SFX specification

Question

Hi,

I'm trying to write a Cabinet extractor without using Cabinet SDK. I found the specification for the Cabinet but i couldn't find the specification for SFX format. Can anyone tell me where i can find the SFX specification?

Thanks,

Answer 1

Hi P.Akial,

Thank you for your question. The purpose of this forum is to support the Open Specifications documentation.
You can read about the Microsoft Open Specifications program here, http://www.microsoft.com/openspecifications/en/us/default.aspx

It looks like your question does not fall within that scope, however, SFX is a generic term, on Win32 a SFX program is simply a PE /COF file whose execution header expands the contents of contained “storage”. The “storage” can be any format, .RAR, .ZIP, .CAB, etc.

If you are interested in a specification for a PE/COF file, it can be found here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/gg463119.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc301805.aspx

The Microsoft defined “storage” is the .CAB format. The specifications for that is at:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb417343.aspx

If you think your question belongs to this forum, please be more specific, refer to which document and preferably to which section your question is related.

Regards,
Vilmos Foltenyi - MSFT