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(tar.info)Reading


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Options to Help Read Archives
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   Normally, `tar' will request data in full record increments from an
archive storage device.  If the device cannot return a full record,
`tar' will report an error.  However, some devices do not always return
full records, or do not require the last record of an archive to be
padded out to the next record boundary.  To keep reading until you
obtain a full record, or to accept an incomplete record if it contains
an end-of-archive marker, specify the `--read-full-records' (`-B')
option in conjunction with the `--extract' (`--get', `-x') or `--list'
(`-t') operations.  Note: Blocking.

   The `--read-full-records' (`-B') option is turned on by default when
`tar' reads an archive from standard input, or from a remote machine.
This is because on BSD Unix systems, attempting to read a pipe returns
however much happens to be in the pipe, even if it is less than was
requested.  If this option were not enabled, `tar' would fail as soon
as it read an incomplete record from the pipe.

   If you're not sure of the blocking factor of an archive, you can
read the archive by specifying `--read-full-records' (`-B') and
`--blocking-factor=512-SIZE' (`-b 512-SIZE'), using a blocking factor
larger than what the archive uses.  This lets you avoid having to
determine the blocking factor of an archive.  Note: Blocking Factor.

read full records
Ignore Zeros

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