binutils/ar.1

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