 
|
|
CAB archive format |
|
Cabinet(CAB) archive is Microsoft file format. CAB files are compressed packages containing a number of related files. The format of a cabinet file is optimized for maximum compression. Cabinet files support a number of compression formats, including MSZIP, LZX, or uncompressed. CAB is the Microsoft Windows native compressed archive format. It supports compression and digital signing, and is used in a variety of Microsoft installation engines: Setup API, Device Installer, AdvPack (for the installation of ActiveX components from Internet Explorer) and Windows Installer. It was originally called Diamond. Its .CAB file extension and overall file format name comes from word cabinet, internally used by Microsoft tools dealing with CAB files to reference such files. The CAB file format allows for three data compression methods: DEFLATE, invented by Phil Katz, the author of the ZIP file format. Quantum, licensed from David Stafford, the author of the Quantum archiver. LZX, invented by Jonathan Forbes and Tomi Poutanen, given to Microsoft when Jonathan joined the company. Usually CAB file contains one or more files and also could also reserve some empty space in file header for some specific uses like placing digital signatures or arbitrary data. CAB files are also often attached to self-extracting programs where executable program extracts attached CAB file. Also CAB files sometimes embedded into other files, for example MSI files usually contain one or more CAB files embedded. You can easily recognize Microsoft CAB files since all CAB files have specific marker at begin of file, identifying file format. For Microsoft CAB files this marker is a four-letter tag MSCF at start of CAB file. The CAB file extension is also used in many installers (InstallShield and others), although it is not the same file format. InstallShield's files are usually using zlib for compression (see Deflate) but their headers are not same as in MS CAB files so they are incompatible. InstallShield's format cannot be manipulated or edited with most, or possibly any, of the tools that can edit the above file formats. However there are utilities, such as Unshield, that can extract this specific proprietary format. WinTar can read/extract and write/create CAB format archive files. |
Related file formats
|
| Copyright © 2007 Miscosoftware, Inc. All rights reserved. |