On Thu, 14 Oct 1999 03:44:15 -0400, Lars Appel <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >>Some caveats with tar on 5.5, at least. This version uses a new tar >>format to encode the MPE file attributes of the files in the archive. > >> ... You can switch of this >>"feature" when creating the tar-archive by issuing the, undocumented, >>-A flag. > >While I haven't checked the PDF manuals at docs.hp.com (as I am not >keen on the associated download), the Shell on my 5.5 machine seems >to document tar -A in help as well as man... > > shell/iX> help tar | head > tar -- USTAR-compatible tape archiver to copy and back up files > Usage: tar -c[#s][AbfvwlzUV] [tapefile] [blocksize] [volpat] file ... > tar -r[#s][bfvwlzUV] [tapefile] [blocksize] [volpat] file ... > tar -t[#s][AbfvzUV] [tapefile] [blocksize] [volpat] [file ...] > tar -u[#s][bfvwlzUV] [tapefile] [blocksize] [volpat] file ... > tar -x[#s][AbfvwpmozUV] [tapefile] [blocksize] [volpat] [file ...] > Key letters (one of): > -A toggles whether or not the -c, -t, and -x options process MPE > attributes > -b set number of 512 byte blocks for archive I/O (must have blocksize) > -c create new (empty tape archive) > >[ rest snipped for brevity; man page not shown here for brevity, too ] ... Strange: /lusr/danny 133 # uname -a MPE/iX HP939 C.55.03 C.05.08 SERIES 939-020 This system has powerpatch 6 installed, I've seen the same on other systems with powerpatch 7 as well. Read on. /lusr/danny 134# man tar tar(1) MPE/iX Shell and Utilities tar(1) ______________________________________________________________________ NAME tar -- USTAR-compatible tape archiver to copy and back up files SYNOPSIS tar -c[#sbfvwlzU] [-V volpat] [tapefile] [blocksize] file ... tar -r[#sbfvwlzU] [-V volpat] [tapefile] [blocksize] file ... tar -t[#sbfvzU] [-V volpat] [tapefile] [blocksize] [file ...] tar -u[#sbfvwlzU] [-V volpat] [tapefile] [blocksize] file ... tar -x[#sbfvwpmozU] [-V volpat] [tapefile] [blocksize] [file ...] ... No -A here. /lusr/danny 133 # help tar|more tar -- USTAR-compatible tape archiver to copy and back up files Usage: tar -c[#s][AbfvwlzUV] [tapefile] [blocksize] [volpat] file ... tar -r[#s][bfvwlzUV] [tapefile] [blocksize] [volpat] file ... tar -t[#s][AbfvzUV] [tapefile] [blocksize] [volpat] [file ...] tar -u[#s][bfvwlzUV] [tapefile] [blocksize] [volpat] file ... tar -x[#s][AbfvwpmozUV] [tapefile] [blocksize] [volpat] [file ...] Key letters (one of): -A toggles whether or not the -c, -t, and -x options process MPE attributes ... So I stand corrected, partially. Note the absense of the -A flag in the man page. To be frank, I've never used the help command before, always man. > >So, the -A feature does not seem to be undocumented (where else should >I have known it from, if not from the documentation ;-) but it might be >that the PDF manuals at docs.hp.com are outdated... I ran into this problem and reported it to HP. Got a message back from an engineer giving the -A solution, also acknowedging its "undocumentedness". I think she said it would be documented in 6.0 or a recent powerpatch. Hasn't happend with PP7 though. Anyway, that's where I got it from. Are you sure it's on you man pages. If so there must be different versions of these as well :-( Danny A. van Delft [log in to unmask]