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Basic `tar' Operations and Options
==================================

   `tar' can take a wide variety of arguments which specify and define
the actions it will have on the particular set of files or the archive.
The main types of arguments to `tar' fall into one of two classes:
operations, and options.

   Some arguments fall into a class called "operations"; exactly one of
these is both allowed and required for any instance of using `tar'; you
may _not_ specify more than one.  People sometimes speak of "operating
modes".  You are in a particular operating mode when you have specified
the operation which specifies it; there are eight operations in total,
and thus there are eight operating modes.

   The other arguments fall into the class known as "options".  You are
not required to specify any options, and you are allowed to specify more
than one at a time (depending on the way you are using `tar' at that
time).  Some options are used so frequently, and are so useful for
helping you type commands more carefully that they are effectively
"required".  We will discuss them in this chapter.

   You can write most of the `tar' operations and options in any of
three forms: long (mnemonic) form, short form, and old style.  Some of
the operations and options have no short or "old" forms; however, the
operations and options which we will cover in this tutorial have
corresponding abbreviations.  We will indicate those abbreviations
appropriately to get you used to seeing them.  (Note that the "old
style" option forms exist in GNU `tar' for compatibility with Unix
`tar'.  We present a full discussion of this way of writing options and
operations appears in Note: Old Options, and we discuss the other two
styles of writing options in Note: Mnemonic Options and Note: Short
Options.)

   In the examples and in the text of this tutorial, we usually use the
long forms of operations and options; but the "short" forms produce the
same result and can make typing long `tar' commands easier.  For
example, instead of typing

     tar --create --verbose --file=afiles.tar apple angst aspic

you can type
     tar -c -v -f afiles.tar apple angst aspic

or even
     tar -cvf afiles.tar apple angst aspic

For more information on option syntax, see Note: Advanced tar.  In
discussions in the text, when we name an option by its long form, we
also give the corresponding short option in parentheses.

   The term, "option", can be confusing at times, since "operations"
are often lumped in with the actual, _optional_ "options" in certain
general class statements.  For example, we just talked about "short and
long forms of options and operations".  However, experienced `tar'
users often refer to these by shorthand terms such as, "short and long
options".  This term assumes that the "operations" are included, also.
Context will help you determine which definition of "options" to use.

   Similarly, the term "command" can be confusing, as it is often used
in two different ways.  People sometimes refer to `tar' "commands".  A
`tar' "command" is the entire command line of user input which tells
`tar' what to do -- including the operation, options, and any arguments
(file names, pipes, other commands, etc).  However, you will also
sometimes hear the term "the `tar' command".  When the word "command"
is used specifically like this, a person is usually referring to the
`tar' _operation_, not the whole line.  Again, use context to figure
out which of the meanings the speaker intends.


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