AR(1) AR(1)
NAME
ar - archive and library maintainer
SYNOPSIS
ar option [ posname ] file1 ... fileN
DESCRIPTION
The archiver (ar) maintains groups of files as a single
archive file. Generally, you use this utility to create and
update library files that the link editor uses; however, you
can use the archiver for any similar purpose. NOTE: This
version uses a portable ASCII-format archive that you can
use on various machines that run UNIX.
In the text, option refers to a character (from the set
drqtpmx) that you can concatenate with one or more of
svuaibclo. A suboption refers to options (from the set
abiou) that you can only use with other options.
The options do these things:
d Deletes the specified files from the archive file.
r Replaces the specified files in the archive file. If
you use the suboption u with r, the archiver only
replaces those files that have `last-modified' dates
later than the archive files. If you use a positioning
character (from the set abi) you must specify the
posname argument to tell the archiver to put the new
files after (a) or before (b or i). Otherwise, the
archiver puts new files at the end of the archive.
q Appends the specified files to the end of the archive
file. The archiver does not accept suboption
positioning characters with the q option. It also does
not check whether the files you want to add already
exist in the archive. Use the q option only to avoid
quadratic behavior when you create a large archive
piece by piece.
t Prints a table of contents for the files in the archive
file. If you don't specify any file names, the
archiver builds a table of contents for all files. If
you specify file names, the archiver builds a table of
contents only for those files.
p Prints the specified files from the archive.
m Moves the specified files to the end of the archive.
If you specify a positioning character, you must also
specify the posname (as in option r) to tell the
archiver where to move the files.
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x Extracts the specified files from the archive. If you
don't specify any file names, the archiver extracts all
files. When it extracts files, the archiver does not
change any file. Normally, the `last-modified' date
for each extracted file shows the date when someone
extracted it; however, when you use o, the archiver
resets the `last-modified' date to the date recorded in
the archive.
s Makes a symbol definition (symdef file) as the first
file of an archive. This file contains a hash table of
ranlib structures and a corresponding string table. The
symdef file's name is based on the byte ordering of the
hash table and the byte ordering of the file's target
machine. Files must be consistent in their target byte
ordering before the archiver can create a symdef file.
The s option is automatically added when any of the
options `d', `q', `m', or `r' is requested. If you
specify `s', the archiver creates the symdef file as
its last action before finishing execution. You must
specify at least one other archive option (m, p, q, r,
or t) when you use the s option.
v Gives a verbose file-by-file description as the
archiver makes a new archive file from an old archive
and its constituent files. When you use this option
with t, the archiver lists all information about the
files in the archive. When you use this option with p,
the archiver precedes each file with a name.
c Suppresses the normal message that the archiver prints
when it creates the specified archive file. Normally,
the archiver creates the specified archiver file when
it needs to.
l Puts temporary files in the local directory. Normally,
the archiver puts its temporary files in the directory
/tmp.
The suboptions do these things:
a Specifies that the file goes after the existing file
(posname). Use this suboption with the m or r options.
b Specifies that the file goes before the existing file
(posname). Use this suboption with the m or r options.
i Specifies that the file goes before the existing file
(posname). Use this suboption with the m or r options.
o Forces a newly created file to have the `last modified'
data that it had before it was extracted from the
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archive. Use this suboption with the x option.
u Prevents the archiver from replacing an existing file
unless the replacement is newer than the existing file.
This option uses the UNIX system `last modified' data
for this comparison. Use this suboption with the r
option. u gives no warning when replacement is
refused.
FILES
/tmp/v* temporaries
SEE ALSO
lorder(1), ld(1), ranlib(1), ar(5), ranhash(3x), dump(1)
BUGS
If you specify the same file twice in an argument list, it
can appear twice in the archive file.
The o option does not change the `last-modified' date of a
file unless you own the extracted file or you are the
super-user.
ORIGIN
MIPS Computer Systems
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