AR(4)                                                       AR(4)



     NAME
          ar - archive (library) file format

     SYNOPSIS
          #include <ar.h>

     DESCRIPTION
          The archive command ar combines several files into one.
          Archives are used mainly as libraries to be searched by the
          link-editor ld.

          A file produced by ar has a magic string at the start,
          followed by the constituent files, each preceded by a file
          header.  The magic number and header layout as described in
          the include file are:

               /*
                * $Source: /ws/rel/src/include/RCS/ar.h,v $
                * $Revision: 1.1 $
                * $Date: 85/07/23 18:23:01 $
                */

               #define ARMAG  "!<arch>\n"
               #define SARMAG 8

               #define ARFMAG "`\n"

               struct ar_hdr {
                       char   ar_name[16];
                       char   ar_date[12];
                       char   ar_uid[6];
                       char   ar_gid[6];
                       char   ar_mode[8];
                       char   ar_size[10];
                       char   ar_fmag[2];
               };

          The name is a blank-padded string.  The ar_fmag field
          contains ARFMAG to help verify the presence of a header.
          The other fields are left-adjusted, blank-padded numbers.
          They are decimal except for ar_mode, which is octal.  The
          date is the modification date of the file at the time of its
          insertion into the archive.

          Each file begins on a even (0 mod 2) boundary; a new-line is
          inserted between files if necessary.  Nevertheless the size
          given reflects the actual size of the file exclusive of
          padding.

          There is no provision for empty areas in an archive file.

          The encoding of the header is portable across machines.  If



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     AR(4)                                                       AR(4)



          an archive contains printable files, the archive itself is
          printable.

     SEE ALSO
          ar(1), ld(1), nm(1)

     BUGS
          File names lose trailing blanks.  Most software dealing with
          archives takes even an included blank as a name terminator.

     ORIGIN
          MIPS Computer Systems











































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