binutils/ar.1

   1 .\" Copyright (c) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1998, 1999 Free Software Foundation
   2 .\" See section COPYING for conditions for redistribution
   3 .TH ar 1 "1999" "Cygnus Solutions" "GNU Development Tools"
   4 .de BP
   5 .sp
   6 .ti \-.2i
   7 \(**
   8 ..
   9
  10 .SH NAME
  11 ar \- create, modify, and extract from archives.
  12
  13 .SH SYNOPSIS
  14 .hy 0
  15 .na
  16 .BR ar " [\|" "-" "\|]"\c
  17 .I {dmpqrtx}[abcfilNoPsSuvV] \c
  18 [\|\c
  19 .I membername\c
  20 \&\|] \c
  21 [\|\c
  22 .I count\c
  23 \&\|] \c
  24 .I archive\c
  25 \& \c
  26 .I files\c
  27 \&.\|.\|.
  28
  29 .ad b
  30 .hy 1
  31 .SH DESCRIPTION
  32 The GNU \c
  33 .B ar\c
  34 \& program creates, modifies, and extracts from
  35 archives.  An \c
  36 .I archive\c
  37 \& is a single file holding a collection of
  38 other files in a structure that makes it possible to retrieve
  39 the original individual files (called \c
  40 .I members\c
  41 \& of the archive).
  42
  43 The original files' contents, mode (permissions), timestamp, owner, and
  44 group are preserved in the archive, and may be reconstituted on
  45 extraction.
  46
  47 GNU \c
  48 .B ar\c
  49 \& can maintain archives whose members have names of any
  50 length; however, depending on how \c
  51 .B ar\c
  52 \& is configured on your
  53 system, a limit on member-name length may be imposed (for compatibility
  54 with archive formats maintained with other tools).  If it exists, the
  55 limit is often 15 characters (typical of formats related to a.out) or 16
  56 characters (typical of formats related to coff).
  57
  58 \c
  59 .B ar\c
  60 \& is considered a binary utility because archives of this sort
  61 are most often used as \c
  62 .I libraries\c
  63 \& holding commonly needed
  64 subroutines.
  65
  66 \c
  67 .B ar\c
  68 \& will create an index to the symbols defined in relocatable
  69 object modules in the archive when you specify the modifier `\|\c
  70 .B s\c
  71 \|'.
  72 Once created, this index is updated in the archive whenever \c
  73 .B ar\c
  74 \&
  75 makes a change to its contents (save for the `\|\c
  76 .B q\c
  77 \|' update operation).
  78 An archive with such an index speeds up linking to the library, and
  79 allows routines in the library to call each other without regard to
  80 their placement in the archive.
  81
  82 You may use `\|\c
  83 .B nm \-s\c
  84 \|' or `\|\c
  85 .B nm \-\-print\-armap\c
  86 \|' to list this index
  87 table.  If an archive lacks the table, another form of \c
  88 .B ar\c
  89 \& called
  90 \c
  91 .B ranlib\c
  92 \& can be used to add just the table.
  93
  94 \c
  95 .B ar\c
  96 \& insists on at least two arguments to execute: one
  97 keyletter specifying the \c
  98 .I operation\c
  99 \& (optionally accompanied by other
 100 keyletters specifying \c
 101 .I modifiers\c
 102 \&), and the archive name to act on.
 103
 104 Most operations can also accept further \c
 105 .I files\c
 106 \& arguments,
 107 specifying particular files to operate on.
 108
 109 .SH OPTIONS
 110 GNU \c
 111 .B ar\c
 112 \& allows you to mix the operation code \c
 113 .I p\c
 114 \& and modifier
 115 flags \c
 116 .I mod\c
 117 \& in any order, within the first command-line argument.
 118
 119 If you wish, you may begin the first command-line argument with a
 120 dash.
 121
 122 The \c
 123 .I p\c
 124 \& keyletter specifies what operation to execute; it may be
 125 any of the following, but you must specify only one of them:
 126
 127 .TP
 128 .B d
 129 \c
 130 .I Delete\c
 131 \& modules from the archive.  Specify the names of modules to
 132 be deleted as \c
 133 .I files\c
 134 \&; the archive is untouched if you
 135 specify no files to delete.
 136
 137 If you specify the `\|\c
 138 .B v\c
 139 \|' modifier, \c
 140 .B ar\c
 141 \& will list each module
 142 as it is deleted.
 143
 144 .TP
 145 .B m
 146 Use this operation to \c
 147 .I move\c
 148 \& members in an archive.
 149
 150 The ordering of members in an archive can make a difference in how
 151 programs are linked using the library, if a symbol is defined in more
 152 than one member.
 153
 154 If no modifiers are used with \c
 155 .B m\c
 156 \&, any members you name in the
 157 \c
 158 .I files\c
 159 \& arguments are moved to the \c
 160 .I end\c
 161 \& of the archive;
 162 you can use the `\|\c
 163 .B a\c
 164 \|', `\|\c
 165 .B b\c
 166 \|', or `\|\c
 167 .B i\c
 168 \|' modifiers to move them to a
 169 specified place instead.
