Tar PowerBuilder Reference Documentation
Tar
Current Version: 11.6.0
Chilkat.Tar
Add files or directory trees and write standard TAR output, with control
over archive paths, directory handling, and write format.
Work with common compressed archive forms such as
Inspect archive entries, verify archive structure, and produce XML
listings for display, logging, or programmatic processing.
Extract entire archives or selected entries, including workflows that
extract matching files directly to memory or
Include or exclude files using filters, control relative paths in the
archive, and manage how entries are restored during extraction.
Preserve or override UNIX-style permissions and create Debian
For an extended overview, see
Tar Class Overview.
Create, list, verify, filter, and extract TAR archives and compressed TAR formats.
Chilkat.Tar creates, verifies, lists, and extracts TAR archives,
including compressed TAR formats such as .tar.gz,
.tgz, .tar.bz2, and .tar.Z. It
supports adding individual files and directory trees, controlling archive
paths, preserving or overriding file permissions, filtering included or
extracted files, extracting from memory, extracting selected entries to
memory or BinData, producing XML listings, and creating Debian
.deb package archives from control and data tarballs.
Create TAR archives
Compressed TAR formats
.tar.gz,
.tgz, .tar.bz2, and .tar.Z.
List and verify contents
Selective extraction
BinData.
Filters and paths
Permissions and packages
.deb package archives from control and data tarballs.
Tar when the data is a TAR archive or a compressed TAR
archive. Configure the archive paths, filters, permissions, and compression
format, then create, list, verify, or extract the archive as needed. Use
Chilkat.Zip for ZIP archives, Chilkat.Gzip for a
single GZIP stream, and Chilkat.Compression for raw compression
operations.
Object Creation
oleobject loo_Tar
integer li_rc
loo_Tar = create oleobject
li_rc = loo_Tar.ConnectToNewObject("Chilkat.Tar")
if li_rc < 0 then
destroy loo_Tar
MessageBox("Error","Connecting to COM object failed")
return
end if
// ... use loo_Tar ...
destroy loo_TarPowerBuilder uses the Chilkat ActiveX through an oleobject: declare the variable, create it, connect it to the Chilkat class with ConnectToNewObject, and destroy it when finished. A negative return code from ConnectToNewObject means the ActiveX is not registered, or the registered ActiveX does not match the bitness (32-bit or 64-bit) of the PowerBuilder target.
Objects returned by methods (such as an HttpResponse or JsonObject) are also oleobject variables and must likewise be destroyed. A method that fails to return an object returns null; test with IsNull(). In the signatures on this page, the Chilkat class name identifies which object is expected or returned; the PowerBuilder variable type is always oleobject.
To bind to a specific major version of Chilkat, append the major version number to the ProgID, such as ConnectToNewObject("Chilkat.Tar.11") for Chilkat v11.*.*.
Members typed blob exchange binary data as a Variant byte array. The PowerBuilder examples instead use the BinData-based alternatives (methods ending in Bd), which keep binary data inside Chilkat objects.
Properties
CaptureXmlListing
Controls whether extraction methods also capture an XML inventory of the archive. When set to 1, methods such as Untar, UntarGz, UntarBz2, and UntarZ store the listing in XmlListing. The XML has the same structure as the string returned by ListXml. The default is 0.
CaptureXmlListing and SuppressOutput to 1 before an untar operation to scan the archive and obtain its XML listing without writing archive entries to disk.Charset
Specifies the character encoding used to decode filenames stored in a TAR archive during extraction. The default is utf-8, which is normally appropriate for modern archives.
This property affects archive entry names only. It does not convert or otherwise alter the contents of extracted files. TAR archives written by the WriteTar* methods store filenames as UTF-8.
DebugLogFilePath
If set to a file path, this property logs the LastErrorText of each Chilkat method or property call to the specified file. This logging helps identify the context and history of Chilkat calls leading up to any crash or hang, aiding in debugging.
Enabling the VerboseLogging property provides more detailed information. This property is mainly used for debugging rare instances where a Chilkat method call causes a hang or crash, which should generally not happen.
Possible causes of hangs include:
- A timeout property set to 0, indicating an infinite timeout.
- A hang occurring within an event callback in the application code.
- An internal bug in the Chilkat code causing the hang.
DirMode
Specifies the UNIX permission bits written to the TAR header for directory entries created by the WriteTar* methods. The default is octal 0755, which represents rwxr-xr-x.
