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- User's Manual
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- RAR 2.80 32-bit console version
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
- Welcome to the RAR Archiver!
- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-
- Introduction
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- RAR is a powerful tool which allows you to manage and control archive
- files. The archive is usually a regular file, which name has a ".rar"
- suffix.
-
- RAR features include:-
-
- * Highly sophisticated, original compression algorithm
- * Special compression algorithm optimized for multimedia data
- * Better compression than similar tools, using 'solid' archiving
- * Authenticity verification (registered version only)
- * Self-extracting archives and volumes (SFX)
- * Ability to recover physically damaged archives
- * Locking, password, file order list, file security & more ...
-
-
- Configuration file
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- RAR for Unix and BeOS read configuration information from the file
- .rarrc in the user's home directory (stored in HOME environment variable)
- or in /etc directory.
-
- RAR for Windows reads configuration information from the file rar.ini,
- placed in the same directory as the rar.exe file.
-
- This file may contain the following string:
-
- switches=<any RAR switches, separated with a space>
-
-
- Environment variable
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- Default parameters may be added to the RAR command line by establishing
- an environment variable "RAR".
-
- For instance, in UNIX following lines may be added to your profile:
-
- RAR='-s -md1024'
- export RAR
-
- RAR will use this string as default parameters in the command line and
- will create "solid" archives with 1024 KB sliding dictionary size.
-
- RAR handles options with priority as following:
-
- command line switches highest priority
- switches in the RAR variable lower priority
- switches saved in configuration file lowest priority
-
-
- Log file
- ~~~~~~~~
-
- If the switch -ilog is specified in the command line or configuration
- file, RAR will write informational messages, concerning errors
- encountered while processing archives, to a log file. In Unix and BeOS
- this file is named .rarlog and placed in the user's home directory.
- In Windows it is named rar.log and placed in the same directory as
- the rar.exe file.
-
-
- The file order list for solid archiving - rarfiles.lst
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- rarfiles.lst contains user-defined file list which tells RAR
- the order to add files to a solid archive. It may contain file
- names, wildcards and special entry - $default. The default
- entry defines the place in order list for files not matched
- with other entries in this file. The comment character is ';'.
-
- In Windows this file should be placed in the same directory as RAR,
- in Unix and BeOS - to the user's home directory or to /etc.
-
- Tips to provide improved compression and speed of operation:
-
- - similar files should be grouped together in the archive;
- - frequently accessed files should be placed at the beginning.
-
-
- RAR command line syntax
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- Syntax
-
- RAR <command> [ -<switches> ] <archive> [ <@listfiles...> ]
- [ <files...> ] [ <path_to_extract\> ]
-
- Specify empty listfile name to read names from stdin
-
- Description
-
- Command line options (commands and switches) provides control of
- creating and managing archives with RAR. The command is a string (or a
- single letter) which commands RAR to perform a corresponding action.
- Switches are designed to modify the way RAR performs the action. Other
- parameters are archive name and files to be archived into or extracted
- from the archive.
-
- In a UNIX environment you need to quote wildcards to avoid them being
- processed by RAR itself. For example, this command will extract
- *.asm files from RAR archives in current path:
-
- rar e '*.rar' '*.asm'
-
-
- Command could be any of the following:
-
- a Add files to archive.
-
- Example:
-
- create or update existent archive myarch, adding all files
- in the current directory
-
- rar a myarch
-
-
- c Add archive comment. Comments are displayed while the archive is
- being processed. Comment length is limited to 62000 bytes
-
- Examples:
-
- rar c distrib.rar
-
- Also comments may be added from a file:
-
- rar c -zinfo.txt dummy
-
-
- cf Add files comment. File comments are displayed when the 'v'
- command is given. File comment length is limited to 32767 bytes.
-
- Example:
-
- rar cf bigarch *.txt
-
-
- cw Write archive comment to specified file.
-
- Example:
-
- rar cw oldarch comment.txt
-
-
- d Delete files from archive. Note, if the processing of this
- command resulted in removing all the files from the archive, the
- empty archive would removed.
-
-
- e Extract files to current directory.
-
-
- f Freshen files in archive. Updates those files changed since they
- were packed to the archive. This command will not add new files
- to the archive.
