Mixing (GNU tar 1.34)

Previous: Old Options, Up: Styles [Contents][Index]

#### 3.3.4 Mixing Option Styles

All three styles may be intermixed in a single `tar` command, so long as the rules for each style are fully respected4. Old style options and either of the modern styles of options may be mixed within a single `tar` command. However, old style options must be introduced as the first arguments only, following the rule for old options (old options must appear directly after the `tar` command and some white space). Modern options may be given only after all arguments to the old options have been collected. If this rule is not respected, a modern option might be falsely interpreted as the value of the argument to one of the old style options.

For example, all the following commands are wholly equivalent, and illustrate the many combinations and orderings of option styles.

    tar --create --file=archive.tar
    tar --create -f archive.tar
    tar --create -farchive.tar
    tar --file=archive.tar --create
    tar --file=archive.tar -c
    tar -c --file=archive.tar
    tar -c -f archive.tar
    tar -c -farchive.tar
    tar -cf archive.tar
    tar -cfarchive.tar
    tar -f archive.tar --create
    tar -f archive.tar -c
    tar -farchive.tar --create
    tar -farchive.tar -c
    tar c --file=archive.tar
    tar c -f archive.tar
    tar c -farchive.tar
    tar cf archive.tar
    tar f archive.tar --create
    tar f archive.tar -c
    tar fc archive.tar

On the other hand, the following commands are not equivalent to the previous set:

    tar -f -c archive.tar
    tar -fc archive.tar
    tar -fcarchive.tar
    tar -farchive.tarc
    tar cfarchive.tar

These last examples mean something completely different from what the user intended (judging based on the example in the previous set which uses long options, whose intent is therefore very clear). The first four specify that the `tar` archive would be a file named `-c`, ‘`c`’, ‘`carchive.tar`’ or ‘`archive.tarc`’, respectively. The first two examples also specify a single non-option, name argument having the value ‘`archive.tar`’. The last example contains only old style option letters (repeating option ‘`c`’ twice), not all of which are meaningful (eg., ‘`.`’, ‘`h`’, or ‘`i`’), with no argument value.

#### Footnotes

##### (4)

Before GNU `tar` version 1.11.6, a bug prevented intermixing old style options with long options in some cases.

Previous: Old Options, Up: Styles [Contents][Index]