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(tar.info)exclude

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Excluding Some Files
====================

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   To avoid operating on files whose names match a particular pattern,
use the `--exclude=PATTERN' or `--exclude-from=FILE-OF-PATTERNS' (`-X
FILE-OF-PATTERNS') options.

`--exclude=PATTERN'
     Causes `tar' to ignore files that match the PATTERN.

   The `--exclude=PATTERN' option prevents any file or member whose name
matches the shell wildcard (PATTERN) from being operated on.  For
example, to create an archive with all the contents of the directory
`src' except for files whose names end in `.o', use the command `tar
-cf src.tar --exclude='*.o' src'.

   You may give multiple `--exclude' options.

`--exclude-from=FILE'
`-X FILE'
     Causes `tar' to ignore files that match the patterns listed in
     FILE.

   Use the `--exclude-from=FILE-OF-PATTERNS' option to read a list of
patterns, one per line, from FILE; `tar' will ignore files matching
those patterns.  Thus if `tar' is called as `tar -c -X foo .' and the
file `foo' contains a single line `*.o', no files whose names end in
`.o' will be added to the archive.

controlling pattern-patching with exclude

problems with exclude