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 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 fall‐
       back by the archive file extension.

       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), LZIP (.lz), LZOP (.lzo), LZMA (.lzma),  RAR  (.rar)
       and XZ (.xz) formats.  It relies on helper applications to handle those
       archive formats (for example bzip2 for BZIP2 archives).

COMMANDS
       Several commands and options are available.

   extract
       Extract files from an archive. 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.

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

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright © 2010 Bastian Kleineidam



patool                           February 2010                       PATOOL(1)