Listing Contents Guide

Purpose

Learn how to list and inspect archive contents without extracting files.

References

Concepts

Listing shows archive contents, file sizes, and metadata without extraction. Useful for inspecting archives before processing.

By Format

CAB files 

# Basic listing
cabriolet list archive.cab

# Verbose with details
cabriolet list --verbose archive.cab

# Get detailed info
cabriolet info archive.cab

Ruby API:

decompressor = Cabriolet::CAB::Decompressor.new
cabinet = decompressor.open('archive.cab')

cabinet.files.each do |file|
  puts "#{file.filename} (#{file.length} bytes)"
end

CHM files 

cabriolet chm-list help.chm
cabriolet chm-info help.chm

Ruby API:

decompressor = Cabriolet::CHM::Decompressor.new
chm = decompressor.open('help.chm')

chm.all_files.each do |file|
  section = file.section.id == 0 ? "Uncompressed" : "Compressed"
  puts "#{file.filename} (#{file.length} bytes, #{section})"
end

SZDD files 

cabriolet szdd-info file.tx_

Ruby API:

decompressor = Cabriolet::SZDD::Decompressor.new
header = decompressor.open('file.tx_')

puts "Format: #{header.format}"
puts "Size: #{header.length} bytes"
puts "Missing char: '#{header.missing_char}'"

KWAJ Files 

cabriolet kwaj-info setup.kwj

Ruby API:

decompressor = Cabriolet::KWAJ::Decompressor.new
header = decompressor.open('setup.kwj')

puts "Compression: #{header.compression_name}"
puts "Size: #{header.length || 'unknown'} bytes"
puts "Filename: #{header.filename}" if header.filename

HLP Files 

cabriolet hlp-info help.hlp

Ruby API:

decompressor = Cabriolet::HLP::Decompressor.new
header = decompressor.open('help.hlp')

header.files.each do |file|
  compression = file.compressed? ? "LZSS" : "none"
  puts "#{file.filename}: #{file.length} bytes (#{compression})"
end

LIT Files 

cabriolet lit-info book.lit

Ruby API:

decompressor = Cabriolet::LIT::Decompressor.new
header = decompressor.open('book.lit')

puts "Encrypted: #{header.encrypted?}"
puts "Files: #{header.files.size}"

header.files.each do |file|
  puts "  #{file.filename} (#{file.length} bytes)"
end

OAB Files 

cabriolet oab-info full.oab

Ruby API:

# Check if full or patch
io_system = Cabriolet::System::IOSystem.new
handle = io_system.open('file.oab', Cabriolet::Constants::MODE_READ)
header_data = io_system.read(handle, 16)

full_header = Cabriolet::Binary::OABStructures::FullHeader.read(header_data)
if full_header.valid?
  puts "Type: Full OAB"
  puts "Target size: #{full_header.target_size} bytes"
end

Common patterns

Batch Inspection 

for file in *.cab; do
  echo "=== $file ==="
  cabriolet info "$file"
  echo
done

Filter by Type 

decompressor = Cabriolet::CAB::Decompressor.new
cabinet = decompressor.open('archive.cab')

# Find all text files
text_files = cabinet.files.select { |f| f.filename.end_with?('.txt') }
puts "Text files: #{text_files.count}"

Calculate Total Size 

decompressor = Cabriolet::CAB::Decompressor.new
cabinet = decompressor.open('archive.cab')

total = cabinet.files.sum { |f| f.length }
puts "Total uncompressed: #{total} bytes"

Best practices

  1. Check before extracting - Verify contents first

  2. Use info commands - Get detailed metadata

  3. Inspect compression - Understand what algorithms are used

  4. Verify file counts - Ensure completeness

  5. Check for DRM - Especially for LIT files

See also