Options Used by @option{--create}
+* override:: Overriding File Metadata.
* Ignore Failed Read::
Options Used by @option{--extract}
* Standard:: Basic Tar Format
* Extensions:: @acronym{GNU} Extensions to the Archive Format
+* Sparse Formats:: Storing Sparse Files
* Snapshot Files::
* Dumpdir::
+Storing Sparse Files
+
+* Old GNU Format::
+* PAX 0:: PAX Format, Versions 0.0 and 0.1
+* PAX 1:: PAX Format, Version 1.0
+
Copying This Manual
* GNU Free Documentation License:: License for copying this manual
to note these differences, and only use the option style(s) which
makes the most sense to you until you feel comfortable with the others.
-Some options @emph{may} take an argument (currently, there are
-two such options: @option{--backup} and @option{--occurrence}). Such
-options may have at most long and short forms, they do not have old style
-equivalent. The rules for specifying an argument for such options
-are stricter than those for specifying mandatory arguments. Please,
-pay special attention to them.
+Some options @emph{may} take an argument. Such options may have at
+most long and short forms, they do not have old style equivalent. The
+rules for specifying an argument for such options are stricter than
+those for specifying mandatory arguments. Please, pay special
+attention to them.
@menu
* Long Options:: Long Option Style
Files added to the @command{tar} archive will have a group id of @var{group},
rather than the group from the source file. @var{group} is first decoded
as a group symbolic name, but if this interpretation fails, it has to be
-a decimal numeric group ID. @FIXME-xref{}
+a decimal numeric group ID. @xref{override}.
Also see the comments for the @option{--owner=@var{user}} option.
When adding files to an archive, @command{tar} will use
@var{permissions} for the archive members, rather than the permissions
-from the files. The program @command{chmod} and this @command{tar}
-option share the same syntax for what @var{permissions} might be.
-@xref{File permissions, Permissions, File permissions, fileutils,
-@acronym{GNU} file utilities}. This reference also has useful
-information for those not being overly familiar with the Unix
-permission system.
-
-Of course, @var{permissions} might be plainly specified as an octal number.
-However, by using generic symbolic modifications to mode bits, this allows
-more flexibility. For example, the value @samp{a+rw} adds read and write
-permissions for everybody, while retaining executable bits on directories
-or on any other file already marked as executable.
+from the files. @var{permissions} can be specified either as an octal
+number or as symbolic permissions, like with
+@command{chmod}. @xref{override}.
+
+@opsummary{mtime}
+@item --mtime=@var{date}
+
+When adding files to an archive, @command{tar} will use @var{date} as
+the modification time of members when creating archives, instead of
+their actual modification times. The value of @var{date} can be
+either a textual date representation (@pxref{Date input formats}) or a
+name of the existing file, starting with @samp{/} or @samp{.}. In the
+latter case, the modification time of that file is used. @xref{override}.
@opsummary{multi-volume}
@item --multi-volume
Like @option{--newer}, but add only files whose
contents have changed (as opposed to just @option{--newer}, which will
-also back up files for which any status information has changed).
+also back up files for which any status information has
+changed). @xref{after}.
@opsummary{no-anchored}
@item --no-anchored
when creating archives, instead of the user associated with the source
file. @var{user} is first decoded as a user symbolic name, but if
this interpretation fails, it has to be a decimal numeric user ID.
-@FIXME-xref{}
-
-There is no value indicating a missing number, and @samp{0} usually means
-@code{root}. Some people like to force @samp{0} as the value to offer in
-their distributions for the owner of files, because the @code{root} user is
-anonymous anyway, so that might as well be the owner of anonymous archives.
+@xref{override}.
This option does not affect extraction from archives.
@option{--create}.
@menu
+* override:: Overriding File Metadata.
* Ignore Failed Read::
@end menu
+@node override
+@subsection Overriding File Metadata
+
+As described above, a @command{tar} archive keeps, for each member it contains,
+its @dfn{metadata}, such as modification time, mode and ownership of
+the file. @GNUTAR{} allows to replace these data with other values
+when adding files to the archive. The options described in this
+section affect creation of archives of any type. For POSIX archives,
+see also @ref{PAX keywords}, for additional ways of controlling
+metadata, stored in the archive.
