.help wtar Dec85 softools
.ih
NAME
wtar -- write TAR format archive file
.ih
USAGE
wtar [-flags] [-f archive] [files]
.ih
ARGUMENTS
.ls 12 -d
Print debug messages.
.le
.ls 12 -o
Omit binary files.
.le
.ls 12 -t
Print the name of each file as it is written or omitted.
.le
.ls 12 -v
Verbose mode; print more information about each file.
.le
.ls 12 -f archive
The tar format file to be written, i.e., "stdout", a magtape specification
(e.g., "mta"), or the IRAF virtual filename of a disk file.  The default
is the standard output.
.le
.ls 12 files
The names of the files or root directories of directory trees to be written
to the archive file.  If no files are specified "." (the directory tree rooted
at the current directory) is assumed.
.le
.ih
DESCRIPTION
The named files and directories are written to the indicated UNIX "tar" format
output file.  Any directories in the file list are recursively descended.
The named directories should be subdirectories of the current directory when
\fIwtar\fR is called.  Binary files may be omitted if desired, e.g., when
transporting software to a different host, or when making a backup of a large
system which would otherwise exceed the capacity of a single reel of tape.
All file, directory, and magtape names conform to the IRAF standard.

The output file is normally either a disk file (e.g., if the transport medium
is an electronic network), or a magtape file.  If the output file is a magtape
the tape is rewound before the archive is written, only one file may be written
on a single reel of tape, and the entire file must fit on a single reel of
tape.  The blocking factor is fixed at 10240 bytes per record.  Note that a
disk archive file can be encoded and pushed through a modem to transport
modest size directories to a remote site with minimum delay.

The TAR format file written by \fIwtar\fR conforms to the UNIX standard except
that [1] no link information is preserved, [2] the user and group numbers
may not be preserved (they are preserved in the UNIX version of \fIwtar\fR),
and [3] some versions of \fIwtar\fR (e.g., VMS) pad text files at the end
with extra blank lines.

All \fIwtar\fR filename arguments are IRAF virtual filenames (or host
filenames).  Magtape devices may be specified by their IRAF logical device
name (if the "dev$devices" file is in place and is up to date), or by the
host device name, prefixed with a "mt.", e.g., "mt.MUA1" or "mt./dev/rmt9".
.ih
EXAMPLES
1. Make a source-only archive of the IRAF system on drive B at the default
density.

.nf
	cl> cd iraf
	cl> wtar -of mtb
.fi

2. Make a disk archive of the LIB and PKG directory trees in your home
directory.

	cl> wtar -f home$pkgarc lib pkg 

3. Examine the resultant file to make sure everything worked correctly.

	cl> rtar -tvf home$pkgarc


4. Make a disk archive, using a host filename for the output file.

	cl> wtar -f /tmp2/arc lib pkg sys
.ih
SEE ALSO
rtar, rmbin
