Group File Studio -
Release 1.1
Help Contents
Authored by: Gary and Jonah Bishop
Copyright © 1999. All Rights Reserved.
Introduction
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Group File Studio makes it easy to extract files or filetypes
from any existing Duke Nukem 3D or Shadow Warrior group file (other games using the group
file format are also supported). Below is a screenshot of the Group File Studio window.
Click on any part of the screenshot to get a description of what that item does.

Main Window
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The main window of Group File Studio shows the user some
information about the current group file. The items shown in the main window are as
follows:
Group File Contents - Tree View
The contents of the current group file are shown in the tree
view on the left hand side of the window. This view shows the different filetypes that
exist in the group file, and the individual files that exist under each filetype.
Selected Item Information
This section of the window shows how many files are selected
and the total size of the selected files. Multiple files are only selected by clicking on
the filetype heading (i.e. - Map Files). The total size is shown in bytes.
Extraction Progress
This section of the screen shows the progress of extracting
either a file or a filetype. This is useful when extracting a large filetype or file (such
as the .art files).
Menu Commands
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File Menu
- New - This release does not yet include
support for creating new group files, but support for this will appear in a future
version.
- Open - Open a group file for viewing and file
extraction.
- Exit - Exits Group File Studio
View Menu
- Toolbar - Toggles whether the toolbar is
shown or not.
- Status Bar - Toggles whether the status bar
is shown or not.
Tools Menu
- Extract Selected File - When a single file is
selected, this command will extract the selected file from the group file.
- Extract Selected Filetype - When a filetype
heading is selected, this command will extract all the files under the selected filetype
(for example: all map files (*.map)).
- File Viewing Options - Opens the dialog box
for setting default file viewer programs and other options. This feature is not yet
available in this release.
- Options - Opens the dialog box for setting
general program options. Click here to see the options
available.
Help Menu
- Contents - Opens up this help file in the
default internet browser.
- Program Errors List - Opens the program error
listing help file.
- Report a Bug - Opens the default e-mail
client to send mail reporting a program bug found.
- Submit a Suggestion - Opens the default
e-mail client to send mail submitting an idea or suggestion.
- About This Program - Shows a dialog box with
some information on Group File Studio.
The Toolbar
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The toolbar (like in most programs) is a quick way to do the
exact same thing that you can do in the pulldown menus. The items are (in order from left
to right):
- New - This release does not yet include
support for creating new group files, but support for this will appear in future versions.
- Open - Open a group file for viewing and file
extraction.
- Extract Selected File - When a single file is
selected, this command will extract the selected file from the group file.
- Extract Selected Filetype - When a filetype
heading is selected, this command will extract all the files under the selected filetype
(for example: all map files (*.map)).
- Report a Bug - Opens the default e-mail
client to send mail reporting a program bug found.
- Submit a Suggestion - Opens the default
e-mail client to send mail submitting an idea or suggestion.
- Program Errors List - Opens the program error
listing help file.
- About This Program - Shows a dialog box with
some information on Group File Studio.
Program Options
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General Options - The following
options are applied upon selecting the OK button of the general options dialog box.
- Open last group file on startup - Does
exactly what it says. When checked, the last open group file is opened for editing at
program startup.
- Start in default directory - When checked,
starts all extract file dialog boxes in the default directory specified. If this option is
not checked, the extract file dialogs will start at the desktop (highest) level.
- Show success dialog after each file extraction
- This option will show a dialog after each file extraction, showing the number of files
extracted, the total size extracted, and the directory to which the files were extracted.
Miscellaneous Settings - The
following settings are remembered by the program, but are not set in a dialog box.
- Window Size - The window size of this program
is remembered, so you only have to set the window size once.
Contact Information
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If you have a comment, question, suggestion, or a bug to
report, please send e-mail to:
Also, visit the home for Group File Studio at Map FAQ
Central.
Known Bugs
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The following is a list of bugs that are known about in this
release of Group File Studio. They will (or should hopefully) appear fixed in the next
release.
- Pressing the cancel button in the options dialog writes the
values anyway (this is a really stupid bug - it will definitely be fixed
in 1.2).
- Accelerator keys for help and other commands removed - They
will be placed back in 1.2.
- Open dialog doesn't begin in the default directory (I'm still
trying to figure out how I should go about this)
Revision
History
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Version 1.0
- First release of the program. Everything is new.
Version 1.1
- Added the extraction success dialog.
- Added an option for turning the above dialog off.
- Program now reads into a 64K buffer (it was 16K) - Extraction
should be somewhat faster now
- Slightly updated the look and feel of the program (now size
and number of files shown in the same boxes, whether a filetype or file is selected).
- Updated the about box significantly.
Acknowledgements
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I would like to thank the following people for their help and
support:
- Gary Bishop - My dad, co-author of the
program (I'm learning to program...), and all around cool dude.
- Ken Silverman - For sending me the specs on
the group file format and other items of interest.
- 3D Portal - For being the cool site and host
that they are.
- 3D Realms - For creating Duke Nukem 3D and
Shadow Warrior in the first place.