Implement BIG archive packer/unpacker

[xezon]

We need to have a go to command line tool for BIG archive packing and unpacking.

For Mod Builder, we currently use the https://github.com/TheSuperHackers/GeneralsBigCreator, which works fine for BIG archive creation. It can also read in the BIG Archive, but cannot extract it via command line.

But I would like to have this tool deprecated, and reimplemented closer to the game engine internals, so that the tool implementation is closely tied to what the game client understands.

[DevGeniusCode]

I am interested in trying to create the tool, I thought about the following arguments:

Usage: GenBIG [options] <path> <path> ...

Options:
  -a <path>  Add a file or directory to the archive
  -d <name>  Delete a file from the archive
  -l         List the contents of the archive
  -x         Extract the contents of the archive
  -o <path>  Output file
  -h         Display this help message

Examples:  Example 1: Add a file to the archive
  GenBIG -a file.txt -o archive.big

  Example 2: Add a directory to the archive
  GenBIG -a dir -o archive.big

  Example 3: Add multiple files and directories to the archive
  GenBIG -a file1.txt -a file2.txt -a dir1 -a dir2 -o archive.big

  Example 4: Extract the contents of the archive
  GenBIG -x -o archive.big

  Example 5: Extract the contents of the archive to a specific directory
  GenBIG -x -o your/path/archive.big

[xezon]

The reference tool currently has these options:

[] lists argument, {} the default value

-source            [PATH|FILE.big {}] -> Specifies path to create BIG from or BIG file to extract from
-sourcemaxdepth    [NUMBER {999}]     -> Max folder depth to use files from
-sourcewildcard    [STRING {*.*}]     -> Filter for file name or extension
-dest              [PATH|FILE.big {}] -> Specifies path to extract to or BIG file to create to
-prefixnames       [STRING {}]        -> Prefix file names in created BIG file
-simplifynames     [{}]               -> Simplify file names in BIG file
-ignoreduplicates  [{}]               -> Ignore file duplicates in BIG file
-append            [{}]               -> Append to existing BIG file instead of creating new one

[DevGeniusCode]

Would we like to replicate the style of the original EA source code, or do we have the freedom to recreate it without needing compatibility or other requirements, aside from using the BIG classes from the source code?

[xezon]

I do not know what you mean with style. It does not need to be vc6 compatible.