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<a name="ar-cmdline"></a>
<p>
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<h3 class="section">1.1 Controlling <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> on the Command Line</h3>

<pre class="smallexample">     <!-- man begin SYNOPSIS ar -->
     ar [<samp><span class="option">-X32_64</span></samp>] [<samp><span class="option">-</span></samp>]<var>p</var>[<var>mod</var>] [<samp><span class="option">--plugin</span></samp> <var>name</var>] [<samp><span class="option">--target</span></samp> <var>bfdname</var>] [<var>relpos</var>] [<var>count</var>] <var>archive</var> [<var>member</var>...]
     <!-- man end -->
</pre>
   <p><a name="index-Unix-compatibility_002c-_0040command_007bar_007d-11"></a>When you use <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> in the Unix style, <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> insists on at least two
arguments to execute: one keyletter specifying the <em>operation</em>
(optionally accompanied by other keyletters specifying
<em>modifiers</em>), and the archive name to act on.

   <p>Most operations can also accept further <var>member</var> arguments,
specifying particular files to operate on.

<!-- man begin OPTIONS ar -->
   <p><span class="sc">gnu</span> <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> allows you to mix the operation code <var>p</var> and modifier
flags <var>mod</var> in any order, within the first command-line argument.

   <p>If you wish, you may begin the first command-line argument with a
dash.

   <p><a name="index-operations-on-archive-12"></a>The <var>p</var> keyletter specifies what operation to execute; it may be
any of the following, but you must specify only one of them:

     <dl>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">d</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd><a name="index-deleting-from-archive-13"></a><em>Delete</em> modules from the archive.  Specify the names of modules to
be deleted as <var>member</var><small class="dots">...</small>; the archive is untouched if you
specify no files to delete.

     <p>If you specify the &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">v</span></samp>&rsquo; modifier, <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> lists each module
as it is deleted.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">m</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd><a name="index-moving-in-archive-14"></a>Use this operation to <em>move</em> members in an archive.

     <p>The ordering of members in an archive can make a difference in how
programs are linked using the library, if a symbol is defined in more
than one member.

     <p>If no modifiers are used with <code>m</code>, any members you name in the
<var>member</var> arguments are moved to the <em>end</em> of the archive;
you can use the &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">a</span></samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">b</span></samp>&rsquo;, or &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">i</span></samp>&rsquo; modifiers to move them to a
specified place instead.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">p</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd><a name="index-printing-from-archive-15"></a><em>Print</em> the specified members of the archive, to the standard
output file.  If the &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">v</span></samp>&rsquo; modifier is specified, show the member
name before copying its contents to standard output.

     <p>If you specify no <var>member</var> arguments, all the files in the archive are
printed.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">q</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd><a name="index-quick-append-to-archive-16"></a><em>Quick append</em>; Historically, add the files <var>member</var><small class="dots">...</small> to the end of
<var>archive</var>, without checking for replacement.

     <p>The modifiers &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">a</span></samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">b</span></samp>&rsquo;, and &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">i</span></samp>&rsquo; do <em>not</em> affect this
operation; new members are always placed at the end of the archive.

     <p>The modifier &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">v</span></samp>&rsquo; makes <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> list each file as it is appended.

     <p>Since the point of this operation is speed, implementations of
<samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> have the option of not updating the archive's symbol
table if one exists.  Too many different systems however assume that
symbol tables are always up-to-date, so <span class="sc">gnu</span> <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> will
rebuild the table even with a quick append.

     <p>Note - <span class="sc">gnu</span> <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> treats the command &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">qs</span></samp>&rsquo; as a
synonym for &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">r</span></samp>&rsquo; - replacing already existing files in the
archive and appending new ones at the end.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">r</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd><a name="index-replacement-in-archive-17"></a>Insert the files <var>member</var><small class="dots">...</small> into <var>archive</var> (with
<em>replacement</em>). This operation differs from &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">q</span></samp>&rsquo; in that any
previously existing members are deleted if their names match those being
added.

     <p>If one of the files named in <var>member</var><small class="dots">...</small> does not exist, <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp>
displays an error message, and leaves undisturbed any existing members
of the archive matching that name.

     <p>By default, new members are added at the end of the file; but you may
use one of the modifiers &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">a</span></samp>&rsquo;, &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">b</span></samp>&rsquo;, or &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">i</span></samp>&rsquo; to request
placement relative to some existing member.

