NAME

ar − archive and library maintainer

SYNOPSIS

ar [mrxtdpq][uvcnbailos] [ 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 mrxtdpq) that you can concatenate with one or more of uvcnbailos.  A suboption refers to options (from the set abiosu) that you can only use with other options. 

The options do these things:

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

d Deletes the specified files from the archive file. 

p Prints the specified files from 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. 

u Prevents the archiver from replacing an existing file unless the replacement is newer than the existing file.  This option uses the NEWS-OS system ‘last modified’ data for this comparison.  Use this suboption with the r 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 archive.  Use this suboption with the x option. 

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.  If you change the archive contents, the symdef file becomes obsolete because the archive file’s name changes.  NEWS-OS ar builds the symbol table by default.  Archives include member objects based on the definition of a common object only. 

z supresses symbol table building. 

FILES

/tmp/v∗temporaries

SEE ALSO

lorder(1), ld(1), odump(1).  ranhash(3x), ar(5)

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.  The s option is not operative as ar will always build the hash table by default unless the z option is used. 

NEWS-OSRelease 4.2.1R