-
-
- k Lock archive. Any command which intends to change the archive
- will be ignored.
-
- Example:
-
- rar k final.rar
-
-
- l[t] List contents of archive [technical]. Files are listed as with
- the 'v' command with the exception of the file path. i.e. only
- the file name is displayed. Optional technical information is
- displayed when 't' modifier is used.
-
-
- m[f] Move to archive [files only]. Moving files and directories
- results in the files and directories being erased upon
- successful completion of the packing operation. Directories will
- not be removed if 'f' modifier is used and/or '-ed' switch is
- applied.
-
-
- p Print file to stdout.
-
-
- r Repair archive. Archive repairing is performed in two stages.
- First, the damaged archive is searched for a recovery record
- (see 'rr' command). If the archive contains a recovery record
- and if the portion of the damaged data is continuous and less
- than N*512 bytes, where N is number of recovery sectors placed
- into the archive, the chance of successful archive
- reconstruction is very high. When this stage has completed, a
- new archive will be created, called _RECOVER.RAR.
-
- If a broken archive does not contain a recovery record or if
- the archive is not completely recovered due to major damage, a
- second stage is performed. During this stage only the archive
- structure is reconstructed and it is impossible to recover
- files which fail the CRC validation, it is still possible to
- recover undamaged files which were inaccessible due to the
- broken archive structure. Mostly this is useful for non-solid
- archives.
-
- When the second stage is completed, the reconstructed archive
- will be saved as _RECONST.RAR.
-
- While the recovery is in progress, RAR may prompt the user for
- assistance when a suspicious file is detected.
-
- Suspicious entry
-
- Name: <possibly filename>
- Size: <size> Packed: <compressed size>
-
- Add it: Yes/No/All
-
- Answer 'y' to add this entry to the file _RECOVER.RAR.
-
- Example:
-
- rar r buggy.rar
-
-
- rr[N] Add data recovery record. Optionally, redundant information
- (recovery record) may be added to an archive. This will cause
- a small increase of the archive size and helps to recover
- archived files in case of floppy disk failure or data losses of
- any other kind. A recovery record contains up to 32768 recovery
- sectors. The number of sectors may be specified directly in the
- 'rr' command (N = 1, 2 .. 32768) or if it is not specified by the
- user it will be selected automatically according to the archive
- size: a size of the recovery information will be about 1%
- of the total archive size, usually allowing the recovery of
- up to 0.6% of the total archive size of continuously damaged data.
-
- It is also possible to specify the recovery record size in
- percents to the archive size. Just append the percent character
- to the command parameter. For example:
-
- rar rr3% arcname
-
- If data are damaged continuously then each rr-sector helps to
- recover 512 bytes of damaged information. This value may be
- lower in cases of multiple damage.
-
- The size of the recovery record may be approximately determined
- by the formula <archive size>/256 + <number of recovery
- sectors>*512 bytes.
-
-
- s[name] Convert archive to SFX. The archive is merged with SFX-module
- (using a module in file default.sfx or specified in the switch).
- In the Windows version default.sfx should be placed in the
- same directory as the rar.exe, in Unix and BeOS - in the user's
- home directory, in /usr/lib or /usr/local/lib.
-
- s- Remove SFX module from the already existing SFX archive.
- RAR creates a new archive without SFX module, the original
- SFX archive is not deleted.
-
- t Test archive files. This command performs a dummy file
- extraction, writing nothing to the output stream, in order to
- validate the specified file(s).
-
- Examples:
-
- Test archives in current directory:
-
- rar t *
-
- or for Unix:
-
- rar t '*'
-
- User may test archives in all sub-directories, starting
- with the current path:
-
- rar t -r *
-
- or for Unix:
-
- rar t -r '*'
-
-
- u Update files in archive. Adds files not already in the archive
- and updates files changed since they were packed to the archive.
-
-
- v[t] Verbosely list the contents of archive [technical].
- Files are listed using the format: full pathname, file comment,
- original and compressed size, compression ratio, last update
- date and time, attributes, CRC, compression method and minimum
- RAR version required to extract. Optional technical information
- is displayed when 't' modifier is used.