     <p>The modifier &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">v</span></samp>&rsquo; used with this operation elicits a line of
output for each file inserted, along with one of the letters &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">a</span></samp>&rsquo; or
&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">r</span></samp>&rsquo; to indicate whether the file was appended (no old member
deleted) or replaced.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">s</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd><a name="index-ranlib-18"></a>Add an index to the archive, or update it if it already exists.  Note
this command is an exception to the rule that there can only be one
command letter, as it is possible to use it as either a command or a
modifier.  In either case it does the same thing.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">t</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd><a name="index-contents-of-archive-19"></a>Display a <em>table</em> listing the contents of <var>archive</var>, or those
of the files listed in <var>member</var><small class="dots">...</small> that are present in the
archive.  Normally only the member name is shown, but if the modifier
&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">O</span></samp>&rsquo; is specified, then the corresponding offset of the member is also
displayed.  Finally, in order to see the modes (permissions), timestamp,
owner, group, and size the &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">v</span></samp>&rsquo; modifier should be included.

     <p>If you do not specify a <var>member</var>, all files in the archive
are listed.

     <p><a name="index-repeated-names-in-archive-20"></a><a name="index-name-duplication-in-archive-21"></a>If there is more than one file with the same name (say, &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">fie</span></samp>&rsquo;) in
an archive (say &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">b.a</span></samp>&rsquo;), &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">ar t b.a fie</span></samp>&rsquo; lists only the
first instance; to see them all, you must ask for a complete
listing&mdash;in our example, &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">ar t b.a</span></samp>&rsquo;. 
<!-- WRS only; per Gumby, this is implementation-dependent, and in a more -->
<!-- recent case in fact works the other way. -->

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">x</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd><a name="index-extract-from-archive-22"></a><em>Extract</em> members (named <var>member</var>) from the archive.  You can
use the &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">v</span></samp>&rsquo; modifier with this operation, to request that
<samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> list each name as it extracts it.

     <p>If you do not specify a <var>member</var>, all files in the archive
are extracted.

     <p>Files cannot be extracted from a thin archive. 
</dl>

   <p>A number of modifiers (<var>mod</var>) may immediately follow the <var>p</var>
keyletter, to specify variations on an operation's behavior:

     <dl>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">a</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd><a name="index-relative-placement-in-archive-23"></a>Add new files <em>after</em> an existing member of the
archive.  If you use the modifier &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">a</span></samp>&rsquo;, the name of an existing archive
member must be present as the <var>relpos</var> argument, before the
<var>archive</var> specification.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">b</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd>Add new files <em>before</em> an existing member of the
archive.  If you use the modifier &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">b</span></samp>&rsquo;, the name of an existing archive
member must be present as the <var>relpos</var> argument, before the
<var>archive</var> specification.  (same as &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">i</span></samp>&rsquo;).

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">c</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd><a name="index-creating-archives-24"></a><em>Create</em> the archive.  The specified <var>archive</var> is always
created if it did not exist, when you request an update.  But a warning is
issued unless you specify in advance that you expect to create it, by
using this modifier.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">D</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd><a name="index-deterministic-archives-25"></a><a name="index-g_t_002d_002denable_002ddeterministic_002darchives-26"></a>Operate in <em>deterministic</em> mode.  When adding files and the archive
index use zero for UIDs, GIDs, timestamps, and use consistent file modes
for all files.  When this option is used, if <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> is used with
identical options and identical input files, multiple runs will create
identical output files regardless of the input files' owners, groups,
file modes, or modification times.

     <p>If <samp><span class="file">binutils</span></samp> was configured with
<samp><span class="option">--enable-deterministic-archives</span></samp>, then this mode is on by default. 
It can be disabled with the &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">U</span></samp>&rsquo; modifier, below.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">f</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd>Truncate names in the archive.  <span class="sc">gnu</span> <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> will normally permit file
names of any length.  This will cause it to create archives which are
not compatible with the native <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> program on some systems.  If
this is a concern, the &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">f</span></samp>&rsquo; modifier may be used to truncate file
names when putting them in the archive.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">i</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd>Insert new files <em>before</em> an existing member of the
archive.  If you use the modifier &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">i</span></samp>&rsquo;, the name of an existing archive
member must be present as the <var>relpos</var> argument, before the
<var>archive</var> specification.  (same as &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">b</span></samp>&rsquo;).

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">l</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd>This modifier is accepted but not used. 
<!-- whaffor ar l modifier??? presumably compat; with -->
<!-- what???-doc@@cygnus.com, 25jan91 -->

