How does WinXP "Send to Compressed (zipped) Folder" decide what to include in a zip file?

Question

I won’t be too surprised if they kill me for the question “not programming,” but maybe someone knows ...

I pinned the contents of my isolated subversion sandbox using WinXP, the built-in Send to Compressed (ZIP folder) function, and was surprised to find that the generated .zip file did not contain .svn directories and their contents.

I always believed that all files are included, and I can not determine which property / parameter / attribute controls the inclusion or otherwise. Can anyone help?

Thanks Tom

EDIT:

So, is there no smart way to deal with this problem? The real problem (show hidden files set to true..svn folders are not compressed, because windows do not consider them to be valid folders) still does not respond.

Thanks...

Answer 1

Send to zipped The folder does not move to folders without names before the dot (for example, ".svn"). If you had other folders that start with periods, they will also not be included. Files without names are not excluded. A hidden attribute does not enter the game.

There may be a mistake, maybe by design. Remember that Windows Explorer does not allow you to create folders starting with a period, although the underlying system can handle them.

Answer 2

It may not include files that you usually do not see. Or the files may be there, but you may not see them when you reopen the ZIP file in Explorer, because they are hidden. You can go to Tools> Folder Options, go to the View tab and select the switch to view hidden files and folders.

Answer 3

The “Send → Compressed (zipper) folder” creates a zip file. What he invests is based on your settings. It does not include hidden files with default settings. If you have the settings for viewing the explorer installed in Kibbee mentioned in “Show hidden files and folders”, then “Send to → Compressed (ZIP folder)” will place the hidden files in a zip file.

I would call an error in XP where hidden folders are not included when recursing the folder tree. You can get them if they are in the folder in which you are located. Recursion works in Vista.

Files starting with "." They have no special features for windows, except that Windows Explorer will not allow you to create it. This is a valid file name.

I would recommend using something like 7-Zip if your folders contain hidden / system files / folders.

Answer 4

The Send to Compressed Folder implementation on Windows 7 behaves differently: the zip file contains files / folders starting with a period (for example, .SVN).

Answer 5

It seems that the shell extension of the compressed folder ignores directories (but not files) whose names begin with a dot, unless explicitly specified as a parameter (that is, selected for the "Send" command).

It’s hard to know what else it excludes, since I can’t even find out what the first sendto element does, first of all, without reference to third-party documentation.

Edit:

OK, the sendto shortcut "Send to compressed folder" has the extension .ZFSendToTarget, which is processed by zipfldr.dll, which does all the work.

@Kibbee:
Mine includes hidden folders during zipping, although I have "show hidden files".

Answer 6

Finally, I found that there is no direct path to the .svn ZIP folders, and so I switched to winRAR. Alternatively you can also use winZip.

Answer 7

A compressed folder does not mean that it will be a .ZIP file, only the contents of the folder will be compressed, and you will look like a regular folder