-
- To list the contents of all archive volumes, use an asterisk
- ('*') in place of the archive file extension or use the '-v'
- switch.
-
- Example:
-
- direct archive content list (technical) to a file
-
- rar vt bambam >bambam.lst
-
-
- x Extract files with full path.
-
- Example:
-
- rar x -av- -c- dime 10cents.txt
-
- extract specified file to current path. AV check and comment
- show are disabled.
-
-
- Switches (used in conjunction with a command):
-
-
- -? Display help on commands and switches. The same as when none
- or an illegal command line option is entered.
-
-
- -- Stop switches scanning
-
- This switch tells to RAR that there is no more switches
- in the command line. It could be useful, if either archive
- or file name starts from '-' character. Without '--' switch
- such name would be treated as switch.
-
- Example:
-
- add all files from the current directory to the solid archive
- '-StrangeName'
-
- RAR a -s -- -StrangeName
-
- -ac Clear Archive attribute after compression or extraction
- (Windows version only).
-
-
- -ag[format]
- Generate archive name using the current date and time.
-
- Appends the current date string to an archive name when
- creating an archive. Useful for daily backups.
-
- Format of the appending string is defined by the optional
- "format" parameter or by "YYYYMMDDHHMMSS" if this parameter
- is absent. Format string may include the following characters:
-
- Y - year
- M - month
- MMM - month name as text string (Jan, Feb, etc.)
- W - a week number (a week starts with Monday)
- A - day of week number (Monday is 1, Sunday - 7)
- D - day of month
- H - hours
- M - minutes (treated as minutes if encountered after hours)
- S - seconds
-
- All other characters are added to an archive name without
- changes.
-
- Examples:
-
- 1) use the default YYYYMMDDHHMMSS format
-
- rar a -ag backup
-
- 2) use DD-MMM-YY format
-
- rar a -agDD-MMM-YY backup
-
- 3) use YYYYMMDDHHMM format
-
- rar a -agYYYYMMDDHHMM backup
-
- 4) use YYYY-WW-A format
-
- rar a -agYYYY-WW-A backup
-
-
- -ao Add files with Archive attribute set
- (Windows version only).
-
- Example:
-
- add all disk C: files with Archive attribute set
- to the 'f:backup' and clear files Archive attribute
-
- rar a -r -ac -ao f:backup c:\*.*
-
-
- -ap Set path inside archive. This path is merged to file
- names when adding files to an archive and removed
- from file names when extracting.
-
- For example, if you wish to add the file 'readme.txt'
- to the directory 'DOCS\ENG' of archive 'release',
- you may run:
-
- rar a -apDOCS\ENG release readme.txt
-
- or to extract 'ENG' to the current directory:
-
- rar x -apDOCS release DOCS\ENG\*.*
-
-
- -as Synchronize archive contents
-
- If this switch is used when archiving, those archived files
- which are not present in the list of the currently added
- files, will be deleted from archive. It is convenient to use
- this switch in combination with -u (update) to synchronize
- contents of an archive and an archiving directory.
-
- For example, after the command:
-
- rar a -u -as backup sources\*.cpp
-
- the archive 'backup.rar' will contain only *.cpp files
- from directory 'sources', all other files will be deleted
- from the archive. It looks similar to creating a new archive,
- but with the one important exception: if no files are
- modified since a last backup, the operation is performed
- much faster than creation of a new archive.
-
-
- -av Put authenticity verification (registered versions only).
- RAR will put, in every new and updated archive, information
- concerning the creator, last update time and archive name.
-
- If an archive, containing authenticity verification, is being
- modified and this switch is not specified, the authenticity
- verification information will be removed.
-
- When extracting, testing, listing or updating and archive with
- the '-av' switch, RAR will perform integrity validation and
- display the message:
-
- Verifying authenticity information ...
-
- In the case of successful authenticity verification, the message
- 'Ok', creator name and last update information will be
- displayed. In the case of authenticity verification failure, the
- message 'FAILED' will be displayed.
-
- The Authenticity Verification feature, '-av,' is recommended for
- use with archives in a software distribution environment.
-
- In order to enable the Authenticity verification feature, the
- program MUST be registered. Please contact your local
- distribution site or the world-wide distribution center.
