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ar(1)									ar(1)



NAME

  ar - archive and library maintainer

SYNOPSIS

  ar [mrxtdpqhw] [uvcbailosz] [posname]	archive	file1 ... fileN

DESCRIPTION

  The archiver (ar) maintains groups of	files as a single archive file.	 Gen-
  erally, you use this utility to create and update library files that the
  link editor uses; however, you can use the archiver for any similar pur-
  pose.

  In the text, option refers to	a character (from the set mrxtdpqhw) that you
  can concatenate with one or more of uvcbailosz .  A suboption	refers to
  options (from	the set	uvcbailosz) that you can only use with other flags.

  The ar(1) archiver supports file names up to the operating system limit.

FLAGS

  The following	list describes the flags:

  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 flag 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	posi-
      tioning character	(from the set abi) you must specify the	posname	argu-
      ment 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.

  R   Replicates the entire archive, transferring each file in the archive to
      the replica in uncompressed form.	 If the	Z flag is also specified,
      each file	in the archive is transferred to the replica in	compressed
      form.

  x   Extracts the specified files from	the archive.  If you do	not 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
      do not 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
      flag.  It	also does not check whether the	files you want to add already
      exist in the archive.  Use the q flag only to avoid quadratic behavior
      when you create a	large archive piece by piece.

  h   Sets the file modification times in the member headers of	the named
      files to the current date	and time. If you do not	specify	any
      filenames, ar sets the time stamps of all	member headers.

  w   Displays the archive symbol table.  Each symbol is listed	with the name
      of the archive member which defines the symbol.

  Z   Compresses each file as it is added to the archive.

  The following	list describes the suboptions:

  a   Specifies	that the file goes after the existing file (posname).  Use
      this suboption with the m	or r flag.

  b   Specifies	that the file goes before the existing file (posname).	Use
      this suboption with the m	or r flags.

  c   Suppresses the normal message that the archiver prints when it creates
      the specified archive file.  Normally, the archiver creates the speci-
      fied archiver file when it needs to. The c flag is a suboption of	the r
      and q flags.

  i   Specifies	that the file goes before the existing file (posname).	Use
      this suboption with the m	or r flags.

  l   Places temporary files in	the local directory.  If the l flag is not
      used then	the value of the environment symbol, TMPDIR, is	used as	the
      directory	for temporary files.  If TMPDIR	is not defined or if the
      directory	it references is not writable then /tmp	is used.

  o   Forces a newly created file to have the `last modified' date that	it
      had before it was	extracted from the archive.  Use this suboption	with
      the x flag.

  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. If you change	the archive contents, the
      symdef file becomes obsolete because  archive file symbols change. The
      ar command builds	the symbol table by default.

  u   Prevents the archiver from replacing an existing file unless the
      replacement is newer than	the existing file.  This suboption uses	the
      UNIX system `last	modified' date for this	comparison.  Use this subop-
      tion 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 suboption with the t flag, the archiver lists all information
      about the	files in the archive, indicating that a	file has been
      compressed by placing a "Z" in the column	that precedes the filename.
      When you use this	option with p, the archiver precedes each file with a
      name.

  z   Suppresses symbol	table building.

RESTRICTIONS

  If you specify the same file twice in	an argument list, it can appear	twice
  in the archive file.


  The o	suboption does not change the `last-modified' date of a	file unless
  you own the extracted	file or	you are	the super-user.

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

FILES

  /<

RELATED	INFORMATION

  lorder(1), ld(1), ar(4)