority
• unicode : parameters and output are in UNICODE format
• fips : use FIPS 140-2 Mode

• paext docs.zip –> extract all files from docs.zip to current directory WITHOUT using archive folders
• paext -d docs.zip –> extract all files from docs.zip to current directory using archive folders
• paext -t docs.zip –> test contents of docs.zip
• paext docs.arj *.dat *.txt –> extract only those files in docs.arj with extensions .dat and .txt, to current directory
• paext -pc:\temp *.* –> extract all files from all supported archive files to c:\temp directory
• paext -v docs.zip –> list all files in docs.zip
• paext -p“c:\my docs“ docs.zip –> extract all files from docs.zip to „c:\my docs“
• paext -o+ docs.z –> extract all files from docs.zip and overwrite existing files without asking
• paext -r docs.zip –> extract all files in docs.zip but rename any existing file when extracted
• paext *.zip @files.txt –> extract all files specified in the file „files.txt“ from all *.zip archives

Exit Codes:

• 0 –> no errors found
• 1 –> error in command line syntax, no action
• 2 –> error while extracting

• 1 * Extracting from .CAB files requires cabinet.dll.
  • Extracting from .ACE files requires unacev2.dll.
  • Extracting from .7Z files requires 7z.dll.
  • Extracting from .ZIP files requires paclib.dll.
  • Extracting from .RAR files requires paunrar3.dll.
• 2 * Multivolume ARJ, CAB, RAR, ACE, ZIP and 7Z archives are supported.
• 3 * PAEXT cannot test (-t) the contents of Microsoft CAB files.
• 4 * ACE v2 archives are supported.
• 5 * RAR v3 archives are supported.
• 6 * Most SFX archives are supported.
• 7 * ZIP v4.5 format (large archives) are supported.
• 8 * ZIP AES Encryption compatible with WinZip and PKZIP AES standard.
• 9 * ZIP methods supported: Deflate, Deflate64, LZMA, PPMd, BZIP2, WavPack, JPEG
• 10* FIPS mode supports only ZIP AES archives

PACOMP {-command …} {d:}{\path\}filespec.ext {@list} {files …}

• a : add files to archive (default)
• u : update files to archive
• h : freshen files in archive
• m : move files to archive [files only]
• d : delete files from archive
• r : recurse subfolders
• p|P : store relative Pathnames|store full Pathnames
• PP : store full Pathnames including drive
• c[0,1,2,10,11,13,15,17,19,l,p,w,b,d,z] : set compression level
  • (0 - store; 1 - normal ; 2 - maximal)
  • (10 - store, 11 - super fast, 13 - fast, 15 - normal, 17 - max, 19 - ultra
  • (l - use LZMA, p - use PPMd, w - use WavPack, b - use BZIP2, d - use Deflate
  • (z - use optimized compression method based on file exstension)
• g : create Solid archive (7Z format only)
• s<password> : scramble with password [must be given]
• s@filename : scramble with password specified as first line in filename
• e[0,1,2] : set encryption method (when using password on ZIP files)
  • 0 - default ZIP,
  • 1 - AES 128 bits,
  • 2 - AES 256 bits
• o : set archive date to the latest file in the archive
• k : keep orginal archive file date
• t : force UNICODE filenames instead of OEM when possible
• $<directory>: set custom temp directory
• x<file> : eXclude specified file
• x@list : eXclude file(s) in specified list file
• w : include system and hidden files
• f : do not add empty directories
• v<size>[b,k,M] : set volume size (b=bytes, k=kB, M=MB)
• vN : do not use automatic spanning on removable drives
• b : format target removable media when spanning to removable media
• bq : quick format target removable media when spanning
• q : quiet mode
• l<file> : quiet mode + moves output to <file>
• aa : add only files with attribute „Archive“ set
• ca : clear attribute „Archive“ after compressing
• sep : archive each file into separate archive (archive name is ignored in this case, but format is determined from extension used)
• 0 : start as low priority process
• unicode : parameters and output are in UNICODE format
• fips : use FIPS 140-2 Mode
• uvss : turn on Volume Shadow Copy Support
• uvssext<extlst>: Always use extlist extension with VSS
• @list : specify list of files for compression (use filename instead of list - see example)

