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SHAR(1) 							       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".
       Archives 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
	      archive.

   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  dont  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: /part##
	      The  must be given with the -n switch.  If name includes a
	      / "/part" isnt 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 isnt 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
	      archive 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 pro
       cess 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.



			      September 10, 1995		       SHAR(1)




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