# Archiver

The archiver utility creates and maintains groups of files combined into an archive. When an archive is created, new files can be added to it and existing files can be extracted, deleted, or replaced.

Files are named in the archive by their last file name component, so if a file referenced by a path containing a `/` is archived, it is named by the last component of the path. Similarly, when matching paths listed on the command line against file names stored in the archive, only the last component of the path is compared.

The typical use of the archiver is to create and maintain libraries that are suitable for use with the linker, although the archiver is not restricted to this purpose. It can create and manage an archive symbol table that is used to speed up linking. If a symbol table is present in an archive, it is kept up to date by subsequent operations on the archive.

## Command

To start the archiver from the command line:

hexagon-ar [<option><operation><operation modifier with positional member names, if any>] <archive members>
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To accomplish specific archiving tasks, enter one of the following commands on the command line:

hexagon-ar -d[Tvz] <archive file...>
    hexagon-ar -m[Ta|b|i] <member archive file...>
    hexagon-ar -p[Tv] <archive file...>
    hexagon-ar -q[TcDFs|Svz] <archive file...>
    hexagon-ar -r[TcDFs|Suvza|b|i] <member archive file...>
    hexagon-ar -s[Dz] <archive>
    hexagon-ar -t[Tv] <archive file...>
    hexagon-ar -x[CTouv] <archive file...>
    hexagon-ar -M
    hexagon-ar -V
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Note

All the options must be clubbed together as shown in this example (space separation is not allowed). The only options where spaces are permitted are the member names specification for `-i`, `-a`, and `-b` positional options. See [Examples](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-N3040-23/topic/archiver.html#hu-archiver-examples) for more examples.

## Options

[Operations](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-N3040-23/topic/archiver.html#hu-archiver-options-operations-sub)

-d, -m, -p, -q, -r, -t, -x
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[Operation modifiers](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-N3040-23/topic/archiver.html#hu-archiver-options-operation-modifiers-sub)

-c, -s, -S, -T, -v, -V
    @file
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[Operation-specific member modifiers](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-N3040-23/topic/archiver.html#hu-archiver-options-operation-specific-modifiers-sub)

-a <member>
    -b <member>
    -i <archive>
    -D, -o, -u
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[Other operations](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-N3040-23/topic/archiver.html#hu-archiver-options-other-operations-sub)

-format <flavor>
    --help  |  -h
    -M
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### Operations

-d
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Delete the archive members specified as `file` arguments on the command line from the archive specified on the command line.

If the archive has a symbol table, the table is updated to reflect the new contents of the archive.

-m
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Move archive members specified as `file` arguments on the command line within the archive specified on the command line.

If a position was specified by `-a`, `-b`, or `-i`, the members are moved to before or after the specified position.

If no position was specified, the specified members are moved to the end of the archive.

If the archive has a symbol table, the table is updated to reflect the new state of the archive.

-p
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Write to the standard output the contents of the archive members specified as `file` arguments on the command line.

If no members are specified, the contents of all files in the archive are written in the order they appear in the archive.

-q
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Append the files specified as `file` arguments on the command line to the archive specified on the command line, without checking if the files already exist in the archive. The archive symbol table is updated as necessary.

If the file specified by the argument archive does not already exist, a new archive is created.

-r
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Replace (add) the files specified as `file` arguments on the command line in the archive specified on the command line, creating a new archive if necessary.

Replacing existing members does not change the order of members within the archive. If one of the specified files does not exist, any existing archive members that match the file name are not changed. New files are added to the end of the archive unless one of the positioning options `-a`, `-b`, or `-i` is specified.

If the archive has a symbol table, the table is updated to reflect the new state of the archive.

-t
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List the files specified as `file` arguments on the command line in the order they appear in the archive specified as the `archive` argument, with one file listed per line.

If no files are specified, all the files in the `archive` are listed.

-x
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Extract to the current directory all archive members specified as `file` arguments on the command line. If no members are specified, extract all members of the archive.

If the file corresponding to an extracted member does not exist, it is created. If the file corresponding to an extracted member does exist, its owner and group are not changed, while its contents are overwritten, and its permissions are set to those entered in the archive.

The access and modification time of the file are set to the time of extraction unless `-o` is specified.

### Operation modifiers

-c
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Suppress the informational message printed when a new archive is created using `-r` or `-q`.

-s
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Add an archive symbol table to the archive specified as the `archive` argument on the command line. Invoking the archiver with `-s` alone is equivalent to invoking the archive indexer utility (see [Archive indexer](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-N3040-23/topic/archive-indexer.html)).

-S
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Do not generate an archive symbol table.

-T
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When naming archive members, use only the first 15 characters of the archive member name or command line file argument.

-v
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Provide verbose output.

When used with `-d`, `-m`, `-q`, or `-x`, the archiver generates a file-by-file description of the archive modification being performed, which consists of three white-space separated fields: the option letter, a dash (`-`), and the file name.

When used with `-r`, the archiver displays the description in the same way, but the initial letter is an a if the file is added to the archive, or an `r` if the file replaces a file already in the archive.

When used with `-p`, the name of the file enclosed in &lt;&gt; brackets is written to the standard output preceded by a single newline character and followed by two newline characters. The contents of the named file follow the file name.