+
+@table @option
+@opindex mode
+@item --mode=@var{permissions}
+
+When adding files to an archive, @command{tar} will use
+@var{permissions} for the archive members, rather than the permissions
+from the files. @var{permissions} can be specified either as an octal
+number or as symbolic permissions, like with
+@command{chmod} (@xref{File permissions, Permissions, File
+permissions, fileutils, @acronym{GNU} file utilities}. This reference
+also has useful information for those not being overly familiar with
+the UNIX permission system). Using latter syntax allows for
+more flexibility. For example, the value @samp{a+rw} adds read and write
+permissions for everybody, while retaining executable bits on directories
+or on any other file already marked as executable:
+
+@smallexample
+$ @kbd{tar -c -f archive.tar --mode='a+rw' .}
+@end smallexample
+
+@item --mtime=@var{date}
+@opindex mtime
+
+When adding files to an archive, @command{tar} will use @var{date} as
+the modification time of members when creating archives, instead of
+their actual modification times. The argument @var{date} can be
+either a textual date representation in almost arbitrary format
+(@pxref{Date input formats}) or a name of the existing file, starting
+with @samp{/} or @samp{.}. In the latter case, the modification time
+of that file will be used.
+
+The following example will set the modification date to 00:00:00 UTC,
+January 1, 1970:
+
+@smallexample
+$ @kbd{tar -c -f archive.tar --mtime='1970-01-01' .}
+@end smallexample
+
+@noindent
+When used with @option{--verbose} (@pxref{verbose tutorial}) @GNUTAR{}
+will try to convert the specified date back to its textual
+representation and compare it with the one given with
+@option{--mtime} options. If the two dates differ, @command{tar} will
+print a warning saying what date it will use. This is to help user
+ensure he is using the right date.
+
+For example:
+
+@smallexample
+$ @kbd{tar -c -f archive.tar -v --mtime=yesterday .}
+tar: Option --mtime: Treating date `yesterday' as 2006-06-20
+13:06:29.152478
+@dots{}
+@end smallexample
+
+@item --owner=@var{user}
+@opindex owner
+
+Specifies that @command{tar} should use @var{user} as the owner of members
+when creating archives, instead of the user associated with the source
+file. The argument @var{user} can be either an existing user symbolic
+name, or a decimal numeric user ID.
+
+There is no value indicating a missing number, and @samp{0} usually means
+@code{root}. Some people like to force @samp{0} as the value to offer in
+their distributions for the owner of files, because the @code{root} user is
+anonymous anyway, so that might as well be the owner of anonymous
+archives. For example:
+
+@smallexample
+@group
+$ @kbd{tar -c -f archive.tar --owner=0 .}
+# @r{Or:}
+$ @kbd{tar -c -f archive.tar --owner=root .}
+@end group
+@end smallexample
+
+@item --group=@var{group}
+@opindex group
+
+Files added to the @command{tar} archive will have a group id of @var{group},
+rather than the group from the source file. The argument @var{group}
+can be either an existing group symbolic name, or a decimal numeric group ID.
+@end table
+
@node Ignore Failed Read
@subsection Ignore Fail Read
@table @option
@item --ignore-failed-read
+@opindex ignore-failed-read
Do not exit with nonzero on unreadable files or directories.
@end table
$ @kbd{tar -cf foo.tar --newer-mtime '2 days ago'}
@end smallexample
+When any of these options is used with the option @option{--verbose}
+(@pxref{verbose tutorial}) @GNUTAR{} will try to convert the specified
+date back to its textual representation and compare that with the
+one given with the option. If the two dates differ, @command{tar} will
+print a warning saying what date it will use. This is to help user
+ensure he is using the right date. For example:
+
+@smallexample
+@group
+$ @kbd{tar -c -f archive.tar --after-date='10 days ago' .}
+tar: Option --after-date: Treating date `10 days ago' as 2006-06-11
+13:19:37.232434
+@end group
+@end smallexample
+
@quotation
@strong{Please Note:} @option{--after-date} and @option{--newer-mtime}
should not be used for incremental backups. @xref{Incremental Dumps},
@acronym{GNU} options. For now, it is an option needing to be specified on
the command line with the creation or updating of an archive.
-Files in the file system occasionally have ``holes.'' A hole in a file
+Files in the file system occasionally have @dfn{holes}. A @dfn{hole} in a file
is a section of the file's contents which was never written. The
contents of a hole read as all zeros. On many operating systems,
actual disk storage is not allocated for holes, but they are counted
projects / chaz / tar / blobdiff