Directives begin with a period ("."), followed by a command name, and possibly by (blank delimited) arguments.
| Syntax | Description |
|---|---|
| ; | Comment (anywhere on a DDF line) The ; character is also a standard batch file delimiter so this makes it possible to create a self-contained batch file/directive script, lines prefixed with ; will be commented out only for makecab. |
| src [dest] [/inf=yes|no] [/unique=yes|no] [/x=y ...] | File Copy command |
| dest [/x=y ...] | File Reference command |
| .Define variable=[value] | Define variable to be equal to value (see .Option Explicit) |
| .Delete variable | Delete a variable definition |
| .Dump | Display all variable definitions |
| .InfBegin Disk | Cabinet | Folder | Copy lines to specified INF file section |
| .InfEnd | End an .InfBegin section |
| .InfWrite string | Write "string" to file section of INF file |
| .InfWriteCabinet string | Write "string" to cabinet section of INF file |
| .InfWriteDisk string | Write "string" to disk section of INF file |
| .New Disk | Cabinet | Folder | Start a new Disk, Cabinet, or Folder |
| .Option Explicit | Require .Define first time for user-defined variables |
| .Set variable=[value] | Set variable to be equal to value |
| %variable% | Substitute value of variable |
| <blank line> | Blank lines are ignored |
| Standard Variables | Description |
|---|---|
| Cabinet=ON | OFF | Turns Cabinet Mode on or off |
| CabinetFileCountThreshold=count | Threshold count of files per Cabinet |
| CabinetNamen=filename | Cabinet file name for cabinet number n |
| CabinetNameTemplate=template | Cabinet file name template; * is replaced by Cabinet number |
| ChecksumWidth=1 | 2 | ... | 8 | Max low-order hex digits displayed by INF csum parameter |
| ClusterSize=bytesPerCluster | Cluster size on diskette (default is 512 bytes) |
| Compress=ON | OFF | Turns compression on or off |
| CompressedFileExtensionChar=char | Last character of the file extension for compressed files |
| CompressionMemory=15 | 16 | ... | 21 | The window size for LZX compression |
| CompressionType=MSZIP | LZX | Compression engine |
| DestinationDir=path | Default path for destination files (stored in cabinet file) |
| DiskDirectoryn=directory | Output directory name for disk n |
| DiskDirectoryTemplate=template | Output directory name template; * is replaced by disk number |
| DiskLabeln=label | Printed disk label name for disk n |
| DiskLabelTemplate=template | Printed disk label name template; * is replaced by disk number |
| DoNotCopyFiles= ON | OFF | Controls whether files are actually copied (ACME ADMIN.INF) |
| FolderFileCountThreshold=count | Threshold count of files per Folder |
| FolderSizeThreshold=size | Threshold folder size for current folder |
| GenerateInf=ON | OFF | Control Unified vs. Relation INF generation mode. A File Copy command is distinguished from a File Reference command by the setting of the GenerateInf variable. |
| InfXxx=string | Set default value for INF Parameter Xxx |
| InfCabinetHeader[n]=string | INF cabinet section header text |
| InfCabinetLineFormat[n]=format string | INF cabinet section detail line format |
| InfCommentString=string | INF comment string |
| InfDateFormat=yyyy-mm-dd | mm/dd/yy | INF date format |
| InfDiskHeader[n]=string | INF disk section header text |
| InfDiskLineFormat[n]=format string | INF disk section detail line format |
| InfFileHeader[n]=string | INF file section header text |
| InfFileLineFormat[n]=format string | INF file section detail line format |
| InfFileName=filename | Name of INF file |
| InfFooter[n]=string | INF footer text |
| InfHeader[n]=string | INF header text |
| InfSectionOrder=[D | C | F]* | INF section order (disk, cabinet, file) |
| MaxCabinetSize=size | Maximum cabinet file size for current cabinet |
| MaxDiskFileCount=count | Maximum count of files per Disk |
| MaxDiskSize[n]=size | Maximum disk size |
| MaxErrors=count | Maximum errors allowed before pass 1 terminates |
| ReservePerCabinetSize=size | Base amount of space to reserve for FCRESERVE data |
| ReservePerDataBlockSize=size | Amount of space to reserve in each data block |
| ReservePerFolderSize=size | Amount of additional space in FCRESERVE for each folder |
| RptFileName=filename | Name of RPT file |
| SourceDir=path | Default path for source files |
| UniqueFiles=ON | OFF | Control whether duplicate destination file names are allowed |
Store the directives in a .ddf (ascii text) file and call with MAKECAB /F
Example
Remove all the default limits on file sizes etc, (this will prevent any "File X does not exist" errors):
.Set CabinetFileCountThreshold=0
.Set FolderFileCountThreshold=0
.Set FolderSizeThreshold=0
.Set MaxCabinetSize=0
.Set MaxDiskFileCount=0
.Set MaxDiskSize=0
If .Option Explicit is specified, then you must first use .Define to define any user-defined variables before you can use .Set to modify them.
For standard MakeCAB variables, .Define is not permitted, and only .Set can be used.
If .Option Explicit is not specified, then .Define is equivalent to .Set.
Parameter Disk Cab File Description
attr Yes File attributes (A=archive, R=read-only, H=hidden, S=system)
cab# Yes Yes Cabinet number (0 means not in cabinet, 1 or higher is cabinet number)
cabfile Yes Cabinet file name
csum Yes Checksum
date Yes File date (mm/dd/yy or yyyy-mm-dd, depending upon InfDateFormat)
disk# Yes Yes Yes Disk number (1-based)
file Yes Destination file name in layout (in cabinet or on a disk)
file# Yes Destination file number in layout (first file is 1, second file is 2, ...);
the order of File Copy Commands controls the file number, so in relational
INF mode the order of File Reference Commands has no affect on the file number.
label Yes Disk user-readable label (value comes from DiskLabeln, if defined, and
otherwise is constructed from DiskLabelTemplate).
lang Yes Language (i.e., VER.DLL info) in base 10, blank separated if multiple values
size Yes File size (only affects value written to INF file)
time Yes File time (hh:mm:ss[a|p])
ver Yes Binary File version (n.n.n.n base 10 format)
vers Yes String File version -- can be different from ver!
attr Yes File attributes (A=archive, R=read-only, H=hidden, S=system)
“One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above little things” - John Burroughs
Related:
MAKECAB - Create .CAB files.
MakeCab users guide - Extensive makecab documentation from Microsoft.