arc man page on DragonFly

Man page or keyword search:  
man Server   44335 pages
apropos Keyword Search (all sections)
Output format
DragonFly logo
[printable version]

ARC(1L)				LOCAL COMMANDS			       ARC(1L)

NAME
       arc - pc archive utility

SYNOPSIS
       arc a|m|u|f|d|x|e|r|p|l|v|t|c [ biswnoq ] [ gpassword ] archive [ file‐
       name ...]

DESCRIPTION
       Arc is a general archive and file compression utility, used to maintain
       a  compressed  archive of files.	 An archive is a single file that com‐
       bines many files, reducing storage space and allowing multiple files to
       be  handled  as	one.   Arc uses one of several compression methods for
       each file within the archive, based  on	whichever  method  yields  the
       smallest result.

INSTRUCTIONS
       Execute arc with no arguments for fairly verbose, usable instructions.

COMMAND SWITCHES
       a  add files to archive.	 Copies the indicated files to the archive.

       m  move files to archive.  Same as 'a' switch except that the files are
	  deleted from the directory as they are moved to the archive.

       u  update files in archive.  This switch will  replace  archived	 files
	  when the named file is newer than the archived copy.	New files will
	  be added automatically.

       f  freshen files in archive.  Same as 'u' except that  new  files  will
	  not be added.

       d  delete  files	 in archive.  The named files are removed from the ar‐
	  chive.

       x,e
	  extract files from archive.  The named files are extracted from  the
	  archive  and	created	 in  the  current directory in an uncompressed
	  state.

       r  run one file with arguments from archive.  Any program may  be  exe‐
	  cuted	 directly  from	 the  archive.	The parameters given after the
	  program name are passed to the program without modification.

       p  copy files from archive to standard output.  Useful with  I/O	 redi‐
	  rection.  A  form-feed is appended after each file, to ease use with
	  printers.

       l  list files in archive.  Limited information listing  of  files  con‐
	  tained  in  an archive.  Displays the filename, original length, and
	  date last modified.  If the 'n' option (see below) is used, only the
	  filename is displayed.

       v  verbose  listing  of files in archive.  Complete information listing
	  of files contained in an archive.  Displays the  filename,  original
	  length, storage method, storage factor (% savings), compressed size,
	  date, time, and CRC.

       t  test archive integrity.  Computes CRC values for each member of  the
	  archive and compares against the previously saved value.

       c  convert  entry  to  new  packing  method.  Convert files stored with
	  older methods to newer methods that are more efficient. Also	useful
	  for files previously archived with the 's' option.

OPTIONS
       b  retain  backup  copy of archive.  Keep the original archive file and
	  rename to .BAK.  This switch may be used  with  the  following  com‐
	  mands:  a, m, u, f, d, c.

       i  suppress image mode.	This switch causes files to be treated as text
	  files, and will translate their end-of-line sequence.	 (Unix's  '\n'
	  vs.  '\r\n'  used on many other systems.)  The default is to perform
	  no translation when compressing or extracting	 files.	  This	option
	  makes	 dealing  with	text files much nicer, though the 'tr' command
	  can also be used. ('\r' in makefiles and C source  code  is  such  a
	  nuisance...)

       s  suppress  compression.   This	 forces	 new  files  to be saved using
	  Method 2 (no compression).  This switch may be used with the follow‐
	  ing commands:	 a, m, u, f, c.

       w  suppress  warning  messages.	This switch will keep warning messages
	  from being displayed which is the default.   Most  warnings  concern
	  the deletion or existence of files with the same name.

       n  suppress  notes  and	comments.   This switch will keep useful notes
	  from being displayed which is the default.  Most notes indicate what
	  stage of compression is being run (analyze, compaction, storage).

       o  overwrite  existing  files  when  extracting.	 This switch will make
	  existing files silently get overwritten, instead of asking for  con‐
	  firmation, which is the default.

       q  force Squash compression method.  This switch causes the Squash com‐
	  pression method to be used, instead of Crunch, which is the default.

       g  encrypt/decrypt archive entry.  This is used to encode files so that
	  others may not read them.  BE CAREFUL!  This must be the last param‐
	  eter in the switches because everything following  is	 part  of  the
	  password.

