Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!decwrl!ucbvax!hplabs!hpda!hpcupt1!hpisod2!jem
From: jem@hpisod2.HP.COM (Jim McCauley)
Newsgroups: comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d
Subject: Re: TAR
Message-ID: <13080004@hpisod2.HP.COM>
Date: 3 Jul 90 15:54:51 GMT
References: <1750@gmuvax2.gmu.edu>
Organization: Hewlett Packard, Cupertino
Lines: 32

Becky:

>     I frequently download from Simtel and other anonymous ftp sites, and I
> have found that many of them use the TAR compression program. 

On Unix systems, `tar' is not a compression program.  It is a `tape
archive' utility that is used to store programs and data on tape in a
form that can be shared with many other computers, including those that
do not run Unix.

> I have 
> acquired the c files and compiled them to form the program, but it seems to 
> only work with tape drives.  I am trying to uncompress a file in my dir-
> ectory on a mainframe into the same directory in the same mainframe, no tape
> drives involved.  Any suggestions?

Check your system to make sure that it does not have a `tar' program
on it already.  If it is a Unix system, there should be a `tar'
executable on it somewhere (probably in /usr/bin).  There should also
be a program called `cpio' (`copy input/output') that is used in
conjunction with `tar' to transfer files, especially to media other
than tapes.

If your system is not some flavor of Unix, then I must confess that I
haven't any idea how `tar' works with its filesystem.

Jim McCauley          jem@hpulpcu3.hp.com       (408) 447-4993
Learning Products Engineer
Hewlett Packard Company, Open Systems Software Division
MS 48SO, 19447 Pruneridge Avenue, Cupertino CA  95014
Disclaimer: My opinions are my own, not my employer's.