DirPrefix
Specifies a path prefix to prepend to entries when a TAR archive is created. For example, setting this property to subdir1 causes an entry such as report.txt to be stored as subdir1/report.txt.
The prefix changes only the path stored in the archive; it does not rename or move the source file on disk.
AddFile2 explicitly supplies the complete path within the archive, so DirPrefix is not applied to files added by that method.FileMode
Specifies the UNIX permission bits written to the TAR header for ordinary file entries created by the WriteTar* methods. The default is octal 0644, which represents rw-r--r--.
ScriptFileMode instead, allowing executable permissions to be recorded separately.GroupId
Specifies the numeric group identifier (GID) written to TAR headers when an archive is created. The default value is 1000.
GroupName
Specifies the group name written to TAR headers when an archive is created. By default, Chilkat uses the username of the account running the application.
GroupId. Extraction tools and operating systems may give different precedence to these fields.LastBinaryResult
This property is mainly used in SQL Server stored procedures to retrieve binary data from the last method call that returned binary data. It is only accessible if Chilkat.Global.KeepBinaryResult is set to 1. This feature allows for the retrieval of large varbinary results in an SQL Server environment, which has restrictions on returning large data via method calls, though temp tables can handle binary properties.
LastErrorHtml
Provides HTML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
topLastErrorText
Provides plain text information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
LastErrorXml
Provides XML-formatted information about the last called method or property. If a method call fails or behaves unexpectedly, check this property for details. Note that information is available regardless of the method call's success.
topLastMethodSuccess
Indicates the success or failure of the most recent method call: 1 means success, 0 means failure. This property remains unchanged by property setters or getters. This method is present to address challenges in checking for null or Nothing returns in certain programming languages. Note: This property does not apply to methods that return integer values or to boolean-returning methods where the boolean does not indicate success or failure.
LastStringResult
In SQL Server stored procedures, this property holds the string return value of the most recent method call that returns a string. It is accessible only when Chilkat.Global.KeepStringResult is set to TRUE. SQL Server has limitations on string lengths returned from methods and properties, but temp tables can be used to access large strings.
LastStringResultLen
The length, in characters, of the string contained in the LastStringResult property.
topMatchCaseSensitive
Controls whether the patterns in MustMatch and MustNotMatch are matched case-sensitively. The default is 0.
MustMatch
Specifies an inclusion pattern applied when creating or extracting TAR archives, including compressed TAR formats. A candidate path is included or extracted only when it matches this pattern. The default is an empty string, which permits all paths.
The pattern may contain zero or more asterisks (*), where each asterisk matches zero or more characters. For example, *.txt selects paths ending in .txt. Case handling is controlled by MatchCaseSensitive.
MustMatch and MustNotMatch are set, a path must satisfy the inclusion pattern and must not satisfy the exclusion pattern.MustNotMatch
Specifies an exclusion pattern applied when creating or extracting TAR archives, including compressed TAR formats. A candidate path that matches this pattern is skipped. The default is an empty string, which excludes nothing.
The pattern may contain zero or more asterisks (*), where each asterisk matches zero or more characters. For example, *.obj skips paths ending in .obj. Case handling is controlled by MatchCaseSensitive.
MustMatch does not override a match in MustNotMatch.NoAbsolutePaths
Controls whether absolute archive paths are converted to relative paths during extraction. When 1, a leading / or \ is removed before the entry is written. The default is 1.
NumDirRoots
Returns the number of directory roots currently registered for archive creation by calls to AddDirRoot and AddDirRoot2. Individual files added with AddFile or AddFile2 are not included in this count.
Use zero-based indexes from 0 through NumDirRoots - 1 with GetDirRoot.
ScriptFileMode
Specifies the UNIX permission bits written to TAR headers for shell-script files recognized by extensions such as .sh, .csh, .bash, and .bsh. The default is octal 0755, which records executable permissions.
SuppressOutput
Controls whether untar operations write extracted files and directories to the filesystem. When 1, methods such as Untar, UntarGz, UntarBz2, and UntarZ scan the archive without producing extracted output. The default is 0.
CaptureXmlListing to obtain an XML listing without extracting the archive.UntarCaseSensitive
Deprecated. Use MatchCaseSensitive instead.
Until this property is removed, reading or setting it has the same effect as reading or setting MatchCaseSensitive.
UntarDebugLog
Controls whether untar methods add per-entry extraction details to LastErrorText, LastErrorXml, and LastErrorHtml. The default is 0.
UntarDiscardPaths
Controls whether directory components from archive entry names are discarded during extraction. When 1, each file is written directly into UntarFromDir rather than recreating the archived directory tree. The default is 0.
