MC68AR(1)

NAME
mc68ar - archive and library maintainer for portable archives

SYNOPSIS
mc68ar key [ posname ] afile name ...

DESCRIPTION
Mc68ar maintains groups of files combined into a single archive file. Its main use is to create and update library files as used by the link editor. It can be used, though, for any similar purpose.

When mc68ar creates an archive, it creates headers in a format that is portable across all machines. The portable archive's format and structure are described in detail in ar(4). The archive symbol table [described in ar(4)] is used by the link editor [mc68ld(1)] to effect multiple passes over libraries of object files in an efficient manner. Whenever the mc68ar(1) command is used to create or update the contents of an archive, the symbol table is rebuilt. The symbol table can be forced to be rebuilt by the s option described below.

Key is one character from the set drqtpmx, optionally concatenated with one or more of vuaibcls. Afile is the archive file. The names are constituent files in the archive file. The meanings of the key characters are:

d   Deletes the named files from the archive file.

r   Replaces the named files in the archive file. If the optional character u is used with r, then only those files with modified dates later than the archive files are replaced. If an optional positioning character from the set abi is used, then the posname argument must be present and specifies that new files are to be placed after (a) or before (b or i) posname. Otherwise new files are placed at the end.

q   Quickly appends the named files to the end of the archive file. Optional positioning characters are invalid. The command does not check whether the added members are already in the archive. Useful only to avoid quadratic behavior when creating a large archive piece-by-piece.

t   Prints a table of contents of the archive file. If no names are given, all files in the archive are tabled. If names are given, only those files are tabled.

p   Prints the contents of named files in the archive.

m   Moves the named files to the end of the archive. If a positioning character is present, then the posname argument must be present and, as in r, specifies where the files are to be moved.

x   Extracts the named files. If no names are given, all files in the archive are extracted. In neither case does x alter the archive file.

v   Verbose. Under the verbose option, mc68ar gives a file-by-file description of the making of a new archive file from the old archive and the constituent files. When used with t, it gives a long listing of all information about the files. When used with x, it precedes each file with a name.

c   Create. Normally, mc68ar will create afile when it needs to. The create option suppresses the normal message that is produced when afile is created.

l   Local. Normally, mc68ar places its temporary files in the directory /tmp. This option causes them to be placed in the local directory.

s   Symbol table creation. Forces the regeneration of the archive symbol table even if mc68ar(1) is not invoked with a command which will modify the archive contents. This command is useful to restore the archive symbol table after the mc68strip(1) command has been used on the archive.

FILES
/tmp/ar*    temporaries

SEE ALSO
mc68ld(1), mc68lorder(1), mc68strip(1).
a.out(4), ar(4) in the UNIX System V Programmer's Reference Manual.

BUGS
If the same file is mentioned twice in an argument list, it may be put in the archive twice.