PROGRAMMING NOTES
       Arc  Version 2 differs from version 1 in that archive entries are auto‐
       matically compressed when they are added to the archive, making a sepa‐
       rate  compression  step	unecessary.   The nature of the compression is
       indicated by the header version number placed in each archive entry, as
       follows:
		1 = Old style, no compression
		2 = New style, no compression
		3 = Compression of repeated characters only
		4 = Compression of repeated characters plus Huffman SQueezing
		5 = Lempel-Zev packing of repeated strings (old style)
		6 = Lempel-Zev packing of repeated strings (new style)
		7 = Lempel-Zev Williams packing with improved hash function
		8 = Dynamic Lempel-Zev packing with adaptive reset
		9 = Squashing

       Type 5, Lempel-Zev packing, was added as of version 4.0

       Type  6	is  Lempel-Zev	packing where runs of repeated characters have
       been collapsed, and was added as of version 4.1

       Type 7 is a variation of Lempel-Zev using  a  different	hash  function
       which  yields speed improvements of 20-25%, and was added as of version
       4.6

       Type 8 is a different implementation of Lempel-Zev,  using  a  variable
       code size and an adaptive block reset, and was added as of version 5.0

       Type  9	is another variation of Lempel-Zev, using a larger hash table.
       This method was developed by Phil Katz, and is  not  supported  by  the
       "official" ARC programs.

       Arc will look for environment variables named ARCTEMP or TMPDIR, which,
       if present, indicates the pathname where temporary files should be cre‐
       ated.  This  is typically the location of a RAMdisk on a microcomputer,
       "/tmp/" or left unset.

       See the included documentation file for more details.

HISTORY
       Arc has been in use in the CP/M and MSDOS world for many	 years.	  Thom
       Henderson  developed  the original version, but it is important to note
       that arc is based on the file compression theories developed  by	 Huff‐
       man,  Welch,  Knott, Knuth, and many other scientists. This implementa‐
       tion is based on version 5.21 of the MSDOS program.

BUGS
       Arc behaves just like the PC version of the program; all	 functions  of
       the  "usage" display are working.  Full compatibility with PC ARC files
       is maintained, the price for which is that arc doesn't like long	 file‐
       names,  and  can	 only archive files with names of up to 12 characters.
       It will *sometimes* do The Right Thing with them, but I suggest you put
       long-winded filenames in a "shar" before arcing them.

       There  shouldn't	 be  any  problems, (hah!) but if you find any, please
       send them to me at:

	    hyc@hanauma.jpl.nasa.gov

AUTHORS
       Original MSDOS program by Thom Henderson
       COPYRIGHT(C) 1985-87  by	 System	 Enhancement  Associates;  ALL	RIGHTS
       RESERVED

       Original	 Lempel-Zev  code derived from compress 4.0.  Modified to sup‐
       port Squashing by Dan Lanciani (ddl@harvard.edu) Ported from  MSDOS  by
       Howard  Chu,  with  help	 from John Gilmore (hoptoad!gnu), James Turner
       (daisy!turner) and others.

Howard Chu@JPL			  11 Nov 1991			       ARC(1L)
[top]

List of man pages available for DragonFly

Copyright (c) for man pages and the logo by the respective OS vendor.

For those who want to learn more, the polarhome community provides shell access and support.

[legal] [privacy] [GNU] [policy] [cookies] [netiquette] [sponsors] [FAQ]
Tweet
Polarhome, production since 1999.
Member of Polarhome portal.
Based on Fawad Halim's script.
....................................................................
Vote for polarhome
Free Shell Accounts :: the biggest list on the net