When used with `-t`, the archiver displays the following fields:

- File permissions
- Decimal user and group IDs separated by a slash (`/`)
- File size in bytes
- File modification time in format `%b %e %H:%M %Y`
- Name of the file

-V
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Print the archiver version number and then exit.

-@file
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Read commands from the specified file.

### Operation-specific member modifiers

-a <member>
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When used with `-m`, this option causes the archive members specified as `file` arguments on the command line to be moved after the specified archive member.

When used with `-r`, this option causes the files specified as `file` arguments on the command line to be added after the specified archive member.

-b <member>
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When used with `-m`, this option causes the archive members specified as `file` arguments on the command line to be moved before the specified archive member.

When used with `-r`, this option causes the files specified as `file` arguments on the command line to be added before the specified archive member.

-i <archive>
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Equivalent to `-b`.

-D
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When used with `-r` or `-q`, insert zero values instead of the actual `mtime`, `uid`, and `gid` values, and `0644` instead of file mode, for the archive members specified as `file` arguments on the command line.

This option ensures that checksums on the resulting archives are reproducible when the member contents are identical.

-o
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Preserve the original modification times of members when extracting them.

-u
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Conditionally update the archive or extract members.

When used with `-r`, the files specified as `file` arguments on the command line are replaced in the archive if they are newer than their archived versions.

When used with `-x`, the archive members specified as `file` arguments on the command line are extracted only if they are newer than the corresponding files in the file system.

### Other operations

-format <flavor>
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Create archives with the specified archive format. The possible values are:

- `bsd` - Create BSD-format archives
- `darwin` - Create CSV-format archives
- `gnu` - Alias for `svr4`
- `svr4` - Create SVR4-format archives (Default)

--help
    -h
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Print a summary of the command line options and their meanings.

**-M**
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Read and execute archiver script commands (see [Command scripts](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-N3040-23/topic/archiver.html#hu-archiver-command-scripts)) from the standard input.

## Command scripts

If the `-M` option is specified, the archiver utility can be controlled using script commands read from the standard input.

If the standard input is a terminal, the archiver displays the `AR >` prompt before reading a line, and it continues executing even if errors are encountered. If the standard input is not a terminal, the archiver does not display a prompt, and terminates execution on encountering an error.

Each input line contains a single command.

- The words in an input line must be separated by whitespace characters: the first word of the line is the command, while the remaining words are the arguments to the command.
- The command word can be specified in lower or upper case.
- The command arguments can be separated by commas or blanks.
- Empty lines are allowed and ignored.
- Long lines are continued by ending them with the `+` character.
- The `*` and `;` characters start a comment. Comments extend to the end of the line.

When executing an archiver script, the archiver works on a temporary copy of an archive. Changes to the copy are made permanent using the save command.

### Commands

The archiver recognizes the following script commands.

addlib <archive>
    addlib archive (<member> [, <member>]...)
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Add the contents of the specified archive to the current archive.

If one or more members are additionally specified, they are added to the current archive.

If no members are specified, the entire contents of the specified archive are added to the current archive.

addmod <member> [, <member>]...
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Add the specified files to the current archive.

clear
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Discard all the contents of the current archive.

create <archive>
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Create a new archive with the specified name, and make it the current archive.

If the named archive already exists, it is overwritten when the save command is invoked.

delete <member> [, <member>]...
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Delete the specified modules from the current archive.

directory <archive> (<member> [, <member>]...) [<outputfile>]
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List the specified members in the archive.

The output format depends on the verbosity level set using the verbose command. Output is sent to the standard output or to the file specified by `outputfile`.

end
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Exit successfully from the archiver. Any unsaved changes to the current archive are discarded.

extract <member> [, <member>]...
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Extract the specified members from the current archive.

list
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Display the contents of the current archive in verbose format.

open <archive>
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Open the specified archive and make it the current archive.

replace <member> [, <member>]...
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Replace named members in the current archive with the files specified by arguments member.

The files must be present in the current directory and the specified members must already exist in the current archive.

save
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Commit all changes to the current archive.

verbose
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Toggle the verbosity of the directory command.

## Examples

To create a new archive ex.a containing three files `ex1.o`, `ex2.o`, and `ex3.o`:

hexagon-ar -rc ex.a ex1.o ex2.o ex3.o
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To add an archive symbol table to an existing archive ex.a:

hexagon-ar -s ex.a
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To delete file ex1.o from archive ex.a:

hexagon-ar -d ex.a ex1.o
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To verbosely list the contents of archive ex.a:

hexagon-ar -tv ex.a
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To create a new archive `ex.a` that contains the files `ex1.o` and `ex2.o`, use the `hexagon-ar -M < <script>` command with the following archiver script:

create ex.a              * specify the output archive
    addmod ex1.o ex2.o       * add modules
    save                     * save pending changes
    end                      * exit the utility
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To create an archive named `lib1.a` with member names that start with `mem` and have the extension, `o`:

hexagon-ar crsU lib1.a mem*.o
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To print a list with all members in `lib1.a`:

hexagon-ar tv lib1.a
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To delete `mem2.o` from `lib1.a`:

hexagon-ar d lib1.a mem2.o
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To insert `mem2.o` before `mem6.o` in library `lib1.a`:

hexagon-ar rb mem6.o lib1.a mem2.o
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Last Published: Oct 06, 2026

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