SQ(1)

NAME
sq, usq - squeeze (compress) files

SYNOPSYS
sq [ file1 ] [ file2 ] ... usq [ -count ] [ [ -fcount ] [ -pcount ] ] [ file1 ] [ file2 ] ...

DESCRIPTION
sq compresses one or more files, using a Huffman coding scheme. usq decompresses or displays one or more files squeezed by sq. The algorithm is identical to the one used by the popular public domain 'SQ' programs, originally authored by Richard Greenlaw.

sq will squeeze each file passed on the argument line. It will append `.SQ' to the original file name to create the output file name. If no file names are given, sq will prompt for file names from the standard input. A message is printed for each file, tracing each pass of the compression process.

usq will unsqueeze or display the files requested on the command line. If no files are requested, the file names are input from the standard input. If no option is given, the file is unsqueezed to its original name.

If the -count option is used, count lines are displayed from the start of the file, with all unprintable characters except CR, LF, TAB, and FF converted to periods. The output is sent to the standard output. If the -fcount option is used, the file is displayed with a formfeed appended to the preview of each file. If the -pcount option is used, the user is prompted for a keypress every 23 lines.

AUTHOR
Richard Greenlaw (original), Theo Pozzy (ported versions), Stefano Bodrato (more ports)

BUGS
The file naming convention is not a one-to-one mapping, so multiple files may be squeezed to the same output file name. Also, the output file name for usq cannot be overridden.

SEE ALSO
compact(1)