in reply to Re^7: [OT] Tar file with non-identical duplicate files and no paths?(A solution)
in thread [OT] Tar file with non-identical duplicate files and no paths?

Thankyou for doing that. That is very weird. Given that the file is intended for windows (hence the .dlls), I'm really surprised that tar from unxtools can't read it correctly.

I just took a look at it using WinRAR which I had kicking around on a CD from a magazine and it sees the structure correctly. So the information is in there, but my copy of tar isn't seeing it, or is ignoring it.

I will have to a) pull the latest tar from above and see if anything has changed; b) report the problem if it hasn't and see what they say.


Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.
"Too many [] have been sedated by an oppressive environment of political correctness and risk aversion."
  • Comment on Re^8: [OT] Tar file with non-identical duplicate files and no paths?(A solution)

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re^9: [OT] Tar file with non-identical duplicate files and no paths?(A solution)
by broomduster (Priest) on Sep 14, 2008 at 13:24 UTC
    <confession>I don't use use Windows very often, and I don't think I have ever used unxutils. </confession>

    I have some tools from GnuWin32 loaded on XP in a VM for the times when I need such things. They have two implementations of tar:

    • BSDtar (part of libarchive, a recent re-implementation of the BSD streaming archive tools)
    • Gnu tar (requires the Gzip distribution from the same place if you want to unravel gzip'd tar archives)
    I use bsdtar (for some reason my installation of the GNU tools won't unpack gzip'd tar files in a single step; I need to gunzip, then untar... probably just me).

    I downloaded your problem archive and was able to use both the BSDtar tools and the GNU tools to unpack that pesky beast with no issues. Both unpacked the directory tree into a directory tree in the current directory (as tar should do w/o instructions to the contrary). Both worked as I expect tar to work when the archive contains multiple instances of the same file (i.e., the last in the archive overwrites previous instances).

    <confession_reprise> I don't use use Windows very often. YMMV (but hopefully not by much). </confession_reprise>

      GNU tools won't unpack gzip'd tar files in a single step; I need to gunzip, then untar... probably just me

      Nope ... same for me, too. Cygwin's tar utility will do it in one step. I haven't tried BSDtar.

      Although Cygwin's tar seems fine for unpacking, it can sometimes pack in some unwanted attributes/permissions (all files marked executable, in the one particular case that I'm thinking of) - so I avoid it if possible.

      Cheers,
      Rob