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shar(1)





NAME

       shar - create shell archives


SYNOPSIS

       shar [ options ] file ...
       shar -S [ options ]


DESCRIPTION

       Shar  creates "shell archives" (or shar files) which are in text format
       and can be mailed.  These files may be unpacked later by executing them
       with /bin/sh.  The resulting archive is sent to standard out unless the
       -o option is given.  A wide range of features provide extensive  flexi-
       bility  in manufacturing shars and in specifying shar "smartness".  Ar-
       chives may be "vanilla" or comprehensive.


OPTIONS

       Options have a one letter version starting with -  or  a  long  version
       starting  with  --.   The exception is --help, --version, --no-i18n and
       --print-text-domain-dir which does not have short versions.   Mandatory
       arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.  Options
       can be given in any order.  Some options depend on each other:
            The -o option is required if the -l or -L option is used.
            The -n option is required if the -a option is used.
            See -V below.

   Giving feedback:
       --help Print a help summary on standard output, then immediately exits.

       --version
              Print the version number of the program on standard output, then
              immediately exits.

       -q --quiet --silent
              Do not output verbose messages locally when  producing  the  ar-
              chive.

   Selecting files:
       -p  --intermix-type
              Allow  positional parameter options.  The options -B, -T, -z and
              -Z may be embedded, and files to the right of the option will be
              processed in the specified mode.

       -S  --stdin-file-list
              Read  list  of files to be packed from the standard input rather
              than from the command line.  Input must be in a form similar  to
              that generated by the find command, one filename per line.  This
              switch is especially useful when the command line will not  hold
              the list of files to be packed.  For example:

              find . -type f -print | \
                sort | \
                shar -S -Z -L50 -o /somewhere/big

              If -p is specified on the command line, then the options -B, -T,
              -z and -Z may be included in the standard input (on a line sepa-
              rate  from  filenames).  The maximum number of lines of standard
              input, file names and options, may not exceed 1024.

   Splitting output:
       -o XXX  --output-prefix=XXX
              Save the archive to files XXX.01 thru XXX.nn instead of  sending
              it to standard out.  Must be used when the -l or the -L switches
              are used.

       -l XX  --whole-size-limit=XX
              Limit the output file size to XXk bytes but  don't  split  input
              files.

       -L XX  --split-size-limit=XX
              Limit  output  file  size to XXk bytes and split files if neces-
              sary.  The archive  parts  created  with  this  option  must  be
              unpacked in correct order.

   Controlling the shar headers:
       -n name  --archive-name=name
              Name  of archive to be included in the header of the shar files.
              See the -a switch.

       -s who@where  --submitter=who@where
              Override automatically determined submitter name.

       -a  --net-headers
              Allows automatic generation of headers:
                   Submitted-by: who@where
                   Archive-name: <name>/part##
              The <name> must be given with the -n switch.  If name includes a
              '/' "/part" isn't used.  Thus:
                 -n xyzzy                      produces:
                                               xyzzy/part01
                                               xyzzy/part02

                 -n xyzzy/patch                produces:
                                               xyzzy/patch01
                                               xyzzy/patch02

                 -n xyzzy/patch01.             produces:
                                               xyzzy/patch01.01
                                               xyzzy/patch01.02

              The who@where can be explicitly stated with the -s switch if the
              default isn't appropriate.  Who@where is  essentially  built  as
              `whoami`@`uname`.

       -c  --cut-mark
              Start  the  shar  with  a cut line.  A line saying 'Cut here' is
              placed at the start of each output file.

   Selecting how files are stocked:
       -M  --mixed-uuencode
              Mixed mode.  Determine if the files are text or binary  and  ar-
              chive  correctly  (default).  Files found to be binary are uude-
              coded prior to packing (USE OF UUENCODE IS  NOT  APPRECIATED  BY
              MANY ON THE NET).

       -T  --text-files
              Treat all files as text.

       -B  --uuencode
              Treat  all files as binary, use uuencode prior to packing.  This
              increases the size of the  archive.   The  recipient  must  have
              uudecode  in  order to unpack.  (USE OF UUENCODE IS NOT APPRECI-
              ATED BY MANY ON THE NET).

       -z  --gzip
              Gzip and uuencode all files prior  to  packing.   The  recipient
              must  have uudecode and gzip in order to unpack (USE OF UUENCODE
              AND GZIP IS NOT APPRECIATED BY MANY ON THE NET).

       -g LEVEL  --level-for-gzip=LEVEL
              When doing compression, use '-LEVEL' as  a  parameter  to  gzip.
              Default  is 9.  The -g option turns on the -z option by default.

       -Z  --compress
              Compress and uuencode all files prior to packing.  The recipient
              must have uudecode and compress in order to unpack (USE OF UUEN-
              CODE AND COMPRESS IS  NOT  APPRECIATED  BY  MANY  ON  THE  NET).
              Option -C is synonymous to -Z, but is being deprecated.

       -b BITS  --bits-per-code=BITS
              When doing compression, use '-bBITS' as a parameter to compress.
              The -B option turns on the -Z option by default.  Default  value
              is 12.

