Hello, i would like to make a feature request: the ability to write in the 7zip format. at this time i think 7zip is quite mature, and offers tremendous space reduction due to its solid archive feature. Especially sets with one gazillion clones like the tosec ones would benefit greatly from this. as most frontends support 7zip goodmerged sets, and many emulators too, i think this feature becomes quite relevant. Finaly i would like to ask if it is possible to convert a non-merged dat file to a merged one. a member of another forum has been experimenting with scripts in order to do that, and i want to know if that can be a feature in clrmame. thanks for your time, and for making such a usefull tool

There is no real benefit from 7zip. In times of terabyte hds the gained space is not real something to argue. Besides of that, scanning and especially fixing solid archives is a pain and slow. Nearly no emulator supports 7zip and it's not really standarized as zip is. The source code api is a pain and not documented at all. So...no real benefit from adding it. Rar on the other hand is not even free.

For your second request: You can easily change the merge mode with all three modules, scanner, rebuilder and merger. Each module can change the mode on the fly.


Roman Scherzer

Thanks for your reply.
I understand your opinion about 7zip and fully respect it. I was just trying to get more support for goodmerged sets, as many sets, especially those with one gazillion files (TOSEC mainly) can fit in something like 1/4 of their original size, not to mention getting rid of those 45000file folders.

btw is torrentzip support in your plans?

about my second request, i have the following problem; i have some tosec dats, and when i try to rebuild or scan i see that merged and split sets buttons are greyed out. as i understand it, the problem lays with the tosec dat, because it does not state a parent-clone relationship. copying from hymness post in pleasuredome

If you really wish it, you could turn your TOSEC dat into a merged one. That is, end with this:

game (
name "Addams Family, The (1992)(Ocean)"
rom ( name "Addams Family, The (1992)(Ocean)(M3).adf" size ... crc ... md5 ...)
rom ( name "Addams Family, The (1992)(Ocean)(M3)[cr FSN].adf size ... crc ... md5 ..." )
...
)
currently, the tosec dat is like this:

game (
name "Battle Isle (1991)(Ubi Soft)(en-de)(Disk 2 of 3)[a2][bootable]"
description "Battle Isle (1991)(Ubi Soft)(en-de)(Disk 2 of 3)[a2][bootable]"
rom ( name "Battle Isle (1991)(Ubi Soft)(en-de)(Disk 2 of 3)[a2][bootable].adf" size 901120 crc d4c248b7 md5 e444e7d640cc67ae238976fc1669a4b4 )
)

game (
name "Battle Isle (1991)(Ubi Soft)(en-de)(Disk 2 of 3)[a3][bootable]"
description "Battle Isle (1991)(Ubi Soft)(en-de)(Disk 2 of 3)[a3][bootable]"
rom ( name "Battle Isle (1991)(Ubi Soft)(en-de)(Disk 2 of 3)[a3][bootable].adf" size 901120 crc 14edde81 md5 5e8937ea23e64d3b52ab57e913252843 )
)

game (
name "Battle Isle (1991)(Ubi Soft)(en-de)(Disk 2 of 3)[a4][bootable]"
description "Battle Isle (1991)(Ubi Soft)(en-de)(Disk 2 of 3)[a4][bootable]"
rom ( name "Battle Isle (1991)(Ubi Soft)(en-de)(Disk 2 of 3)[a4][bootable].adf" size 901120 crc 8885e099 md5 e67bcd8a4ee675a882ec2a6aa6d1a3f6 )
)

am i right, and i have to convert the dat, or is there any other way?

> btw is torrentzip support in your plans?

No. In fact I already had requests from official sides to not even allow to scan zips like that, or do even worse things with them. Simply because such files are highly to be shared illegally. Of course, this isn't done in any since they are still valid zipfiles. Besides of the legal aspects, adding support will decrease the speed immensly since you have to reorganize archives over and over again.

For your datfile merge question: Yes, the datfile layout defines the parent/clone relationships.


Roman Scherzer

ok, thanks for your time!