-
-
- -av- Disable authenticity verification checking or adding.
-
-
- -cfg- Disable read configuration and environment.
-
-
- -cl Convert file names to lower case.
-
-
- -cu Convert file names to upper case.
-
-
- -c- Disable comments show.
-
-
- -df Delete files after archiving
-
- Move files to archive. This switch in combination with
- the command "A" performs the same action as the command "M".
-
-
- -dh Open shared files
-
- Allows to process files opened by other applications
- for writing.
-
- This option could be dangerous, because it allows
- to archive a file, which at the same time is modifying
- by an other application, so use it carefully.
-
-
- -ds Do not sort files while adding to a solid archive.
-
-
- -ed Do not add empty directories
-
- This switch indicates that empty directories are not to be
- stored in the created archive.
-
-
- -ee Do not process extended attributes
-
- Disables saving and restoring extended file attributes.
- Only for OS/2 and BeOS versions.
-
-
- -ep Exclude paths from names. This switch enables files to be added
- to an archive without including the path information. This
- could, of course, result in multiple files existing in the
- archive with the same name.
-
-
- -ep1 Exclude base dir from names. Do not store the path entered in
- the command line.
-
- Example:
-
- all files and directories from the directory tmp will be added
- to the archive 'test', but the path in archived names will not
- include 'tmp\'
-
- rar a -ep1 -r test tmp\*
-
- This is equivalent to the commands:
-
- cd tmp
- rar a -r ..\test
- cd ..
-
-
- -ep2 Expand paths to full. Store full file paths (except a drive
- letter and leading path separator) when archiving.
-
-
- -e<atr> Specifies file exclude attributes mask. <atr> is a number in the
- decimal, octal (with leading '0') or hex (with leading '0x')
- format. If result of bitwise AND between <atr> and file
- attributes is nonzero, then file would not be added to archive.
-
- In the Windows version also is possible to use instead of
- digital mask symbols D, S, H, A and R to denote directories
- and files with system, hidden, archive and read-only attributes.
- The order in which the attributes are given is not significant.
-
-
- -f Freshen files. May be used with archive extraction or creation.
- The command string "a -f" is equivalent to the command 'f', you
- could also use the switch '-f' with the commands 'm' or 'mf'. If
- the switch '-f' is used with the commands 'x' or 'e', then only
- old files would be replaced with new versions extracted from the
- archive.
-
-
- -idp Disable percentage indicator.
-
- May be useful when redirecting output to a file.
-
-
- -ierr Send all messages to stderr.
-
-
- -ilog Log errors to file (registered version only).
-
-
- -inul Disable all messages.
-
-
- -isnd Enable sound.
-
-
- -k Lock archive. Any command which intends to change the archive
- will be ignored.
-
-
- -kb Keep broken extracted files.
-
- RAR, by default, deletes files with CRC errors after
- extraction. The switch -kb specifies that files with
- CRC errors should not be deleted.
-
-
- -m<n> Set compression method:
-
- -m0 store do not compress file when adding to archive
- -m1 fastest use fastest method (less compressive)
- -m2 fast use fast compression method
- -m3 normal use normal (default) compression method
- -m4 good use good compression method (more
- compressive, but slower)
- -m5 best use best compression method (slightly more
- compressive, but slowest)
-
- By default RAR uses -m3 method (Normal compression).
-
-
- -md<n> Select dictionary size <n> in KB. Must be 64, 128, 256, 512 or
- 1024 or a letter 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd' or 'e' respectively.
-
- The sliding dictionary is a special memory area used by the
- compression algorithm. If the size of the file being compressed
- (or the total files size in the case of a solid archive) is
- greater than the dictionary size, then increasing the dictionary
- size will generally increase compression ratio, decrease packing
- speed and increase memory requirements.
-
- Default sliding dictionary size in 32-bit versions of RAR is 1024
- KB. In RAR versions for Unix, Windows and other 32-bit platforms
- it is possible to select five different sizes: 64, 128, 256, 512
- or 1024 KB. Besides, speed of extraction in these versions does
- not depend upon dictionary size. In 16-bit version RAR for DOS
- the sliding dictionary size is fixed and equal to 64 KB.
