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Troy Lowry edited this page May 12, 2019 · 6 revisions

nSuite

This library allows users to package, compress, and diff buffers & directories. The code is written in C++17, and makes heavy use of std::filesystem.

Example programs are provided which implement the packing, unpacking, diffing, and patching operations defined in this library.

Library

All classes and methods provided by this library are found within the NST namespace. The most important classes are:

  • NST::Buffer
    • A container class representing a contiguous, expandable, and manipulatable block of memory.
    • Provides methods for compression/decompression and diffing/patching
  • NST::Directory
    • A virtual folder, holding data sourced from disk or from our compressed format
    • Provides methods for packing/unpacking, delta/update

nSuite Wizard

The nSuite wizard is a stand-alone example program that can generate installers & packagers, as well as diff directories/packages.

Packaging

The nSuite wizard can package directories in 3 ways (ordered by increasing complexity):

  • A .npack file

    • Can be unpacked using the nSuite wizard

  • A lightweight portable package/installer

    • Extracts to a folder in the directory it runs from
    • Runs in a terminal, no user input
    • Doesn't modify registry - no uninstaller
    • .npack file embedded within

  • A fully-fledged installer with a GUI (Windows)

    • Customizable by writing attributes into a manifest file
    • Generates an uninstaller (adds it to the registry)
    • .npack file embedded within

Diffing

The nSuite Wizard can also generate diff files, which can either be applied to another directory using the wizard, or by using the stand-alone example updater tool.
All input directories are parsed into NST::Directory objects, so the "old" and/or "new" directories can be actual folders on disk, .npack files, or programs with packages embedded in them (e.g. installers made by nSuite)

Dependencies/Requirements/Acknowledgements

  • C++17
  • 64-bit
  • Windows 7/8/10
  • Uses CMake
  • Documentation built using Doxygen (optional)
  • Requires the LZ4 - Compression Library to build, but does not come bundled with it
  • Using BSD-3-Clause license
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