Lazarus Pascal

Control Stored ZIP Paths Using AppendFromDir

See more Zip Examples

This example demonstrates how to use the AppendFromDir property to control which portion of a local filesystem path is stored within a ZIP archive.

When files are added using methods such as AppendFiles, AppendFilesEx, or AddFile, the stored ZIP path is determined relative to the AppendFromDir directory.

This property is especially useful when:

• Creating ZIP archives with clean relative paths
• Excluding unwanted leading directory portions from ZIP entries
• Packaging projects or directory trees while preserving selected relative path information

Suppose the local filesystem contains:

c:/abc/123/myAppDir/readme.txt
c:/abc/123/myAppDir/config/settings.json
c:/abc/123/myAppDir/images/logo.png

And suppose:

zip.AppendFromDir = "c:/abc/123";

Then the following call:

zip.AppendFiles("c:/abc/123/myAppDir/*",_TRUE_);

Will store these paths in the ZIP archive:

myAppDir/readme.txt
myAppDir/config/settings.json
myAppDir/images/logo.png

Without AppendFromDir, the ZIP archive paths would instead begin relative to the append root:

readme.txt
config/settings.json
images/logo.png

The AppendFromDir property affects subsequently added filesystem entries.

Lazarus Pascal

program ChilkatDemo;

// Demonstrates using the Chilkat Pascal wrapper via the C bridge DLL.
// Builds as a console application under Lazarus (FPC) or Delphi.

{$IFDEF FPC}
  {$MODE DELPHI}
{$ENDIF}
{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}

uses
  {$IFDEF UNIX}
  cthreads,
  {$ENDIF}
  SysUtils,
  CkDllLoader,
  Chilkat.Zip;

// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

procedure RunDemo;
var
  success: Boolean;
  zip: TZip;
  recurse: Boolean;

begin
  success := False;

  zip := TZip.Create;

  //  Create a new ZIP archive.
  success := zip.NewZip('myApp.zip');
  if (success = False) then
    begin
      WriteLn(zip.LastErrorText);
      Exit;
    end;

  //  Set the AppendFromDir property.
  //  
  //  Paths stored in the ZIP archive will be relative to:
  //  
  //      c:/abc/123
  //  
  zip.AppendFromDir := 'c:/abc/123';

  //  Recursively add files beneath:
  //  
  //      c:/abc/123/myAppDir
  //  
  //  Because AppendFromDir = "c:/abc/123",
  //  the ZIP paths will begin with:
  //  
  //      myAppDir/
  //  
  recurse := True;
  success := zip.AppendFiles('c:/abc/123/myAppDir/*',recurse);

  if (success = False) then
    begin
      WriteLn(zip.LastErrorText);
      Exit;
    end;

  //  Write the ZIP archive and close it.
  success := zip.WriteZipAndClose();
  if (success = False) then
    begin
      WriteLn(zip.LastErrorText);
      Exit;
    end;

  WriteLn('ZIP archive created successfully.');


  zip.Free;

end;

// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

begin

  try
    RunDemo;
  except
    on E: Exception do
      WriteLn('Unhandled exception: ', E.ClassName, ': ', E.Message);
  end;

  WriteLn;
  {$IFDEF MSWINDOWS}
  WriteLn('Press Enter to exit...');
  ReadLn;
  {$ENDIF}
end.