   Protecting against transmission errors:
       -w  --no-character-count
              Do  NOT  check each file with 'wc -c' after unpack.  The default
              is to check.

       -D  --no-md5-digest
              Do NOT use 'md5sum' digest to verify  the  unpacked  files.  The
              default is to check.

       -F  --force-prefix
              Forces  the  prefix character (normally 'X' unless the parameter
              to the -d option starts with 'X') to be prepended to every  line
              even  if  not  required.   This option may slightly increase the
              size of the archive, especially if -B or -Z is used.

       -d XXX  --here-delimiter=XXX
              Use XXX to delimit the files in the shar  instead  of  SHAR_EOF.
              This is for those who want to personalize their shar files.

   Producing different kinds of shars:
       -V  --vanilla-operation
              Produce  "vanilla"  shars  which rely only upon the existence of
              sed and echo in the unsharing  environment.   In  addition,  "if
              test"  must also be supported unless the -x option is used.  The
              -V silently disables options offensive to the "network cop"  (or
              "brown  shirt"),  but  does warn you if it is specified with -B,
              -z, -Z, -p or -M (any of which does or might  require  uudecode,
              gzip or compress in the unsharing environment).

       -P  --no-piping
              Use temporary files instead of pipes in the shar file.

       -x  --no-check-existing
              Overwrite existing files without checking.  If neither -x nor -X
              is specified, the unpack will check for and not overwrite exist-
              ing  files  when  unpacking  the  archive.  If -c is passed as a
              parameter to the script when unpacking:

                 sh archive -c

              then existing files will be overwritten unconditionally.

       -X  --query-user
              When unpacking, interactively ask the user if  files  should  be
              overwritten.  (DO NOT USE FOR SHARS SUBMITTED TO THE NET).

       -m  --no-timestamp
              Avoid  generating 'touch' commands to restore the file modifica-
              tion dates when unpacking files from the archive.

       -Q  --quiet-unshar
              Verbose OFF.  Disables the inclusion of comments  to  be  output
              when the archive is unpacked.

       -f  --basename
              Restore  by filename only, rather than path.  This option causes
              only file names to be used, which is useful when building a shar
              from  several directories, or another directory.  Note that if a
              directory name is passed  to  shar,  the  substructure  of  that
              directory will be restored whether -f is specified or not.

   Internationalization:
       --no-i18n
              Do  not  produce  internationalized  shell archives, use default
              english messages.  By default, shar produces archives that  will
              try  to  output messages in the unpackers preferred language (as
              determined by the LANG/LC_MESSAGES environmental variables) when
              they  are  unpacked.   If no message file for the unpackers lan-
              guage is found at unpack time, messages will be in english.

       --print-text-domain-dir
              Prints the directory shar looks in to find  messages  files  for
              different languages, then immediately exits.


EXAMPLES

       shar *.c > cprog.shar                # all C prog sources
       shar -Q *.[ch] > cprog.shar          # non-verbose, .c and .h files
       shar -B -l28 -oarc.sh *.arc          # all binary .arc files, into
                                            # files arc.sh.01 thru arc.sh.NN
       shar -f /lcl/src/u*.c > u.sh         # use only the filenames


WARNINGS

       No  chmod  or  touch  is  ever  generated  for directories created when
       unpacking.  Thus, if a directory is given to shar, the  protection  and
       modification  dates  of  corresponding unpacked directory may not match
       those of the original.

       If a directory is passed to shar, it may be  scanned  more  than  once.
       Therefore, one should be careful not change the directory while shar is
       running.

       Be careful that the output file(s) are not included in  the  inputs  or
       shar  may loop until the disk fills up.  Be particularly careful when a
       directory is passed to shar that the  output  files  are  not  in  that
       directory (or a subdirectory of that directory).

       Use  of  the  -B,  -z  or  -Z,  and especially -M, may slow the archive
       process considerably, depending on the number of files.

       Use of -X produces shars which WILL cause  problems  with  many  unshar
       procedures.   Use  this  feature  only  for archives to be passed among
       agreeable parties.  Certainly, -X is NOT for shell archives  which  are
       to  be  submitted  to  Usenet.  Usage of -B, -z or -Z in net shars will
       cause you to be flamed off the earth.  Not using -m or not using -F may
       also get you occasional complaints.


SEE ALSO

       unshar(1)


DIAGNOSTICS

       Error  messages  for  illegal or incompatible options, for non-regular,
       missing or inaccessible files or for (unlikely) memory allocation fail-
       ure.


AUTHORS

       The  shar  and  unshar programs is the collective work of many authors.
       Many people  contributed  by  reporting  problems,  suggesting  various
       improvements  or  submitting actual code.  A list of these people is in
       the THANKS file in the sharutils distribution.


REPORTING BUGS

       Report bugs to <bug-gnu-utils@gnu.org>.  Please put sharutils or  uuen-
       code in the subject line.  It helps to spot the message.

                                 July 1, 2005                          SHAR(1)

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