DDF File Format and Command Reference

This is a basic command format for DDF files used with the Microsoft MakeCAB.exe compression utility.


;
Comment (anywhere on a DDF line)

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

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

CompressionType=MSZIP
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

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 desintation file names are allowed


Details of selected commands and variables


.Define variable=[value]

Define variable to be equal to value.

To use variable, surround it with percent signs (%) -- %variable%.

Using an undefined variable is an error, and will cause MakeCAB to stop before pass 2.

value may include references to other variables.

Leading and trailing blanks in value are discarded.

Blanks may be enclose in quote (“) or apostrophe (‘) marks.

Explicit percent signs (%), quotes (“), or apostrophes (‘) must be specified twice.

NOTE: 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 may be used on. If .Option Explicit is not specified, then .Define is equivalent to .Set.


.Set variable=value

Set variable to be equal to value.

To use variable, surround it with percent signs (%) -- %variable%.

Using an undefined variable is an error, and will cause MakeCAB to stop before pass 2.

value may include references to other variables.

value may be empty, in which case variable is set to the empty string.

Leading and trailing blanks in value are discarded.

Blanks may be enclose in quote (“) or apostrophe (‘) marks.

Explicit percent signs (%), quotes (“), or apostrophes (‘) must be specified twice.

NOTE: 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 may be used on.


DestinationDir=path

Path prefix to store in cabinet file for each file in the cabinet.

Default: .Set DestinationDir= ; Default is no path prefix

path is concatenated with a path separator (“\”) and the target file name on File Copy Commands to produce the file name that is stored in cabinet file. EXTRACT.EXE will use this file name as the default name when the file is extracted.


SourceDir=path

The default path used to locate source files specified in File Copy Commands.

Default: .Set SourceDir= ; Default is to look in the current directory

path is concatenated with a path separator (“\”) and the source file name on the File Copy Command to produce the file name used to find the source file.

If path is empty, then the source file name specified on the File Copy Command is not modified.


UniqueFiles=ON | OFF

Controls whether destination file names in a layout must be unique..

Default: .Set UniqueFiles="ON" ; File names must be unique

If UniqueFiles is ON, MakeCAB checks that all destination file names (names stored on disks or in cabinets) are unique, and generates an error (during pass 1) if they are not. ON is the default, since using the same filename twice usually means that the same file was accidentaly included twice, and this would be a waste of disk space.

If UniqueFiles is OFF, MakeCAB permits duplicate destination file names.

The /UNIQUE parameter may be specified on individual File Copy commands to override the value of UniqueFiles.


Sample DDF File