• The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
Menu
  • The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Arpeggio Unveils Free IBM i ZIP Utility

    March 20, 2012 Alex Woodie

    The folks at Arpeggio Software unveiled a free utility last month that enables the zipping and unzipping of files on the IBM i server. ARP-ZIP, as the software is called, supports a variety of common zip file formats, and also gives users the capability to encrypt files. It does this while running natively on the IBM i server and providing a 5250 interface.

    Arpeggio’s new ARP-ZIP supports the capability to compress or archive IBM i files using many commonly used zip file formats, including ZIP, TAR, JAR, GZIP, and BZIP2. It also supports the capability to encrypt and decrypt compressed files, either by using the ZIP format’s built-in support for basic password-based encryption, or by using more advanced (and secure) 128-, 192-, or 256-bit AES algorithms.

    These are all features that can be found in many open source ZIP utilities, which an intrepid programmer could configure to use with IBM i data. There are also the new ZIP APIs that IBM made available for IBM i 7.1 that could be used to compress IBM i data.

    But both of these options require a programmer to get her hands dirty. What really sets ARP-ZIP apart is its close affinity and native support for the IBM i OS, says Arpeggio CEO Richard Brown.

    “It saves time because APIs or open source alternatives require users to write interfaces on their own and link it to APIs from those alternatives,” Brown says via email. “Not to mention, when you start trying to support various archive types using free alternatives, you end up having to call different APIs based on the format you are dealing with.”

    There are no APIs to mess with in ARP-ZIP, just Control Language commands. “With ARP-ZIP, you are using CL commands, and you are only working with the IBM i operating system, so there is virtually no learning curve,” Brown continues. Also, there is no requirement to understand and use the PASE environment, which is required by the new IBM APIs and many open source alternatives, he says.

    Arpeggio is a new IBM i software vendor that was founded last July by Brown and CTO Tim McCarthy, the creators of the old ZMOD Exchange file transfer tool and the founders of TrailBlazer Systems (which was acquired by nuBridges and is now part of Liaison Technologies). The Atlanta, Georgia, company’s first product, SIFT-IT, provides security log monitoring for the IBM i.

    Arpeggio has provided ARP-ZIP to clients since it started business last year, Brown says. While it’s just a “simple tool,” Brown and McCarthy realized that it could prove quite useful to IBM i shops, so they decided to distribute the software free of charge. Customers that require technical support are encouraged to purchase a maintenance agreement from Arpeggio.

    Next up from Arpeggio: an SSH-based FTP (sFTP) tool for the IBM i OS.

    RELATED STORY

    Arpeggio Introduces IBM i Security Monitoring Solutions



                         Post this story to del.icio.us
                   Post this story to Digg
        Post this story to Slashdot

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Tags:

    Sponsored by
    VISUAL LANSA 16 WEBINAR

    Trying to balance stability and agility in your IBM i environment?

    Join this webinar and explore Visual LANSA 16 – our enhanced professional low-code platform designed to help organizations running on IBM i evolve seamlessly for what’s next.

    🎙️VISUAL LANSA 16 WEBINAR

    Break Monolithic IBM i Applications and Unlock New Value

    Explore modernization without rewriting. Decouple monolithic applications and extend their value through integration with modern services, web frameworks, and cloud technologies.

    🗓️ July 10, 2025

    ⏰ 9 AM – 10 AM CDT (4 PM to 5 PM CEST)

    See the webinar schedule in your time zone

    Register to join the webinar now

    What to Expect

    • Get to know Visual LANSA 16, its core features, latest enhancements, and use cases
    • Understand how you can transition to a MACH-aligned architecture to enable faster innovation
    • Discover native REST APIs, WebView2 support, cloud-ready Azure licensing, and more to help transform and scale your IBM i applications

    Read more about V16 here.

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Sponsored Links

    Northeast User Groups Conference:  22nd Annual Conference, April 2 - 4, Framingham, MA
    COMMON:  Join us at the 2012 Conference & Expo, May 6 - 9 in Anaheim, CA
    Linoma Software:  Stop doing FTP the hard way. Take a brief video tour of the GoAnywhere Suite

    IT Jungle Store Top Book Picks

    BACK IN STOCK: Easy Steps to Internet Programming for System i: List Price, $49.95

    The iSeries Express Web Implementer's Guide: List Price, $49.95
    The iSeries Pocket Database Guide: List Price, $59
    The iSeries Pocket SQL Guide: List Price, $59
    The iSeries Pocket WebFacing Primer: List Price, $39
    Migrating to WebSphere Express for iSeries: List Price, $49
    Getting Started with WebSphere Express for iSeries: List Price, $49
    The All-Everything Operating System: List Price, $35
    The Best Joomla! Tutorial Ever!: List Price, $19.95

    Disk Array Sales Keep Expanding Despite Drive Shortages Sharing In V6

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Volume 12, Number 6 -- March 20, 2012
THIS ISSUE SPONSORED BY:

looksoftware
Maxava
Townsend Security
Micro Focus
IntelliChief

Table of Contents

  • PSGi Unveils Customer Support Lifeline for Aged IBM i ERP Systems
  • Fresche Legacy Debuts with Newly Acquired Code Converter for IBM i
  • Arpeggio Unveils Free IBM i ZIP Utility
  • ICS Bolsters FormSprint Document Management Tool with New Features
  • Bytware Updates IBM i Message Management Tools
  • Infor Hooks ERP Data to Salesforce.com
  • Rimini Street Now Offering JD Edwards CNC Services
  • IBM ‘Boot Camps’ Turn Social Media Newbies into Hardened Veterans
  • Recall Lets Customers Track the Movement of Their Tapes
  • ASG Updates Job Scheduler

Content archive

  • The Four Hundred
  • Four Hundred Stuff
  • Four Hundred Guru

Recent Posts

  • Liam Allan Shares What’s Coming Next With Code For IBM i
  • From Stable To Scalable: Visual LANSA 16 Powers IBM i Growth – Launching July 8
  • VS Code Will Be The Heart Of The Modern IBM i Platform
  • The AS/400: A 37-Year-Old Dog That Loves To Learn New Tricks
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Number 25
  • Meet The Next Gen Of IBMers Helping To Build IBM i
  • Looks Like IBM Is Building A Linux-Like PASE For IBM i After All
  • Will Independent IBM i Clouds Survive PowerVS?
  • Now, IBM Is Jacking Up Hardware Maintenance Prices
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Number 24

Subscribe

To get news from IT Jungle sent to your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter.

Pages

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Contributors
  • Four Hundred Monitor
  • IBM i PTF Guide
  • Media Kit
  • Subscribe

Search

Copyright © 2025 IT Jungle