- Though RAR for DOS provides extracting files from large
- dictionary archives.
-
- The amount of memory required to create large dictionary
- archives is determined as 5*<dictionary size>+2560KB. About 1 Mb
- is required for extraction and 5*<dictionary size>+3584KB to
- update solid archives.
-
- RAR for DOS can extract from large dictionary archives using
- conventional, EMS and disk memory. If no EMS or disk
- cache is available, the operation may slow down significantly. RAR
- for DOS cannot convert large dictionary archives to SFX with the
- default SFX module and cannot update such solid archives.
-
- Example:
-
- RAR a -s -mdd sources *.asm
- or
- RAR a -s -md512 sources *.asm
-
- Will create a solid archive using a 512 KB dictionary.
-
- -mm[f] Multimedia compression [force]. Enables a special multimedia
- compression algorithm. It is intended to compress digital audio
- data containing up to four 8-bit or two 16-bit channels. It
- works well with true color (24-bit) bitmaps as well.
- Improvement in the compression ratio up to 30% over the normal
- compression may be achieved.
-
- When archiving file in the multimedia mode RAR performs
- intelligent data analysis and may use, for different parts of
- the file, general or multimedia compression depending on which
- is more suitable. Such analysis allows optimum performance when
- different data types are merged in the same file. The 'f'
- modifier forces the multimedia compression to be used for the
- whole file; it may help when certain multimedia files are to be
- compressed, but in most cases only increases archive size.
-
- Both the -m<N> "Set compression method" and -s "Create solid
- archive" switches can be used with multimedia compression,
- but they are in effect for those file parts where the general
- algorithm applies.
-
- If -mm is used with non-multimedia data, the compression ratio
- is usually unchanged in comparison with the general method, but
- due to multimedia analysis overhead, the packing speed is always
- slower. The usage of -mm is not recommended with normal data
- files.
-
- Example:
-
- rar a -m5 -s -mm All_My_Songs.rar *.wav
-
- Use the tightest compression method, solid archiving and
- multimedia compression with smart analysis, which method
- should be applied for particular data.
-
-
- -ol Save symbolic links as the link instead of the file.
- Unix and BeOS versions only.
-
-
- -os Save NTFS streams. Win32 version only.
-
- This switch has meaning only for NTFS file system under
- Windows NT and allows to save alternative data streams
- associated with a file. It is especially important under
- Windows 2000, which uses streams to keep some file dependent
- information like file descriptions. If you use RAR to backup
- your NTFS disks, it is recommended to specify this switch.
-
-
- -ow Use this switch when archiving to save file security
- information and when extracting to restore it.
-
- Unix and BeOS RAR versions save file owner and group
- when using this switch.
-
- Win32 version stores owner, group, file permissions and
- audit information, but only if you have necessary privileges
- to read them. Note that only NTFS file system supports
- file based security under Windows.
-
- -o+ Overwrite existing files.
-
-
- -o- Do not overwrite existing files.
-
-
- -p<p> Encrypt files with the string <p> as password while archiving.
- The password is case-sensitive. If you omit the password on the
- command line, you will be prompted with message "Enter password".
-
- Example:
-
- rar a -pmyhoney secret1 *.txt
-
- add files *.txt and encrypt them with password "myhoney".
-
-
- -p- Do not query password
-
-
- -r Recurse subdirectories. May be used with commands:
- a, u, f, m, x, e, t, p, v, l, c, cf and s.
-
- When used with the commands 'a', 'u', 'f', 'm' will process
- files in all sub-directories as well as the current working
- directory.
-
- When used with the commands x, e, t, p, v, l, c, cf or s will
- process all archives in sub-directories as well as the current
- working directory.
-
-
- -r0 Similar to -r, but when used with the commands 'a', 'u', 'f',
- 'm' will recurse subdirectories only for those names, which
- include wildcard characters '*' and '?'
-
-
- -ri<p>[:<s>]
- Set priority and sleep time. Available only in RAR for Windows.
