       !Packer V1.00  Mike Curnow 26/01/91
       ====================================
      
Contents of this application should be :
      !Boot              !Sprites
      !Help              Packer
      !Run               Templates
      !RunImage

!Packer is a desktop front end to the Packer data
compression utility. It is very useful for packing
sprite files and screen dumps, which may be directly
used without unpacking.

Packing
=======
Double click on !Packer to it load onto the Icon Bar.
Dropping a file onto !Packer will convert it to a
run-length encoded file. For screen dumps, Sprites,
Draw files and some other files, there will be a
significant saving in disk space.
Programs will not normally compress.

Unpacking
=========
Simply double click on a packed file for it to be
unpacked. !Packer does not need to be loaded for the
file to unpacked, but the !Packer application must
have been seen in a Filer window.

Unpacking To Screen
===================
*Screensave files (&FF9) may be directly viewed on
screen by setting the "Screen Load" option from the
!Packer menu.
This is the default setting, alter the !Boot and
!Run file as shown internally to change this.

Disk Space Requirements
=======================
Packing and unpacking is done to an intermediate
file on the current disk (ie. the last disk where
*DIR was issued). There must be sufficient free disk
space to hold the work file for the pack/unpack to
work (not for to-screen option).                                           
For best performance on floppy only machines,
allocate a ram disk just larger than the file, and
issue a *DIR RAM: command. 


Packer From The Command Line
============================
The packer utility may be run outside of the desktop
using the command line as follows :

*PACKER filename [L|S]
If the file is unpacked it will be packed.
If the file is packed, it will be unpacked.
L = *Sload sprites
S = *Screenload sprite

Alternatively, once the !Packer directory has been
seen and Alias$@RunType_710 has been set, just type:

*filename [L|S]   to unpack a file.

S Option
========
For a packed screen-dump (ie. a sprite), specify S
to view the screen without unpacking the file.
Currently only full-screen sprites are supported
via the S option. Only the first sprite is shown.
          
Option S need not be given if it has been set as the
default in the Alias.

L Option
========
For a packed sprite file, option L performs an SLOAD
for the sprites. The system sprite area will be
enlarged if necessary, but its size will not be
changed if there is enough room.