 170
 171 .TP
 172 .B p
 173 \c
 174 .I Print\c
 175 \& the specified members of the archive, to the standard
 176 output file.  If the `\|\c
 177 .B v\c
 178 \|' modifier is specified, show the member
 179 name before copying its contents to standard output.
 180
 181 If you specify no \c
 182 .I files\c
 183 \&, all the files in the archive are printed.
 184
 185 .TP
 186 .B q
 187 \c
 188 .I Quick append\c
 189 \&; add \c
 190 .I files\c
 191 \& to the end of \c
 192 .I archive\c
 193 \&,
 194 without checking for replacement.
 195
 196 The modifiers `\|\c
 197 .B a\c
 198 \|', `\|\c
 199 .B b\c
 200 \|', and `\|\c
 201 .B i\c
 202 \|' do \c
 203 .I not\c
 204 \& affect this
 205 operation; new members are always placed at the end of the archive.
 206
 207 The modifier `\|\c
 208 .B v\c
 209 \|' makes \c
 210 .B ar\c
 211 \& list each file as it is appended.
 212
 213 Since the point of this operation is speed, the archive's symbol table
 214 index is not updated, even if it already existed; you can use `\|\c
 215 .B ar s\c
 216 \|' or
 217 \c
 218 .B ranlib\c
 219 \& explicitly to update the symbol table index.
 220
 221 However, too many different systems assume quick append rebuilds the
 222 index, so GNU
 223 .B ar
 224 implements `\|\c
 225 .B q\c
 226 \|' as a synonym for `\|\c
 227 .B r\c
 228 \|'.
 229
 230 .TP
 231 .B r
 232 Insert \c
 233 .I files\c
 234 \& into \c
 235 .I archive\c
 236 \& (with \c
 237 .I replacement\c
 238 \&). This
 239 operation differs from `\|\c
 240 .B q\c
 241 \|' in that any previously existing members
 242 are deleted if their names match those being added.
 243
 244 If one of the files named in \c
 245 .I files\c
 246 \& doesn't exist, \c
 247 .B ar\c
 248 \&
 249 displays an error message, and leaves undisturbed any existing members
 250 of the archive matching that name.
 251
 252 By default, new members are added at the end of the file; but you may
 253 use one of the modifiers `\|\c
 254 .B a\c
 255 \|', `\|\c
 256 .B b\c
 257 \|', or `\|\c
 258 .B i\c
 259 \|' to request
 260 placement relative to some existing member.
 261
 262 The modifier `\|\c
 263 .B v\c
 264 \|' used with this operation elicits a line of
 265 output for each file inserted, along with one of the letters `\|\c
 266 .B a\c
 267 \|' or
 268 `\|\c
 269 .B r\c
 270 \|' to indicate whether the file was appended (no old member
 271 deleted) or replaced.
 272
 273 .TP
 274 .B t
 275 Display a \c
 276 .I table\c
 277 \& listing the contents of \c
 278 .I archive\c
 279 \&, or those
 280 of the files listed in \c
 281 .I files\c
 282 \& that are present in the
 283 archive.  Normally only the member name is shown; if you also want to
 284 see the modes (permissions), timestamp, owner, group, and size, you can
 285 request that by also specifying the `\|\c
 286 .B v\c
 287 \|' modifier.
 288
 289 If you do not specify any \c
 290 .I files\c
 291 \&, all files in the archive
 292 are listed.
 293
 294 If there is more than one file with the same name (say, `\|\c
 295 .B fie\c
 296 \|') in
 297 an archive (say `\|\c
 298 .B b.a\c
 299 \|'), `\|\c
 300 .B ar t b.a fie\c
 301 \|' will list only the
 302 first instance; to see them all, you must ask for a complete
 303 listing\(em\&in our example, `\|\c
 304 .B ar t b.a\c
 305 \|'.
 306
 307 .TP
 308 .B x
 309 \c
 310 .I Extract\c
 311 \& members (named \c
 312 .I files\c
 313 \&) from the archive.  You can
 314 use the `\|\c
 315 .B v\c
 316 \|' modifier with this operation, to request that
 317 \c
 318 .B ar\c
 319 \& list each name as it extracts it.
 320
 321 If you do not specify any \c
 322 .I files\c
 323 \&, all files in the archive
 324 are extracted.
 325
 326 .PP
 327
 328 A number of modifiers (\c
 329 .I mod\c
 330 \&) may immediately follow the \c
 331 .I p\c
 332 \&
 333 keyletter, to specify variations on an operation's behavior:
 334
 335 .TP
 336 .B a
 337 Add new files \c
 338 .I after\c
 339 \& an existing member of the
 340 archive.  If you use the modifier \c
 341 .B a\c
 342 \&, the name of an existing archive
 343 member must be present as the \c
 344 .I membername\c
 345 \& argument, before the
 346 \c
 347 .I archive\c
 348 \& specification.
