I've just had the weirdest thing happen. I send some graphics samples in png format in a folder. So at the command line I go:

zip -r my_folder.zip ./my_folder

and zip shows that it's creating the folder and putting the images in it. I send it to a Windows user, and they report that when they unzip it, the images show "just the top" OK and the rest is jumbled! This method has worked before - I even had them send it back and I unzipped it and looked at it and everything was fine just like I sent it!

Any ideas where to start looking for the problem? Googling unfruitful so far.

Maybe a jpeg format they can't handle?


Cheers,
Tink

Have you tried File Roller under X? This may create a cleaner zip file.

You could also try the args -l & -ll to make the archive more DOS friendly.

Seems weird that you have had this work in the past! Did you use .png files last time it worked?

The manpage on zip says the -l and -ll switches shouldn't be used for binary files. Those are just to convert line-breaks in text.

Has anybody else encountered this situation?

Did you send one of the jpegs by itself? I mean, really, jpeg is
highly optimised, and the only advantage that zipping them gives
you is that you don't have to attach individual files. What compression
did you get, 2, 3%?


Cheers,
Tink

No, it was .png (portable network graphics) format. Look, I know zipping highly compressed graphics files is...ah, bogus, but the Windows-centric .asp site I am dealing with *requires* zip files in zip file format no matter what - even if it makes no sense at all! Then recievers get the files and looks at them and they're hosed.

I'm thinking that I'll write this off to a one-time jinx. If there were something wrong with zip that was this major, I'm sure I would have heard of it by now - not to mention that it would get fixed.