- This switch is used to regulate system load by RAR in a
- multitasking environment. The possible task priority values are
- from 0 to 15. When <p> is equal to 0, the default task priority
- is used, 1 corresponding to the lowest task priority, 15 - to
- the highest. The sleep time <s> is a value from 0 to 1000
- (milliseconds). This is the period of time that RAR will give
- back to system after every read or write during the packing or
- unpacking operation. The sleep time setting is useful when
- several tasks with the same priority are running in the system.
-
- Example:
-
- execute RAR with default priority and 10 ms of sleep after
- each read or write
-
- rar a -r -sfx -ri0:10 backup *.*
-
-
- -rr[N] Add a data recovery record. This switch is used when creating or
- modifying archive to add a data recovery record to the archive.
- See the 'rr[N]' command description for details.
-
-
- -s Create solid archive. Solid is a special archive type. Please
- refer to the appendix "Glossary" for further information.
-
- Example:
-
- create solid archive sources.rar with 512 KB dictionary,
- recursing all directories, starting with the current directory.
- Add only .asm files:
-
- rar a -s -md512 sources.rar *.asm -r
-
-
- -s<N> Create solid groups using file count
-
- Similar to -s, but reset solid statistics after compressing
- <N> files. Usually decreases compression, but also
- decreases losses in case of solid archive damages.
-
-
- -sd Create dependent solid volumes
-
- Similar to -s, but shares solid statistics among volumes.
- Ignored, if used to create non-volume archive.
-
- By default RAR tries to reset solid statistics as soon
- as possible when starting a new volume and this switch
- overrides such behaviour. It slightly increases compression,
- but significantly reduces chances to extract a part of data
- if one of solid volumes in volume set was lost or damaged.
-
-
- -se Create solid groups using extension
-
- Similar to -s, but reset solid statistics if file extension
- is changed. Usually decreases compression, but also
- decreases losses from solid archive damages.
-
-
- -s- Disable solid archiving
-
-
- -sfx[name]
- Create SFX archives. If this switch is used when creating a new
- archive, a Self-Extracting archive (using a module in file
- default.sfx or specified in the switch) would be created.
- In the Windows version default.sfx should be placed in the
- same directory as the rar.exe, in Unix and BeOS - in the user's
- home directory, in /usr/lib or /usr/local/lib.
-
- Example:
-
- rar a -sfxwincon.sfx myinst
-
- create SelF-eXtracting (SFX) archive using wincon.sfx
- SFX-module.
-
-
- -tk Keep original archive date. Prevents RAR from modifying the
- archive date when changing an archive.
-
-
- -tl Set archive time to newest file. Forces RAR to set the date of a
- changed archive to the date of the newest file in the archive.
-
-
- -tn<time>
- Process files newer than the specified time period. Format
- of the time string is:
-
- [<ndays>d][<nhours>h][<nminutes>m][<nseconds>s]
-
- For example, use switch -tn15d to process files newer
- than 15 days and -tn2h30m to process files newer than
- 2 hours 30 minutes.
-
-
- -to<time>
- Process files older than the specified time period. Format
- of the switch is the same as -tn<time>.
-
-
- -u Update files. May be used with archive extraction or creation.
- The command string "a -u" is equivalent to the command 'u', you
- could also use the switch '-u' with the commands 'm' or 'mf'. If
- the switch '-u' is used with the commands 'x' or 'e', then files
- not present on the disk and files newer than their copies on the
- disk would extracted from the archive.
-
-
- -v<size>[k|b|f|m|M]
- Create volumes with size=<size>*1000 [*1024 | *1].
- By default this switch uses <size> as thousands (1000) of bytes
- (not 1024 x bytes). You may also enter the size in kilobytes
- using the symbol 'k', in bytes using the symbol 'b',
- in megabytes - 'm', in millions of bytes - 'M' or select
- one of several predefined values using the symbol 'f'
- following the numerical value. Predefined values can be
- 360, 720, 1200, 1440 or 2880 and replaced with corresponding
- floppy disk size.
-
- If the size is omitted, autodetection will be used.
-
- If volumes are created on removable media, then after
- the first volume has been created, user will be prompted
- with:
-
- Create next volume: Yes/No/All
-
- At this moment in time, you should change the disks. Answering
- 'A' will cause all volumes to be created without a pause.
