patool/doc/patool.txt

PATOOL(1)                                                    PATOOL(1)



NAME
       patool - portable command line archive file manager

SYNOPSIS
        patool (list|test) [--verbose] <archive-file>...
        patool   extract   [--verbose]   [--outdir=DIRNAME]  <archive-
       file>...
        patool create [--verbose] <archive-file> [files...]
        patool diff <archive1> <archive2>
        patool repack <archive1> <archive2>
        patool formats

DESCRIPTION
       Various archive types can be  created,  extracted,  tested  and
       listed  by patool. The advantage of patool is its simplicity in
       handling archive files without having to remember a  myriad  of
       programs and options.

       The  archive format is determined by the file(1) program and as
       a fallback by the archive file extension.

       patool supports 7z (.7z), ACE (.ace), ALZIP (.alz), APE (.ape),
       AR (.a), ARC (.arc), ARJ (.arj), BZIP2 (.bz2), CAB (.cab), com‐
       press (.Z), CPIO (.cpio), DEB (.deb), DMS (.dms),  GZIP  (.gz),
       LRZIP  (.lrz), LZH (.lha, .lzh), LZIP (.lz), LZMA (.lzma), LZOP
       (.lzo), RPM (.rpm), RAR (.rar), RZIP  (.rz),  SHN  (.shn),  TAR
       (.tar),  XZ (.xz), ZIP (.zip, .jar) and ZOO (.zoo) formats.  It
       relies on helper applications to handle those  archive  formats
       (for example bzip2 for BZIP2 archives).

       The  archive  formats  TAR (.tar), ZIP (.zip), BZIP2 (.bz2) and
       GZIP (.gz) are supported natively and  do  not  require  helper
       applications to be installed.

EXAMPLES
         patool extract archive.zip otherarchive.rar
         patool test --verbose dist.tar.gz
         patool list package.deb
         patool create --verbose myfiles.zip file1.txt dir/
         patool diff release1.0.tar.gz release2.0.zip
         patool repack linux-2.6.33.tar.gz linux-2.6.33.tar.bz2

COMMANDS
       Several commands and options are available.

   extract
       Extract  files from an archive. The original archive will never
       be removed and is left as it is.
       This is the default command if no command was given.

       Files are always extracted to a unique temporary  directory  in
       the  current working directory. If the archive contains exactly
       one file or directory, the archive contents are  moved  to  the
       current  working  directory and the temporary directory will be
       removed.
       This prevents cluttering the current working directory  with  a
       lot of files from the extracted archive.

       All  extracted  files are ensured that they are readable by the
       current user.

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

   list
       List files in an archive.

       -v, --verbose
              Verbose  archive listing (if the helper application sup‐
              ports it).

   create
       Create an archive from given files. At least on  of  the  given
       files  to  add  to the archive has to exist (non-existing files
       are ignored).  The format of the archive to  create  is  deter‐
       mined by the archive file extension.

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

   test
       Test files in an archive. If the helper  application  does  not
       support testing, the archive contents are listed instead.

       -v, --verbose
              Verbose  archive testing (if the helper application sup‐
              ports it).

   diff
       Show differences between two archives with the diff(1) utility.
       The diff options used are -urN.

   repack
       Repackage  archive  to  a  different format. The target archive
       format is determined by the file extension.

   formats
       Show all supported archive formats (ie. which  helper  applica‐
       tions are available).

HELP OPTION
       Specifying  the help option displays help for patool itself, or
       a command.
       For example:
         patool --help - display help for patool
         patool extract --help - display help for the extract command

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

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright © 2010-2012 Bastian Kleineidam



patool                       February 2010                   PATOOL(1)