 349
 350 .TP
 351 .B b
 352 Add new files \c
 353 .I before\c
 354 \& an existing member of the
 355 archive.  If you use the modifier \c
 356 .B b\c
 357 \&, the name of an existing archive
 358 member must be present as the \c
 359 .I membername\c
 360 \& argument, before the
 361 \c
 362 .I archive\c
 363 \& specification.  (same as `\|\c
 364 .B i\c
 365 \|').
 366
 367 .TP
 368 .B c
 369 \c
 370 .I Create\c
 371 \& the archive.  The specified \c
 372 .I archive\c
 373 \& is always
 374 created if it didn't exist, when you request an update.  But a warning is
 375 issued unless you specify in advance that you expect to create it, by
 376 using this modifier.
 377
 378 .TP
 379 .B f
 380 Truncate names in the archive.
 381 .B ar
 382 will normally permit file names of any length.  This will cause it to
 383 create archives which are not compatible with the native
 384 .B ar
 385 program on some systems.  If this is a concern, the
 386 .B f
 387 modifier may be used to truncate file names when putting them in the
 388 archive.
 389
 390 .TP
 391 .B i
 392 Insert new files \c
 393 .I before\c
 394 \& an existing member of the
 395 archive.  If you use the modifier \c
 396 .B i\c
 397 \&, the name of an existing archive
 398 member must be present as the \c
 399 .I membername\c
 400 \& argument, before the
 401 \c
 402 .I archive\c
 403 \& specification.  (same as `\|\c
 404 .B b\c
 405 \|').
 406
 407 .TP
 408 .B l
 409 This modifier is accepted but not used.
 410
 411 .TP
 412 .B N
 413 Uses the
 414 .I count
 415 parameter.  This is used if there are multiple entries in the archive
 416 with the same name.  Extract or delete instance
 417 .I count
 418 of the given name from the archive.
 419
 420 .TP
 421 .B o
 422 Preserve the \c
 423 .I original\c
 424 \& dates of members when extracting them.  If
 425 you do not specify this modifier, files extracted from the archive
 426 will be stamped with the time of extraction.
 427
 428 .TP
 429 .B P
 430 Use the full path name when matching names in the archive.
 431 .B ar
 432 can not create an archive with a full path name (such archives are not
 433 POSIX complaint), but other archive creators can.  This option will
 434 cause
 435 .B ar
 436 to match file names using a complete path name, which can be
 437 convenient when extracting a single file from an archive created by
 438 another tool.
 439
 440 .TP
 441 .B s
 442 Write an object-file index into the archive, or update an existing one,
 443 even if no other change is made to the archive.  You may use this modifier
 444 flag either with any operation, or alone.  Running `\|\c
 445 .B ar s\c
 446 \|' on an
 447 archive is equivalent to running `\|\c
 448 .B ranlib\c
 449 \|' on it.
 450
 451 .TP
 452 .B S
 453 Do not generate an archive symbol table.  This can speed up building a
 454 large library in several steps.  The resulting archive can not be used
 455 with the linker.  In order to build a symbol table, you must omit the
 456 `\|\c
 457 .B S\c
 458 \|' modifier on the last execution of `\|\c
 459 .B ar\c
 460 \|', or you must run `\|\c
 461 .B ranlib\c
 462 \|' on the archive.
 463
 464 .TP
 465 .B u
 466 Normally, \c
 467 .B ar r\c
 468 \&.\|.\|. inserts all files
 469 listed into the archive.  If you would like to insert \c
 470 .I only\c
 471 \& those
 472 of the files you list that are newer than existing members of the same
 473 names, use this modifier.  The `\|\c
 474 .B u\c
 475 \|' modifier is allowed only for the
 476 operation `\|\c
 477 .B r\c
 478 \|' (replace).  In particular, the combination `\|\c
 479 .B qu\c
 480 \|' is
 481 not allowed, since checking the timestamps would lose any speed
 482 advantage from the operation `\|\c
 483 .B q\c
 484 \|'.
 485
 486 .TP
 487 .B v
 488 This modifier requests the \c
 489 .I verbose\c
 490 \& version of an operation.  Many
 491 operations display additional information, such as filenames processed,
 492 when the modifier `\|\c
 493 .B v\c
 494 \|' is appended.
 495
 496 .TP
 497 .B V
 498 This modifier shows the version number of
 499 .BR ar .
 500
 501 .PP
 502
 503 .SH "SEE ALSO"
 504 .RB "`\|" binutils "\|'"
 505 entry in
 506 .B
 507 info\c
 508 \&;
 509 .I
 510 The GNU Binary Utilities\c
 511 , Roland H. Pesch (October 1991).
 512 .BR nm ( 1 )\c
 513 \&,
 514 .BR ranlib ( 1 )\c
 515 \&.
 516
 517 .SH COPYING
 518 Copyright (c) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1998, 1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 519 .PP
 520 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
 521 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
 522 are preserved on all copies.
 523 .PP
 524 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
 525 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
 526 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
 527 permission notice identical to this one.
 528 .PP
 529 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
 530 manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
 531 versions, except that this permission notice may be included in
 532 translations approved by the Free Software Foundation instead of in
 533 the original English.