UNSHAR(1)							     UNSHAR(1)



NAME
       unshar - unpack a shar file

SYNOPSIS
       unshar [ options ] [ file ... ]

DESCRIPTION
       Unshar  scans  mail  messages looking for the start of a shell archive.
       It then passes the archive through a copy of the shell  to  unpack  it.
       It  will  accept multiple files.  If no files are given, standard input
       is used.

OPTIONS
       Options have a one letter version starting with -  or  a  long  version
       starting  with  --.   The exception is --help and --version, which does
       not have a short version.

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

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

       -d DIRECTORY  --directory=DIRECTORY
	      Change directory to DIRECTORY before unpacking any files.

       -c  --overwrite
	      Passed as an option  to  the  shar  file.   Many	shell  archive
	      scripts  (including  those  produced  by	shar 3.40 and newer)
	      accepts a -c argument to indicate that existing files should  be
	      overwritten.

       -e  --exit-0
	      This  option  exists  mainly  for  people who collect many shell
	      archives into a single mail folder.  With this option,  unshar
	      isolates each different shell archive from the others which have
	      been put in the same file, unpacking  each  in  turn,  from  the
	      beginning  of  the  file	towards its end.  Its proper operation
	      relies on the fact that many shar  files	are  terminated  by  a
	      exit 0 at the beginning of a line.

	      Option -e is internally equivalent to -E "exit 0".

       -E STRING  --split-at=STRING
	      This  option  works  like  -e,  but it allows you to specify the
	      string that separates archives if exit 0 isnt appropriate.

	      For example, noticing that most .signatures have a --  on  a
	      line  right  before  them, one can sometimes use --split-at=--
	      for splitting shell archives which lack the  exit  0  line  at
	      end.   The  signature  will  then be skipped altogether with the
	      headers of the following message.

       -f  --force
	      The same as -c.

SEE ALSO
       shar(1)

DIAGNOSTICS
       Any message from the shell may be displayed.

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		     UNSHAR(1)