I am attempting to modify some Thunderbird .jar files in Slackware 10.2 and KDE 3.4. I need to modify the .jar files then zip them but with no compression. I have done this in the past using FileRoller in Gnome, but I can't seem to find a setting in Ark to zip files with no compression. I also couldn't figure how to do this with the command line.
How do I modify these files and reinclude them in the .jar with no compression? Does anyone know how to do this with Ark or the command line? How about another KDE application that can do this?

Does it have to be zip? Why not tar? If so it would be:
tar cvf tarfile.tar source

With zip i believe this should work:
zip -rn * source zipfile.zip

I cant test it right now but that is what I remember.

I'll give it a try. Yes, it does need to be zipped, I think. The Thunderbird .jar files are just zipped files with the .jar extension. If any compression is used, Thunderbird won't work. I assume, this to be the case if I use tar, but I never tried it.

I couldn't do it. I don't know if it was my syntax or what, but I was able to find a zip program that would work for me, karchiever. Thanks for the help.

It worked here, though not exactly as a wanted it to be:
leo@zeus ~/bin $ zip -rn * . zipfile
zip warning: name not matched: zipfile
adding: lowercase.sh (deflated 33%)
adding: rename_files.sh (deflated 50%)
adding: helloworld (stored 0%)
adding: cria_thumbs.sh (stored 0%)
leo@zeus ~/bin $ ls -l
total 28
-rw-r--r-- 1 leo users 6624 Mar 21 17:30 cria_thumbs.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 leo users 29 Mar 12 15:32 helloworld
-rw-r--r-- 1 leo users 7805 Apr 22 12:18 helloworld.zip
-rwxr--r-- 1 leo users 217 Mar 22 00:14 lowercase.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 leo users 892 Mar 21 22:56 rename_files.sh
leo@zeus ~/bin $ unzip -l helloworld.zip
Archive: helloworld.zip
Length Date Time Name
-------- ---- ---- ----
217 03-22-06 00:14 lowercase.sh
892 03-21-06 22:56 rename_files.sh
29 03-12-06 15:32 helloworld
6624 03-21-06 17:30 cria_thumbs.sh
-------- -------
7762 4 files

It worked here, though not exactly as a wanted it to be:
john@zeus ~/bin $ zip -rn * . zipfile
zip warning: name not matched: zipfile
adding: lowercase.sh (deflated 33%)
adding: rename_files.sh (deflated 50%)
adding: helloworld (stored 0%)
adding: cria_thumbs.sh (stored 0%)
john@zeus ~/bin $ ls -l
total 28
-rw-r--r-- 1 john users 6624 Mar 21 17:30 cria_thumbs.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 john users 29 Mar 12 15:32 helloworld
-rw-r--r-- 1 john users 7805 Apr 22 12:18 helloworld.zip
-rwxr--r-- 1 john users 217 Mar 22 00:14 lowercase.sh
-rwxr--r-- 1 john users 892 Mar 21 22:56 rename_files.sh
john@zeus ~/bin $ unzip -l helloworld.zip
Archive: helloworld.zip
Length Date Time Name
-------- ---- ---- ----
217 03-22-06 00:14 lowercase.sh
892 03-21-06 22:56 rename_files.sh
29 03-12-06 15:32 helloworld
6624 03-21-06 17:30 cria_thumbs.sh
-------- -------
7762 4 files

You're just trying to re-package a theme file, right? I assume it's the same with Thunderbird as it is with Firefox. You should just be able to zip it up again using "zip." At least that's what I've been doing myself.

Aren't these archives real "jar" files? There is a "jar" tool (which works like tar) that comes with Sun JDK. There is also a free tool called "fastjar" that does the same thing.

Hmmm, I am not too familiar with the zip command, had to do some reading up on it. But, since I had karchiever, I kind of stopped worrying about it, but I will keep this in mind for the next time I need to do this.
Daihard, no it isn't a theme file, it is actually mail.jar. I want to remove the extra "To:" fields, I don't need four of them.
ataraxia, you are probably correct. I have not heard of the jar tool, but kind of makes sense now that you mention it. It probably does work like tar where it just puts all the files in one file with no compression. I will have to take a look at fastjar.

to make sure nothing gets compressed, use:

zip -rn *:: derp.zip ./derp

I use ark to update .xpi add-on files all the time. Just open the archive up, drag&drop the file you want out of it, edit it as you wish, and drag&drop it back into the archive. The file should be automatically updated.

wake up, little suzie, wake up

6 years old; must be a new olympic record

Sheesh. Usually I notice that.

No record though. I caught one yesterday from 2004.

OK silver medal.