UNSHAR(1)                                               UNSHAR(1)


NAME
       unshar  -  unpack  shell  archives from news, mail, notes,
       etc.

SYNOPSIS
       unshar [ -cdirectory ] [ -ddirectory ] [ -hfile ] [ -f ] [
       -n ] [ -s ] [ file... ]

DESCRIPTION
       Unshar  removes mail and news header lines from its input,
       and feeds the remainder to  /bin/sh(1)  so  that  a  shell
       archive  can be properly unpacked.  If no files are speci-
       fied, unshar reads from standard input.   The  program  is
       designed  to  be  useful  when unpacking archives directly
       from the news or mail systems (e.g., s | unshar).

       Unshar normally unpacks its files in  the  current  direc-
       tory.  Use the ``-c'' option to have the program change to
       a new directory before invoking the shell.  If the  direc-
       tory  does  not  exist,  it will try to create it.  If the
       directory name starts with a question  mark,  then  unshar
       will  ask  for  the  directory name before doing anything;
       this  is  most  useful  with  the   environment   variable
       UNSHAREDIR.   If  the  directory name starts with a tilde,
       then  the  value  of  the  HOME  environment  variable  is
       inserted in place of that character.  For convenience, the
       ``-d'' option is a synonym for the ``-c'' option.

       Unshar normally complains if the input  looks  like  some-
       thing  other  than  a  shar file.  (Among other things, it
       checks for files that resemble C, and  Pascal  code).   It
       can  be  fooled, however, by nonstandard versions of news,
       notes, etc.   The  ``-f''  option  forces  unshar  to  try
       unpacking files, even if they look like something else.

       Depending  on  how the program is installed, unshar may or
       may not try to preserve the header part  of  file  ``foo''
       into  the name ``foo.hdr'' (if the file is standard input,
       the name will be ``UNSHAR.HDR'').  Using the ``-s'' option
       forces  the  program  to save the headers, while using the
       ``-n'' option forces it to discard the headers.  The  file
       is  appended  to, if it already exists, so all headers can
       be easily saved in one file.  The name of the file may  be
       given  by  using  the  ``-h'' option; this is particularly
       useful when processing more than one file at a time.

ENVIRONMENT
       HOME        Value used if a  leading  tilde  is  given  in
       directory name.
       UNSHAREDIR  Default value for ``-c'' option.

SEE ALSO
       cshar(1).




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