-
- The first volume file in a multi-volume set has the extension
- .RAR, following volumes are numbered from .R00 to .R99.
-
- When extracting or testing a multi-volume archive you must use
- only the first volume name (*.RAR). If there is no next volume
- on the drive and the disk is removable, the user will be
- prompted with:
-
- Insert disk with <next volume name>
-
- Insert the disk with the correct volume and press any key.
-
- If while extracting, the next volume is not found and volumes
- are placed on the non-removable disk, RAR will abort with
- the error message:
-
- Cannot find <volume name>
-
- Archive volumes may not be modified. The commands 'd', 'f', 'u',
- 's' can not be used with Multi-volume sets. The command 'a' may
- be used only for the creation of a new multi-volume sequence.
-
- It is possible, although unlikely, that the file size, of a file
- in a multi-volume set, could be greater than it's uncompressed
- size. This is due to the fact that 'storing' (no compression if
- size increases) cannot be enabled for multi-volume sets.
-
- Archive volumes may be Self-Extracting (SFX). Such an archive
- should be created using both the '-v' and '-sfx' switches.
-
- Example:
-
- create archive in volumes of fixed size:
-
- rar a -s -v1440 floparch.rar *.*
-
- will create solid volumes of size 1440000 bytes.
-
- -vd Erase disk contents before creating volume
-
- All files and directories on the target disk will be erased
- when '-vd' is used. The switch applies only to removable
- media, the hard disk cannot be erased using this switch.
-
- -vp Pause before each volume
-
- By default RAR asks for confirmation before creating or
- unpacking next volume only for removable drives.
- This switch forces RAR to ask such confirmation always.
- It can be useful if disk space is limited and you wish
- to copy each volume to another media immediately after
- creating.
-
- -w<p> Assign work directory as <p>. This switch may be used to assign
- the directory for temporary files.
-
-
- -x<f> Exclude specified file <f>, wildcards may be used. You may
- specify the switch '-x' several times:
-
- Example:
-
- rar a -r -x*.bak -x*.rar rawfiles
-
- *.bak and *.rar files will not be added to rawfiles
-
-
- -x@<lf> Exclude files using specified list file.
-
- Example:
-
- rar a -x@exlist.txt arch *.exe
-
-
- -y Assume Yes on all queries.
-
-
- -z<f> Read archive comment from file <f>.
-
-
- Limitations
- ~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- Pathname is limited to 259 symbols.
-
- Maximum archive comment length is 62000 bytes.
-
- Command limitations:
-
- The commands 'd','u','f','c','cf' will not operate with archive
- volumes.
-
- The command 'a' cannot be used to update an archive volume, only to
- create one.
-
-
- Exit values
- ~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- RAR exits with a zero code (0) in case of successful operation. The exit
- code of non-zero means the operation is cancelled due to error:
-
- 255 USER BREAK User stopped the process
-
- 8 MEMORY ERROR Not enough memory for operation
-
- 7 USER ERROR Command line option error
-
- 6 OPEN ERROR Open file error
-
- 5 WRITE ERROR Write to disk error
-
- 4 LOCKED ARCHIVE Attempt to modify an archive previously locked
- by the 'k' command
-
- 3 CRC ERROR A CRC error occurred when unpacking
-
- 2 FATAL ERROR A fatal error occurred
-
- 1 WARNING Non fatal error(s) occurred
-
- 0 SUCCESS Successful operation (User exit)
-
-
- Glossary
- ~~~~~~~~
-
- Archive Special file containing one or more files optionally
- compressed and/or encrypted.
-
- Compression A method of encoding data to reduce it's size.
-
- CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check. Mathematical method calculating
- special checking information for data validity.
-
- SFX Archive module used to extract files from when executed.
- (SelF-eXtracting module), usually in the form of a .EXE
- file.
-
- Solid An archive packed using a special compression method which
- sees all files as one continuous data stream. Particularly
- advantageous when packing a large number of small files.
-
- Volume Part of a split archive. Splitting an archive to volumes
- allows storing them on diskettes. Solid volumes must be
- extracted starting from first in sequence.
-
-
-
- Copyrights
-
- (c) 1993-2001 Eugene Roshal
-
-
-
-