UntarFromDir
Specifies the destination directory for extraction. The default is ., meaning the current working directory of the calling process.
When UntarDiscardPaths is 0, archived subdirectories are recreated beneath this directory. When it is 1, extracted files are placed directly in this directory.
UntarMaxCount
Limits the number of matching entries extracted by an untar operation. The default is 0, which means no maximum.
For example, set MustMatch to select a particular path and set UntarMaxCount to 1 to stop after the first matching entry is extracted.
UserId
Specifies the numeric user identifier (UID) written to TAR headers when an archive is created. The default value is 1000.
UserName
Specifies the user name written to TAR headers when an archive is created. By default, Chilkat uses the username of the account running the application.
UserId. Their interpretation depends on the extracting tool and destination system.VerboseLogging
If set to 1, then the contents of LastErrorText (or LastErrorXml, or LastErrorHtml) may contain more verbose information. The default value is 0. Verbose logging should only be used for debugging. The potentially large quantity of logged information may adversely affect peformance.
Version
WriteFormat
Specifies the TAR header format used by the WriteTar* methods. The default is gnu. Supported values are:
| Value | Use |
|---|---|
gnu | GNU TAR format and extensions. This is the Chilkat default and supports archive metadata beyond classic ustar limits. |
pax | POSIX pax extended format. It is designed to represent long names and additional metadata through extensible records. |
ustar | POSIX ustar format. It is broadly interoperable but has stricter limits on path lengths and metadata fields. |
ustar when compatibility with simple TAR readers is the priority and the archive fits its limits. Use pax for portable extended metadata, or retain gnu when GNU TAR compatibility is expected.XmlListing
Contains the XML listing captured by the most recent untar operation for which CaptureXmlListing was 1. The XML structure is the same as the output from ListXml.
Methods
AddDirRoot
Adds the directory tree at dirPath to the set of sources used by the next WriteTar* operation. Call this method multiple times to include multiple directory trees in one archive.
Use AddDirRoot2 when the tree should appear beneath an explicit prefix inside the archive.
ClearDirRootsAndFiles is called.Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topAddDirRoot2
Adds the directory tree at rootPath to the archive-creation source list and stores its entries beneath the archive prefix supplied in rootPrefix. Call this method multiple times, or combine it with AddDirRoot, before calling a WriteTar* method.
rootPrefix should be a relative archive path such as abc/123 and should not end with /. If DirPrefix is also set, DirPrefix is applied first.
DirPrefix = "package" and rootPrefix = "assets", files from this root are stored beneath package/assets/.Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topAddFile
Adds the local file at path to the set of sources used by the next WriteTar* operation. Call AddFile, AddFile2, and the directory-root methods as needed before writing a single archive.
Use AddFile2 when the path stored inside the TAR must be specified independently of the source file path.
ClearDirRootsAndFiles is called.Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topAddFile2
Adds the local file at filePath to the archive-creation source list and stores it using the exact archive path supplied in pathWithinTar. This allows the source path and the path visible inside the TAR to differ.
Call this method as many times as needed, optionally together with the other file and directory-root methods, before calling a single WriteTar* method.
pathWithinTar already specifies the path within the TAR, DirPrefix does not modify entries added by this method. Use forward slashes and a relative path for portable archive names.Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topClearDirRootsAndFiles
Removes all files and directory roots previously registered by AddDirRoot, AddDirRoot2, AddFile, and AddFile2.
Call this method before building a different archive with the same Tar object when the earlier source list should not be reused.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topCreateDeb
Creates a Debian binary package at debPath from the prepared control archive at controlPath and data archive at dataPath. The inputs are typically named control.tar.gz and data.tar.gz, or use another compression form accepted by the target Debian tooling.
.deb file is an ar archive containing a debian-binary format marker, a control.tar.* member for package metadata and maintainer scripts, and a data.tar.* member for the installed filesystem payload.Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topGetDirRoot
Returns a directory root previously added with AddDirRoot or AddDirRoot2. index is a zero-based index.
Valid indexes range from 0 through NumDirRoots - 1. For example, after two roots are added, GetDirRoot(0) returns the first and GetDirRoot(1) returns the second.
Returns null on failure
ListXml
Scans the uncompressed TAR archive at tarPath and returns an XML description of its files, directories, and archive metadata. The archive is not extracted.
CaptureXmlListing. Set SuppressOutput as well when no files should be written.Returns null on failure
ListXmlAsync (1)
Creates an asynchronous task to call the ListXml method with the arguments provided.
