| 1 | .\" @(#)ar.5.5 6.1 (Berkeley) %G% |
| 2 | .\" |
| 3 | .TH AR 5 "" |
| 4 | .AT 3 |
| 5 | .SH NAME |
| 6 | ar \- archive (library) file format |
| 7 | .SH SYNOPSIS |
| 8 | .B #include <ar.h> |
| 9 | .SH DESCRIPTION |
| 10 | .PP |
| 11 | The archive command |
| 12 | .I ar |
| 13 | combines several files into one. |
| 14 | Archives are used mainly as libraries to be searched by the link-editor |
| 15 | .I ld. |
| 16 | .PP |
| 17 | A file produced by |
| 18 | .I ar |
| 19 | has a magic string at the start, |
| 20 | followed by the constituent files, each preceded by a file header. |
| 21 | The magic number and header layout as described in the include file are: |
| 22 | .RS |
| 23 | .PP |
| 24 | .nf |
| 25 | .ta \w'#define 'u +\w'SARMAG 'u |
| 26 | .ec % |
| 27 | .so /usr/include/ar.h |
| 28 | .ec \ |
| 29 | .fi |
| 30 | .RE |
| 31 | .LP |
| 32 | The name is a blank-padded string. |
| 33 | The |
| 34 | .I ar_fmag |
| 35 | field contains ARFMAG to help verify the presence of a header. |
| 36 | The other fields are left-adjusted, blank-padded numbers. |
| 37 | They are decimal except for |
| 38 | .IR ar_mode , |
| 39 | which is octal. |
| 40 | The date is the modification date of the file |
| 41 | at the time of its insertion into the archive. |
| 42 | .PP |
| 43 | Each file begins on a even (0 mod 2) boundary; |
| 44 | a new-line is inserted between files if necessary. |
| 45 | Nevertheless the size given reflects the |
| 46 | actual size of the file exclusive of padding. |
| 47 | .PP |
| 48 | There is no provision for empty areas in an archive file. |
| 49 | .PP |
| 50 | The encoding of the header is portable across machines. |
| 51 | If an archive contains printable files, the archive itself is printable. |
| 52 | .SH "SEE ALSO" |
| 53 | ar(1), ld(1), nm(1) |
| 54 | .SH BUGS |
| 55 | File names lose trailing blanks. |
| 56 | Most software dealing with archives takes even |
| 57 | an included blank as a name terminator. |