NAME
z - safely (un)tar and (de)feather files and directories
SYNOPSIS
z [ -t | -T ] [ -v | -V ]
[ -l | -L ] [ -g | -G ]
[ -gz | -z | -I | -lz | -xz | -Z |
-zip | -jar ]
[ -# ] [ -s suffix ] [ -m mode ]
[ -p | -P ] [ -h ] [ -- ] file ...
DESCRIPTION
Z is a simple, safe and convenient front-end for the
compress(1), uncompress(1), gzip(1), pigz(1),
bzip2(1), lbzip2(1), pbzip2(1), lzip(1),
xz(1), pixz(1), tar(1), zip(1) and
unzip(1) utilities for compressing and uncompressing files and
directories. It processes each of its arguments according to the type
of the file or directory given:
If the argument is a plain file, then the file is compressed, ie,
feathered.
If the argument is a compressed file with a name ending in .Z,
.gz, .z, .bz2, .lz, .xz, .zip or
.jar, then the file is uncompressed, ie, defeathered.
If the argument is a directory, then the directory is archived into one
tar or zip file which is then compressed, ie, tarred and feathered.
If the argument is a compressed tar or zip archive with a name ending
in .{tar.,tar,ta,t}{Z,gz,z,bz2,lz,xz} or .{zip,jar}, then the
archive is uncompressed and untarred, ie, untarred and defeathered.
The new compressed or uncompressed version will be in the same
directory as the original. A compressed file is always uncompressed
into a file with the same name sans the feather suffix. A compressed
tar or zip archive is always unpacked into a subdirectory with the same
name as the archive sans the tar and feather suffix, even if the archive
did not itself contain such a subdirectory.
OPTIONS
- --
- Interprets all following arguments as files instead of options.
- -#
- Where # is a digit from 1 through 9. This option is passed on
to gzip(1), bzip2(1), lzip(1), xz(1) and
zip(1) when feathering with them. --fast may be used
instead of -1 and --best instead of -9.
- -bz
- Uses bzip2(1) and a .bz2 compression suffix when
feathering.
- -g
- Uses parallel versions (pigz(1), lbzip2(1),
pbzip2(1), pixz(1)) of the utilities (gzip(1),
bzip2(1), xz(1)) if available. Default.
- -G
- Does not use parallel versions of the utilities even if they are available.
- -gz
- Uses gzip(1) and a .gz compression suffix when
feathering. Default.
- -h
- Prints a helpful usage message.
- -l
- Lists the file or directory name created resulting from each argument.
- -L
- Does not report created files or directories. Default.
- -lz
- Uses lzip(1) and a .lz compression suffix when
feathering.
- -m mode
- Apply the given chmod(1) mode argument to any created tar
and feather files. Before this argument is applied, the files
have the same read and write permissions as the directories from
which they were created. For security, the default argument is
go-rwx. If the mode is -, then no argument is applied.
See chmod(1) for all other allowable formats of this argument.
- -p
- Preserves modes when untarring by giving the p flag to
tar(1). Default.
- -P
- Doesn't preserve modes when untarring by not giving the p
flag to tar(1). This option may be necessary on systems
where ordinary users are allowed to run chown(2).
- -s suffix
- Creates tar and feather files using the given suffix style.
The default suffix style is .tgz. Note that the suffix
style does not dictate the program used for feathering nor the
compression suffix.
- -t
- Only lists the table of contents of the given files. Does not make
any changes.
- -T
- (Un)tars and (de)feathers the given files according to their type.
Default.
- -v
- Verbose output. For example, reports compression ratios when feathering.
- -V
- Non-verbose output. Does not report compression ratios. Default.
-q is a synonym.
- -xz
- Uses xz(1) and a .xz compression suffix when
feathering.
- -z
- Uses gzip(1) and a .z compression suffix when
feathering.
- -Z
- Uses compress(1) and a .Z compression suffix when
feathering.
- -zip, -jar
- Uses zip(1) and a .zip or .jar compression
suffix when tarring and/or feathering. The zip format combines
tarring and feathering. WARNING: zip does not preserve
complete Unix filesystem information for the files it archives,
such as links, some permissions, etc. A tar(1)-based format
should be used if this is required.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
- ZOPTS
- This variable may be set to a string of the above options to supersede
the default settings. They may still be overridden by options given
on the command line.
- GZIP, ZIPOPT, UNZIP, LBZIP2, BZIP2, BZIP
- These environment variables are not passed on by z
so that behavior is standard and predictable.
BUGS
There should be an option to allow the use of another directory
for temporary files needed during the (un)tarring and (de)feathering
processes. This would make z more useful when the quota or disk
is nearly full.
There should be -k and -K options for keeping the
original input files or not.
CAVEATS
Z is written to work with gzip versions 1.2.3 and 1.2.4,
bzip2 versions 0.9.0 and 1.0.0, Unix zip version 2.0.1
and Unix unzip version 5.12. Other versions will probably work
safely, too, but should still be checked for compatibility.
Every effort has been made to assure that the use of this program
will not lead to the inappropriate deletion or corruption of any files.
However, there are never any guarantees, so please use at your own
risk.
VERSION
2.7.5
AUTHOR
Steve Kinzler,
steve@kinzler.com,
May 89/Jun 93/Aug 99/Dec 00/Apr 24
URL
https://kinzler.com/me/z
SEE ALSO
compress(1), uncompress(1), gzip(1), pigz(1), bzip2(1), lbzip2(1),
pbzip2(1), lzip(1), xz(1), pixz(1), tar(1), zip(1), unzip(1)