patool/doc/patool.txt

PATOOL(1)                                                            PATOOL(1)



NAME
       patool - simple manager for file archives of various types

SYNOPSIS
        patool (extract|list|test) [options] <archive-file>
        patool create [options] <archive-file> [files..]
        patool formats [options]

DESCRIPTION
       Various  archive  types can be created, extracted, tested and listed by
       patool.  The archive format is determined by the archive file extension
       and as a fallback with file(1).

       patool  supports 7z (.7z), ZIP (.zip, .jar), GZIP (.gz), compress (.Z),
       BZIP2 (.bz2), TAR (.tar), ARJ (.arj), CAB  (.cab),  CPIO  (.cpio),  RPM
       (.rpm),  DEB (.deb), LZOP (.lzo), LZMA (.lzma), XZ (.xz) and RAR (.rar)
       formats.  It relies on helper applications to handle those archive for‐
       mats (for example bzip2 for BZIP2 archives).

COMMANDS
       Several commands and options are available.

   extract
       Extract files from an archive4. Often one wants to extract all files in
       an archive to a single subdirectory.  However,  some  archives  contain
       multiple  files in their root directories. The patool program overcomes
       this problem by first extracting files to a unique  (temporary)  direc‐
       tory, and then moving its contents back if possible. This also prevents
       local files from being overwritten by mistake.

       --force
              Allow overwriting of local files.

       --verbose
              Be verbose when extracting (if the helper  application  supports
              it).

       --help Show help for this command.

   list
       List files in an archive.

       --verbose
              Verbose archive listing (if the helper application supports it).

       --help Show help for this command.

   create
       Create an archive from given files.

       --force
              Allow overwriting of local archives.

       --verbose
              Verbose operation (if the helper application supports it).

       --help Show help for this command.

   test
       Test files in an archive.

       --verbose
              Verbose archive testing (if the helper application supports it).

       --help Show help for this command.

   formats
       Show all supported archive formats.

       --help Show help for this command.

CONFIGURATION
       The  configuration  files  (see FILES) can specify which program to use
       for each archive format. Per default a list of  programs  are  searched
       and the first one will be used for an archive.
       Additionally, default options like verbosity and force overwrite can be
       configured.
       The configuration format is the Windows INI format.


   [DEFAULT]
       force=0
              Set the force option to 1 or 0.

       verbose=0
              Set the verbose option to 1 or 0.

   [<archive format>]
       Supported archive formats are listed by the formats command.

       command=/usr/bin/mycommand
              Set the application to handle the archive format for given  com‐
              mand.  command can be one of (extract, list, test, create).

FILES
       /etc/patool.conf, ~/.patool.conf - configuration files

AUTHOR
       Bastian Kleineidam <calvin@users.sourceforge.net>

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright © 2010 Bastian Kleineidam



patool                           February 2010                       PATOOL(1)