Returns null on failure
LoadTaskCaller
Loads the caller object associated with task, an asynchronous Chilkat Task, into this Tar object.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topUntar
Extracts the uncompressed TAR archive at tarPath into the directory specified by UntarFromDir. Archived directory trees are recreated unless UntarDiscardPaths is 1.
Returns the number of files and directories extracted, or -1 if the operation fails. Extraction is also affected by the matching, path-safety, count-limit, listing, and output-suppression properties of this object.
.tar archive is not compressed. Use UntarGz, UntarBz2, or UntarZ for the corresponding compressed tarball formats.UntarAsync (1)
Creates an asynchronous task to call the Untar method with the arguments provided.
Returns null on failure
UntarBz2
Decompresses and extracts the .tar.bz2 archive at tarPath into UntarFromDir. This format is also commonly named .tbz, .tbz2, or .tb2.
Returns 1 on success and 0 on failure. The same extraction filters, path controls, listing options, and output settings used by Untar also apply.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
UntarBz2Async (1)
Creates an asynchronous task to call the UntarBz2 method with the arguments provided.
Returns null on failure
UntarFirstMatchingToBd
Scans the uncompressed TAR archive at tarPath and copies the contents of the first file whose archive path matches matchPattern into the BinData object supplied in bd. Matching is evaluated in archive order.
No archive entry is written to the local filesystem. Returns 1 when a matching file is successfully extracted to bd and 0 otherwise.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
topUntarFirstMatchingToMemory
Reads an in-memory, uncompressed TAR archive from tarFileBytes and returns the contents of the first file whose archive path matches matchPattern. Matching is evaluated in archive order.
No file is written to the local filesystem. Use the normal method-success indicator and LastErrorText to distinguish a successful result from a missing match or processing failure.
Returns a zero-length byte array (as a Variant) on failure.
topUntarFromMemory
Extracts an uncompressed TAR archive supplied as bytes in tarFileBytes. Files and directories are written beneath UntarFromDir, subject to the same filters and path options as Untar.
Returns the number of files and directories extracted, or -1 on failure.
UntarFromMemoryAsync (1)
Creates an asynchronous task to call the UntarFromMemory method with the arguments provided.
Returns null on failure
UntarGz
Decompresses and extracts the .tar.gz archive at tarPath into UntarFromDir. The .tgz extension is a common short form for the same gzip-compressed TAR structure.
Returns 1 on success and 0 on failure. The same extraction filters, path controls, listing options, and output settings used by Untar also apply.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
UntarGzAsync (1)
Creates an asynchronous task to call the UntarGz method with the arguments provided.
Returns null on failure
UntarZ
Decompresses and extracts the .tar.Z archive at tarPath into UntarFromDir. The .Z suffix denotes the historical UNIX compress format; .taz is a common alternate extension.
Returns 1 on success and 0 on failure. The same extraction filters, path controls, listing options, and output settings used by Untar also apply.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
UntarZAsync (1)
Creates an asynchronous task to call the UntarZ method with the arguments provided.
Returns null on failure
VerifyTar
Opens the uncompressed TAR archive at tarPath and scans its headers through the end of the archive. Returns 1 when the archive structure is accepted and no TAR-format errors are found; otherwise returns 0.
VerifyTarAsync (1)
Creates an asynchronous task to call the VerifyTar method with the arguments provided.
Returns null on failure
WriteTar
Creates an uncompressed TAR archive at tarPath from the files and directory trees previously added with AddFile, AddFile2, AddDirRoot, and AddDirRoot2. Archive paths, permissions, ownership metadata, filters, and header format are controlled by the corresponding properties.
Returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
WriteTarAsync (1)
Creates an asynchronous task to call the WriteTar method with the arguments provided.
Returns null on failure
WriteTarBz2
Creates a bzip2-compressed TAR archive at bz2Path from the files and directory trees previously added to this object. Common filename extensions include .tar.bz2, .tbz, .tbz2, and .tb2.
Returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
WriteTarBz2Async (1)
Creates an asynchronous task to call the WriteTarBz2 method with the arguments provided.
Returns null on failure
WriteTarGz
Creates a gzip-compressed TAR archive at gzPath from the files and directory trees previously added to this object. The usual extensions are .tar.gz and .tgz.
Returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.
Returns 1 for success, 0 for failure.
WriteTarGzAsync (1)
Creates an asynchronous task to call the WriteTarGz method with the arguments provided.
Returns null on failure