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">N</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd>Uses the <var>count</var> parameter.  This is used if there are multiple
entries in the archive with the same name.  Extract or delete instance
<var>count</var> of the given name from the archive.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">o</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd><a name="index-dates-in-archive-27"></a>Preserve the <em>original</em> dates of members when extracting them.  If
you do not specify this modifier, files extracted from the archive
are stamped with the time of extraction.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">O</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd><a name="index-offsets-of-files-28"></a>Display member offsets inside the archive. Use together with the &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">t</span></samp>&rsquo;
option.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">P</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd>Use the full path name when matching names in the archive.  <span class="sc">gnu</span>
<samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> can not create an archive with a full path name (such archives
are not POSIX compliant), but other archive creators can.  This option
will cause <span class="sc">gnu</span> <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> to match file names using a complete path
name, which can be convenient when extracting a single file from an
archive created by another tool.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">s</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd><a name="index-writing-archive-index-29"></a>Write an object-file index into the archive, or update an existing one,
even if no other change is made to the archive.  You may use this modifier
flag either with any operation, or alone.  Running &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">ar s</span></samp>&rsquo; on an
archive is equivalent to running &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">ranlib</span></samp>&rsquo; on it.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">S</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd><a name="index-not-writing-archive-index-30"></a>Do not generate an archive symbol table.  This can speed up building a
large library in several steps.  The resulting archive can not be used
with the linker.  In order to build a symbol table, you must omit the
&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">S</span></samp>&rsquo; modifier on the last execution of &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">ar</span></samp>&rsquo;, or you must run
&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">ranlib</span></samp>&rsquo; on the archive.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">T</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd><a name="index-creating-thin-archive-31"></a>Make the specified <var>archive</var> a <em>thin</em> archive.  If it already
exists and is a regular archive, the existing members must be present
in the same directory as <var>archive</var>.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">u</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd><a name="index-updating-an-archive-32"></a>Normally, &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">ar r</span></samp>&rsquo;<small class="dots">...</small> inserts all files
listed into the archive.  If you would like to insert <em>only</em> those
of the files you list that are newer than existing members of the same
names, use this modifier.  The &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">u</span></samp>&rsquo; modifier is allowed only for the
operation &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">r</span></samp>&rsquo; (replace).  In particular, the combination &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">qu</span></samp>&rsquo; is
not allowed, since checking the timestamps would lose any speed
advantage from the operation &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">q</span></samp>&rsquo;.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">U</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd><a name="index-deterministic-archives-33"></a><a name="index-g_t_002d_002denable_002ddeterministic_002darchives-34"></a>Do <em>not</em> operate in <em>deterministic</em> mode.  This is the inverse
of the &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">D</span></samp>&rsquo; modifier, above: added files and the archive index will
get their actual UID, GID, timestamp, and file mode values.

     <p>This is the default unless <samp><span class="file">binutils</span></samp> was configured with
<samp><span class="option">--enable-deterministic-archives</span></samp>.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">v</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd>This modifier requests the <em>verbose</em> version of an operation.  Many
operations display additional information, such as filenames processed,
when the modifier &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">v</span></samp>&rsquo; is appended.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">V</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd>This modifier shows the version number of <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp>. 
</dl>

   <p>The <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> program also supports some command-line options which
are neither modifiers nor actions, but which do change its behaviour
in specific ways:

     <dl>
<dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">--help</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd>Displays the list of command-line options supported by <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp>
and then exits.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">--version</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd>Displays the version information of <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> and then exits.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">-X32_64</span></samp>&rsquo;<dd><samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> ignores an initial option spelt &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">-X32_64</span></samp>&rsquo;, for
compatibility with AIX.  The behaviour produced by this option is the
default for <span class="sc">gnu</span> <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp>.  <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> does not support any
of the other &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">-X</span></samp>&rsquo; options; in particular, it does not support
<samp><span class="option">-X32</span></samp> which is the default for AIX <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp>.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">--plugin </span><var>name</var></samp>&rsquo;<dd><a name="index-plugins-35"></a>The optional command-line switch <samp><span class="option">--plugin </span><var>name</var></samp> causes
<samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> to load the plugin called <var>name</var> which adds support
for more file formats, including object files with link-time
optimization information.

     <p>This option is only available if the toolchain has been built with
plugin support enabled.

     <p>If <samp><span class="option">--plugin</span></samp> is not provided, but plugin support has been
enabled then <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> iterates over the files in
<samp><span class="file">${libdir}/bfd-plugins</span></samp> in alphabetic order and the first
plugin that claims the object in question is used.

     <p>Please note that this plugin search directory is <em>not</em> the one
used by <samp><span class="command">ld</span></samp>'s <samp><span class="option">-plugin</span></samp> option.  In order to make
<samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> use the  linker plugin it must be copied into the
<samp><span class="file">${libdir}/bfd-plugins</span></samp> directory.  For GCC based compilations
the linker plugin is called <samp><span class="file">liblto_plugin.so.0.0.0</span></samp>.  For Clang
based compilations it is called <samp><span class="file">LLVMgold.so</span></samp>.  The GCC plugin
is always backwards compatible with earlier versions, so it is
sufficient to just copy the newest one.

     <br><dt>&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">--target </span><var>target</var></samp>&rsquo;<dd>The optional command-line switch <samp><span class="option">--target </span><var>bfdname</var></samp>
specifies that the archive members are in an object code format
different from your system's default format.  See
See <a href="Target-Selection.html#Target-Selection">Target Selection</a>, for more information. 
</dl>
   <!-- man end -->

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