FreeArc
Encyclopedia
FreeArc is a free
and open source
file archiver
developed by Bulat Ziganshin.
, PPMD, TrueAudio
, Tornado and GRzip algorithms with automatic switching by file type, and also uses set of filters—for instance it can remove repetitions from text.
, 7-Zip
, and WinRAR
, FreeArc narrowly outperformed them by small margin in its "best compression" mode, but lost to 7-Zip's LZMA2 in the "default compression" tests, still compressing better than WinRAR and WinZip at this setting.
(LZW), .zip
(Deflate
), .gz
or bzip2
. (The scoring formula used in this non-public test,
multiplies the sum of compression and decompression times with a factor that exponentially grades the ratio of archive sizes achieved by the program under test relative to the best known archive size for that data set.) As of November 2010, FreeArc is the top program in this benchmark, followed by NanoZip, bsc and WinRAR
. It works faster than WinRAR and 7zip.
it is an archiver. It is not just a data compressor like gzip
or bzip2
. Initially it supported only its own archive format, normally identified by the
. FreeArc has both a command line interface and a GUI
. Other features include:
are available from the developer. There was no 64-bit
version as of March 2010.
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
and open source
Open-source software
Open-source software is computer software that is available in source code form: the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license that permits users to study, change, improve and at times also to distribute the software.Open...
file archiver
File archiver
A file archiver is a computer program that combines a number of files together into one archive file, or a series of archive files, for easier transportation or storage...
developed by Bulat Ziganshin.
Algorithms
FreeArc uses LZMALZMA
The Lempel–Ziv–Markov chain algorithm is an algorithm used to perform data compression. It has been under development since 1998 and was first used in the 7z format of the 7-Zip archiver...
, PPMD, TrueAudio
TTA (codec)
True Audio is a free software, real-time lossless audio codec, based on adaptive prognostic filters.Also, .tta is the generic extension to filenames of audio files created by True Audio codec.- Codec overview :...
, Tornado and GRzip algorithms with automatic switching by file type, and also uses set of filters—for instance it can remove repetitions from text.
Archive size
In Tom's Hardware benchmarks comparing it to the other popular archivers WinZipWinZip
WinZip is a proprietary file archiver and compressor for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, developed by WinZip Computing...
, 7-Zip
7-Zip
7-Zip is an open source file archiver. 7-Zip operates with the 7z archive format, but can read and write several other archive formats. The program can be used from a command line interface, graphical user interface, or with Microsoft Windows shell integration. 7-Zip began in 1999 and is actively...
, and WinRAR
WinRAR
WinRAR is a shareware file archiver and data compression utility developed by Eugene Roshal, and first released in autumn of 1993. It is one of the few applications that is able to create RAR archives natively, because the encoding method is held to be proprietary.-Developer:The current developer...
, FreeArc narrowly outperformed them by small margin in its "best compression" mode, but lost to 7-Zip's LZMA2 in the "default compression" tests, still compressing better than WinRAR and WinZip at this setting.
Speed
In the same Tom's Hardware tests, FreeArc was outpaced at default settings by 7zip's LZMA2 default compression, and also by WinRAR, even at its best compression settings. FreeArc's compression at its best settings was slower than both 7zip and WinRAR, but still came ahead of WinZip.Efficiency
In a metric devised by Werner Bergmans of Maximum Compression Benchmark, FreeArc compression is more efficient than programs for classic formats like .ZCompress
Compress is a UNIX compression program based on the LZC compression method, which is an LZW implementation using variable size pointers as in LZ78.- Description of program :Files compressed by compress are typically given the extension .Z...
(LZW), .zip
ZIP (file format)
Zip is a file format used for data compression and archiving. A zip file contains one or more files that have been compressed, to reduce file size, or stored as is...
(Deflate
DEFLATE
Deflate is a lossless data compression algorithm that uses a combination of the LZ77 algorithm and Huffman coding. It was originally defined by Phil Katz for version 2 of his PKZIP archiving tool and was later specified in RFC 1951....
