POP-CORN — a measured directory

A byte-level documentation of one installed MS-DOS game directory: nine files, 169,530 bytes, LACRAL software, France, © 1988, public domain by its own statement. No product bytes are in this repository — hashes, formats, figures and the commands that reproduce them are.

The short sheet

object	POP-CORN, a Breakout game, LACRAL software, MS-DOS, CGA
year	1988, stated on the manual's own first line
authors	LACAZE Christophe (code) and RAYNAL Frédérick (graphics), named on the manual's first page and again inside the program
medium	none. A directory on a hard disc, for the third object running — and the first with no archive either
files	9, 169,530 bytes, 9 distinct sha1
denominator	one, D1 = 169,530. No container, so no second — decided explicitly, chapter 01
coverage	D1 13.0927 %, the lowest in the series, and exactly the ceiling: 86.9073 % of the object is executable and the rule counts an executable as unidentified
third parties	Microsoft EXEPACK, inside popcorn.exe — 376 bytes of stub, error string and relocation table
the packing question	four indicators said packed, eight signature searches said no. The searches looked for the packer's name, which appears in no packed file. RB at entry − 2 and Packed file is corrupt are what is actually there
unpacked	103,336 → 133,296 bytes, residue +0 at both ends of the decompression
the hidden message	2,418 bytes, CP437 XORed with 0xAA, inside the packed image. Names both authors, says who did what, and says the graphics were drawn with NEO on an Atari ST
.PPC	LACRAL + 49 × 176, residue 0 on 2 of 2. An 8-byte header and a 12 × 14 grid; three header fields agree with the grid on 98 of 98 blocks
levels	49 in the shipped file, 50 inside the program — and the hidden message says fifty
.HSC	a high-score table, 10 × 18 ASCII. The same extension is AdLib tracker music elsewhere in this collection
sound	one PC-speaker engine, seven tables, 131 bytes and 59 notes. A game named after a pop tune that never plays it
provenance	one mtime on nine files, 1996-12-24 23:32:00 — exactly one hour after the thirty-two files of pc-linksthechallengeofgolf-doc. Two readings, chapter 10
personal data	the names yes, the contact details no. The criterion gained a clause this session — chapter 09
predictions	60 clauses written first; inherited 9.775 of 13, open 24.50 of 47
tools	436 → 443; seven written, account.py rewritten

The clause this repository adds to the criterion

The pipeline's fifty-three-session rule — a name put by its owner inside a product they made and sold to the public is published — had never been asked about a street address belonging to two named private individuals. The clause it was missing, in full, with its corollaries and the case that generated it, is docs/09:

Identity and reach are not the same datum. A datum that identifies a person is admitted by the criterion. A datum by which a stranger could arrive at a person is not, however plainly the product printed it and however long ago. Contact details are reported as a shape — kind, count and location — and never as their digits.

Because "published" is not one act. Publication inside a product is bounded by that product's distribution; the same string in a public repository in 2026 is indexed, permanent and joined by search to every other occurrence of the same name. Republishing is not repeating.

The chapters

00	predictions — 60 clauses, written before anything was opened
01	the object — nine files, one denominator, and 13.0927 % said without apology
02	the technical sheet — every figure with the command that remakes it
03	the manual — a construction set, a gift, and three files that are not on the list
04	the program — four indicators, eight failed searches, and a two-byte signature
05	the message — 2,418 bytes that no strings pass could ever have found
06	the levels — a grid that is twelve wide, and the fiftieth board
07	the user state — 180 bytes, three letters, and a number passed in an interrupt vector
08	the sound — one engine, 131 bytes, and the tune that is not there
09	the names — the clause the criterion was missing, and the door it stops at
10	against the collection — zero over seven roots, one hour, and a checklist that is now due
11	the tools — seven written, one rewritten, and a self-skip that skipped nothing
12	corrections — nine, of which four are the pre-briefing's and three are this session's own
13	leftovers — what is still closed, and how close each one is
14	prediction scoring — 9.775 of 13 inherited, 24.50 of 47 open

The tools

tools/ holds 443 Python files, standard library only, carried forward across the collection. The seven written here:

dosimage.py   the four packing indicators for a real-mode MZ image, in one
              table, with the constant-byte blocks separated from the
              repeats and a stated minimum block count
exepack.py    identify, validate and unpack a Microsoft EXEPACK image, and
              account for every byte of its tail
popmsg.py     extract the XOR-0xAA credits message; redacts by default
ppc.py        read a POP-CORN level set to residue zero
hsc.py        read POP-CORN's high-score table
pcspk.py      read a PC-speaker note table and render it to WAV
cga.py        render a byte region as CGA 320x200 — and it identified
              nothing here, which is chapter 13

Every one of them was made to refuse a specimen that must fail before it was allowed to census anything.

What is not here

The nine files of the object. game/, _pre/, _work/ and prompt.txt are in .gitignore, verified in both directions with git check-ignore and with git add -An before anything was committed. The object's own prose is quoted only where a measurement needs it, and its authors' contact details are not quoted at all.