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| <h2 class="chapter">1 ar</h2> |
| |
| <p><a name="index-ar-2"></a><a name="index-archives-3"></a><a name="index-collections-of-files-4"></a> |
| <!-- man title ar create, modify, and extract from archives --> |
| |
| <pre class="smallexample"> ar [-]<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>...] |
| ar -M [ <mri-script ] |
| </pre> |
| <!-- man begin DESCRIPTION ar --> |
| <p>The <span class="sc">gnu</span> <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> program creates, modifies, and extracts from |
| archives. An <dfn>archive</dfn> is a single file holding a collection of |
| other files in a structure that makes it possible to retrieve |
| the original individual files (called <dfn>members</dfn> of the archive). |
| |
| <p>The original files' contents, mode (permissions), timestamp, owner, and |
| group are preserved in the archive, and can be restored on |
| extraction. |
| |
| <p><a name="index-name-length-5"></a><span class="sc">gnu</span> <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> can maintain archives whose members have names of any |
| length; however, depending on how <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> is configured on your |
| system, a limit on member-name length may be imposed for compatibility |
| with archive formats maintained with other tools. If it exists, the |
| limit is often 15 characters (typical of formats related to a.out) or 16 |
| characters (typical of formats related to coff). |
| |
| <p><a name="index-libraries-6"></a><samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> is considered a binary utility because archives of this sort |
| are most often used as <dfn>libraries</dfn> holding commonly needed |
| subroutines. |
| |
| <p><a name="index-symbol-index-7"></a><samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> creates an index to the symbols defined in relocatable |
| object modules in the archive when you specify the modifier ‘<samp><span class="samp">s</span></samp>’. |
| Once created, this index is updated in the archive whenever <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> |
| makes a change to its contents (save for the ‘<samp><span class="samp">q</span></samp>’ update operation). |
| An archive with such an index speeds up linking to the library, and |
| allows routines in the library to call each other without regard to |
| their placement in the archive. |
| |
| <p>You may use ‘<samp><span class="samp">nm -s</span></samp>’ or ‘<samp><span class="samp">nm --print-armap</span></samp>’ to list this index |
| table. If an archive lacks the table, another form of <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> called |
| <samp><span class="command">ranlib</span></samp> can be used to add just the table. |
| |
| <p><a name="index-thin-archives-8"></a><span class="sc">gnu</span> <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> can optionally create a <em>thin</em> archive, |
| which contains a symbol index and references to the original copies |
| of the member files of the archive. This is useful for building |
| libraries for use within a local build tree, where the relocatable |
| objects are expected to remain available, and copying the contents of |
| each object would only waste time and space. |
| |
| <p>An archive can either be <em>thin</em> or it can be normal. It cannot |
| be both at the same time. Once an archive is created its format |
| cannot be changed without first deleting it and then creating a new |
| archive in its place. |
| |
| <p>Thin archives are also <em>flattened</em>, so that adding one thin |
| archive to another thin archive does not nest it, as would happen with |
| a normal archive. Instead the elements of the first archive are added |
| individually to the second archive. |
| |
| <p>The paths to the elements of the archive are stored relative to the |
| archive itself. |
| |
| <p><a name="index-compatibility_002c-_0040command_007bar_007d-9"></a><a name="index-g_t_0040command_007bar_007d-compatibility-10"></a><span class="sc">gnu</span> <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> is designed to be compatible with two different |
| facilities. You can control its activity using command-line options, |
| like the different varieties of <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> on Unix systems; or, if you |
| specify the single command-line option <samp><span class="option">-M</span></samp>, you can control it |
| with a script supplied via standard input, like the MRI “librarian” |
| program. |
| |
| <!-- man end --> |
| <ul class="menu"> |
| <li><a accesskey="1" href="ar-cmdline.html#ar-cmdline">ar cmdline</a>: Controlling <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> on the command line |
| <li><a accesskey="2" href="ar-scripts.html#ar-scripts">ar scripts</a>: Controlling <samp><span class="command">ar</span></samp> with a script |
| </ul> |
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