), .gz
Gzip
Gzip is any of several software applications used for file compression and decompression. The term usually refers to the GNU Project's implementation, "gzip" standing for GNU zip. It is based on the DEFLATE algorithm, which is a combination of Lempel-Ziv and Huffman coding...
or bzip2
Bzip2
bzip2 is a free and open source implementation of the Burrows–Wheeler algorithm. It is developed and maintained by Julian Seward. Seward made the first public release of bzip2, version 0.15, in July 1996.-Compression efficiency:...
. (The scoring formula used in this non-public test,
multiplies the sum of compression and decompression times with a factor that exponentially grades the ratio of archive sizes achieved by the program under test relative to the best known archive size for that data set.) As of November 2010, FreeArc is the top program in this benchmark, followed by NanoZip, bsc and WinRAR
WinRAR
WinRAR is a shareware file archiver and data compression utility developed by Eugene Roshal, and first released in autumn of 1993. It is one of the few applications that is able to create RAR archives natively, because the encoding method is held to be proprietary.-Developer:The current developer...
. It works faster than WinRAR and 7zip.
Features
Like RAR and ZIPZIP (file format)
Zip is a file format used for data compression and archiving. A zip file contains one or more files that have been compressed, to reduce file size, or stored as is...
it is an archiver. It is not just a data compressor like gzip
Gzip
Gzip is any of several software applications used for file compression and decompression. The term usually refers to the GNU Project's implementation, "gzip" standing for GNU zip. It is based on the DEFLATE algorithm, which is a combination of Lempel-Ziv and Huffman coding...
or bzip2
Bzip2
bzip2 is a free and open source implementation of the Burrows–Wheeler algorithm. It is developed and maintained by Julian Seward. Seward made the first public release of bzip2, version 0.15, in July 1996.-Compression efficiency:...
. Initially it supported only its own archive format, normally identified by the
.arc file name extension, incompatible with others; there's no relationship with other .arc formats. More recently, decompression support for other archive types has been added as well, including zip, rar, and 7z7z
7z is a compressed archive file format that supports several different data compression, encryption and pre-processing algorithms. The 7z format initially appeared as implemented by the 7-Zip archiver. The 7-Zip program is publicly available under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public...
. FreeArc has both a command line interface and a GUI
Gui
Gui or guee is a generic term to refer to grilled dishes in Korean cuisine. These most commonly have meat or fish as their primary ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other vegetarian ingredients. The term derives from the verb, "gupda" in Korean, which literally...
. Other features include:
- Solid compression with smart updates
- AES/Blowfish/Twofish/Serpent encryption
- FAR and Total Commander plugins
- Ability to create self-extracting archiveSelf-extracting archiveA self-extracting archive is a computer application which contains a file archive, as well as programming to extract this information. Such file archives do not require a second executable file or program to extract from the archive, as archive files usually require...
s and installers - Archive protection and recovery, including recovery over Internet
Supported platforms
Windows and x86 Linux binariesBinary file
A binary file is a computer file which may contain any type of data, encoded in binary form for computer storage and processing purposes; for example, computer document files containing formatted text...
are available from the developer. There was no 64-bit
64-bit
64-bit is a word size that defines certain classes of computer architecture, buses, memory and CPUs, and by extension the software that runs on them. 64-bit CPUs have existed in supercomputers since the 1970s and in RISC-based workstations and servers since the early 1990s...
version as of March 2010.
See also
- List of archive formats
- List of file archivers
- Comparison of file archiversComparison of file archiversThe following tables compare general and technical information for a number of file archivers. Please see the individual products' articles for further information. They are neither all-inclusive nor are some entries necessarily up to date...
- List of Unix programs
- rzipRzipThe rzip program is huge-scale data compression software designed around initial LZ77-style string matching on a 900 MB dictionary window, followed by bzip2-based Burrows–Wheeler transform and entropy coding on 900 kB output chunks....
- lzmaLZMAThe Lempel–Ziv–Markov chain algorithm is an algorithm used to perform data compression. It has been under development since 1998 and was first used in the 7z format of the 7-Zip archiver...
External links
- The FreeArc home page
- FreeArc project at SourceForge (abandoned)