CFOG's PIP, June 1986, Volume 4 No. 8, Whole No. 44, page 9

Using Nulu to Extract Files From Libraries

by Benjamin H. Cohen

We get this question all the time. How do I get the files out of a LBR file? Here's the short simple answer, again.

Whenever you have a file whose name ends with the extension "LBR" you have a "library" file. It was created to save space and to group together a bunch of files that are related in one way or another. You need a "library utility" to get the "member files" out of the LBR. If you're using NULU, be sure you have verson 1.1 at least, and preferably version 1.51.

Nulu has a "filesweep" mode, similar to Newsweep, so if you're comfortable with Newsweep, you can invoke that from the command line at the A> prompt by entering "Nulu -f<cr>". If you're using Nulu 1.51, you'll get the menu, similar to the Newsweep menu, as an opening display. For earlier versions, hit the "?" for the menu. To use it, just remember that you have to "open" a library to get to the list of files. Run it like Newsweep.

If you just want to get all the files out of a new LBR file that you got from our disk library, here's the simple step-by-step way:

Put NULU and the LBR files you want to get files from an a disk in drive B. Put an empty disk in drive A. I say an empty disk, but you really only need enough room to put about 10% more than the size of the LBR files that you're going to be extracting from. But disks are so cheap today, take an empty one and clean it up later. Log on drive A. At the A> prompt enter:

b:nulu -o b:<filename> -c *.* -x<cr>

This extracts all of the files from <filename.lbr> to drive A. Note you will not enter the <> brackets nor the .LBR extension.

If there's more than one LBR file on the disk in drive B, you can string the commands along. If you have FILE1.LBR, FILE2.LBR, etc.:

b:nulu -o b:file1 -e *.*
-o b:file2 -e *.*
-o b:file3 -e *.*
-o b:file4 -e *.* -x<cr>

Of course you will put all this on one line -- PIP's column format prevents me from doing it here, but you can put up to 128 characters on the line.

Explanation:

1. Nulu extracts to the logged disk.
   
   
2. -o says "open the LBR file whose name follows".
   
   
3. -e says "extract the files in the open LBR that match the following ambiguous or unambiguous file specification".
   
   
4. -x says "close the open LBR file and exit from Nulu".
   
   
5. Leave one space after the "operator", that is, the -o or -e, and before the filename or file specification.
   
   
6. You don't have to put all the commands on the command line, you can simply invoke Nulu and then enter the commands one at a time at Nulu's prompt.