Advanced usage

Purpose

This section covers advanced topics for power users and developers who need to go beyond basic extraction and compression.

Topics Covered

Multi-Part Cabinets

Working with cabinet files split across multiple parts:

  • Extracting multi-part archives

  • Creating split archives

  • Handling disk spanning scenarios

  • Managing continuation cabinets

Embedded Cabinets

Finding and extracting cabinets embedded in other files:

  • Searching for embedded archives

  • Extracting from executables

  • Handling multiple embedded cabinets

  • Forensic analysis techniques

Custom I/O Handlers

Implementing custom storage backends:

  • Understanding the I/O abstraction layer

  • Creating custom handle types

  • Network and cloud storage

  • Database and encrypted file support

Error Handling

Robust error recovery and handling:

  • Error class hierarchy

  • Common errors and solutions

  • Retry and recovery patterns

  • Production-ready error handling

Salvage Mode

Recovering data from corrupted archives:

  • When and how to use salvage mode

  • Partial file recovery

  • Block-level recovery techniques

  • Quality assessment of recovered data

Performance Tuning

Optimizing compression and extraction:

  • Buffer size configuration

  • Algorithm selection strategies

  • Parallel processing

  • Benchmarking and profiling

Memory Operations

In-memory archive processing:

  • Creating and extracting without disk I/O

  • Web application integration

  • Memory-efficient patterns

  • Archive transformation techniques

Prerequisites

These guides assume you’re familiar with:

Getting help

If you encounter issues with advanced features:

  1. Check the Error Handling guide

  2. Review relevant API documentation

  3. Try salvage mode for corrupted archives

  4. Consult the Troubleshooting guide

Related sections

Table of contents