InstallShield CAB/HDR Inventory (data1, _sys1, _user1)

Status: ? Validated by decompilation and file manifest

This document inventories the InstallShield CAB/HDR file pairs from the v3.60 installer media.

Note

Technical Inventory - Validated

This is a best-effort, static parse of InstallShield ISc( CAB/HDR pairs. The .hdr contains directory metadata (file names, sizes, offsets), while the .cab contains compressed file data blocks.

Validation: File list confirmed against decompiled installer and README.txt.
For complete file details, see: Installer File Dependencies - Appendix D

Why this matters for ConstructiVision

  • Confirms this installer media uses InstallShield CAB (magic ISc(), not Microsoft MSCF CABs.

  • Shows which files are packaged inside the installer archives vs shipped openly on the media.

  • Note: The v3.60 LISP/DCL source payload is shipped as plain files on the disc, not packed into data1.cab.

Related Documentation:

Archive pairs (summary)

Pair

Files

CAB size

HDR strings len

HDR files-dir len

CAB unk2

data1.hdr / data1.cab

43

0.00 MB

0.00 KB

3132

42

_sys1.hdr / _sys1.cab

4

0.17 KB

0.00 KB

363

4

_user1.hdr / _user1.cab

2

0.01 KB

0.00 KB

336

4

Pair details

data1.hdr + data1.cab

CAB header (parsed fields):

Field

Value

unk1

16798209

data_offset1

512

data_offset2

512

unk2

42

HDR header (parsed fields):

Field

Value

unk1

16798209

strings_offset

512

strings_length

3302

files_dir_offset

3814

files_dir_length

3132

hdr_length_field

6947

File types (by extension):

Ext

Count

.dwg

19

.txt

7

.scr

4

.arx

3

.exe

1

.hlp

1

.lsp

1

.mnc

1

.mnr

1

.mns

1

.mnu

1

.mpr

1

.rtf

1

.vlx

1

Files (name + sizes from HDR):

Name

Decompressed bytes

Compressed bytes

CAB data offset

wincss.exe

65536

31566

512

csv.mnc

1143

507

32078

csv.mnr

6

7

32585

csv.mns

1158

491

32592

csv.mnu

1039

445

33083

csvmenu.lsp

2688

1238

33528

pcms.arx

65536

31371

34766

Csv.arx

1667180

617253

66137

pcms2.arx

28672

5934

683390

Csv.VLX

1103600

324524

689324

wclsav.txt

423

167

1013848

CSS001.dwg

135149

37058

1014015

CSS002.dwg

167898

46224

1051073

CSS003.dwg

160195

41571

1097297

CSS004.dwg

130626

34099

1138868

CSS005.dwg

112214

31507

1172967

CSS006.dwg

121151

34461

1204474

CSS007.dwg

132909

38463

1238935

CSS008.dwg

124220

35398

1277398

CSS009.dwg

139703

39981

1312796

CSS010.dwg

109667

30497

1352777

CSS011.dwg

130906

37768

1383274

CSS012.dwg

114136

32583

1421042

CSS013.dwg

157786

42685

1453625

CSS014.dwg

143530

39758

1496310

CSS015.dwg

142646

39783

1536068

CSS016.dwg

157308

42666

1575851

CSS017.dwg

114106

32523

1618517

CSSsite.dwg

249377

73068

1651040

CSSsiteclist.txt

1172

185

1724108

CSSsitelayout.dwg

152026

40446

1724293

CSSsitetlist.txt

1397

287

1764739

Matlist.txt

1351

650

1765026

mprop.mpr

1093

418

1765676

mprop.scr

108

102

1766094

panel.scr

111

100

1766196

pnllist.txt

1305

439

1766296

site.scr

194

152

1766735

wcl.txt

343

139

1766887

btch.scr

174

146

1767026

manual.rtf

7806012

588890

1767172

Csv.Hlp

326531

284932

2356062

Readme.txt

8710

3306

2640994

_sys1.hdr + _sys1.cab

CAB header (parsed fields):

Field

Value

unk1

16798209

data_offset1

512

data_offset2

512

unk2

4

HDR header (parsed fields):

Field

Value

unk1

16798209

strings_offset

512

strings_length

3123

files_dir_offset

3635

files_dir_length

363

hdr_length_field

3999

File types (by extension):

Ext

Count

.dll

2

.exe

1

.ini

1

Files (name + sizes from HDR):

Name

Decompressed bytes

Compressed bytes

CAB data offset

Corecomp.ini

27328

5621

512

Ctl3d32.dll

27136

13300

6133

ISUninst.exe

306688

125738

19433

_isres.dll

129536

30141

145171

_user1.hdr + _user1.cab

CAB header (parsed fields):

Field

Value

unk1

16798209

data_offset1

512

data_offset2

512

unk2

4

HDR header (parsed fields):

Field

Value

unk1

16798209

strings_offset

512

strings_length

3538

files_dir_offset

4050

files_dir_length

336

hdr_length_field

4387

File types (by extension):

Ext

Count

.shl

1

.txt

1

Files (name + sizes from HDR):

Name

Decompressed bytes

Compressed bytes

CAB data offset

license.txt

10963

4151

512

value.shl

2015

909

4663

Notes / references (format, not behavior)

  • InstallShield CABs are commonly identified by the ISc( magic bytes; they are distinct from Microsoft MSCF CABs. (General background: Wikipedia CAB overview.)

  • A community reverse-engineered rough structure suggests .hdr contains the directory and .cab contains compressed blocks; InstallShield often uses a zlib-like variant per-block. (ZenHAX forum post.)

Note

A companion layout.bin file on the media lists the CAB/HDR pairs and other required installer files; see InstallShield stub + support files on the ConstructiVision media.