• pacomp -a docs.zip „c:\my documents\*.doc“ –> compress all *.doc files from „c:\my documents“ directory to archive docs.zip
• pacomp -a -ssecret -c0 -p stuff.bh „c:\my stuff\*.*“ –> compress all files from „c:\my stuff“ directory and subdirectories to archive stuff.bh with no compression and with password „secret“
• pacomp -a myfiles.zip @files.txt –> compress all files specified in file „files.txt“ to archive test.zip

• 0 –> no errors found
• 1 –> error in command line syntax, no action
• 2 –> error while compressing

• 1 * ZIP v4.5 format (large archives) is supported.
• 2 * ZIP AES Encryption compatible with WinZip AES standard.
• 3 * ZIP methods supported: Deflate, LZMA, PPMd, WavPack, BZIP2
• 4 * FIPS mode supports only ZIP AES archives
• 5 * For using Volume Shadow Copy service, if you do not have installed PowerArchiver v12 or later, you must register PAUAC.DLL by calling VSSREGISTER.BAT. Before edit vssimport.reg with Notepad and set correct value of PACL directory.

PAENCODE {-comm…} {d:}{\path\}File.Ext {{d:}{\path\}OutFile.Ext}

• m[U,X,B,Y] : method (U = UUencode, X = XXencode, B=MIME (Base64), Y=yENC)
• v<size>[k,M] : set volume size (k = kB, M = MB)
• t : write decode table to file
• o : automatically overwrite output file if exists
• unicode : parameters and output are in UNICODE format

• paencode file.txt –> encodes file file.txt to file.uue using UUencode method
• paencode -v100k zipfile.zip spanned.xxe –> encodes archive zipfile.zip to spanned.xxe, spanned.xx1,…, using XXencode method

Exit Codes:

• 0 –> no errors found
• 1 –> error in command line syntax, no action
• 2 –> error while encoding

PASPAN {-comm…} {d:}{\path\}File.Ext {{d:}{\path\}OutFile.Ext}

• v<size>[b,k,M] : set volume size (b=bytes, k=kB, M=MB)
• m[0,1,2] : set naming scheme
  • 0 = PkZip 4.5 compatible
  • 1 = PkZip/WinZip/PowerArchiver 7.0 compatible
  • 2 = PowerArchiver 6.11 (and older) compatible
• b : format target removable media when spanning to removable media
• bq : quick format target removable media when spanning

• paspan -v100k docs.zip –> span docs.zip to 100kB archives with last archive name spanned.zip
• paspan -v100M -m2 docs.zip zipdrive.zip –> span docs.zip to 100MB archives using old PowerArchiver naming scheme

Exit Codes:

• 0 –> no errors found
• 1 –> error in command line syntax, no action
• 2 –> error while spanning

• 1 * ZIP v4.5 format is supported.
• 2 * Large ZIP archives (> 2 GB) are supported.
• 3 * Spanned archives not necessarily compatible with other archive utilities.

PACRYPT {-command -command …} {d:}{\path\}filespec.ext {destination}

• e : encrypt file (default)
• d : decrypt file
• o : overwrite destination file
• s<password> : password (must be given)
• m[0,1,2,3,4] : set encryption method
  • 0 = Blowfish (128-bits)
  • 1 = DES (56-bits)
  • 2 = TripleDES (168-bits)
  • 3 = AES (128-bits)
  • 4 = AES (256 bits)

• pacrypt -stestpass docs.zip –> encrypts docs.zip to docs.pae using password „testpass“
• pacrypt -d -stestpass docs.pae c:\temp –> decrypts docs.pae to c:\temp using password „testpass“

Exit Codes: *

• 0 –> no errors found
• 1 –> error in command line syntax, no action
• 2 –> error while encrypting/decrypting

PACONV {d:}{\path\}Archive1.Ext {d:}{\path\}Archive2.Ext

• paconv test.zip test.cab –> converts file test.zip to test.cab