1llvm-ar - LLVM archiver
2=======================
3
4.. program:: llvm-ar
5
6SYNOPSIS
7--------
8
9:program:`llvm-ar` [-]{dmpqrstx}[abcDilLNoOPsSTuUvV] [relpos] [count] archive [files...]
10
11DESCRIPTION
12-----------
13
14The :program:`llvm-ar` command is similar to the common Unix utility,
15:program:`ar`. It archives several files, such as objects and LLVM bitcode
16files into a single archive library that can be linked into a program. However,
17the archive can contain any kind of file. By default, :program:`llvm-ar`
18generates a symbol table that makes linking faster because only the symbol
19table needs to be consulted, not each individual file member of the archive.
20
21The :program:`llvm-ar` command can be used to *read* archive files in SVR4, GNU,
22BSD , Big Archive, and Darwin format, and *write* in the GNU, BSD, Big Archive, and
23Darwin style archive files. If an SVR4 format archive is used with the :option:`r`
24(replace), :option:`d` (delete), :option:`m` (move) or :option:`q`
25(quick update) operations, the archive will be reconstructed in the format
26defined by :option:`--format`.
27
28Here's where :program:`llvm-ar` departs from previous :program:`ar`
29implementations:
30
31*The following option is not supported*
32
33 [f] - truncate inserted filenames
34
35*The following options are ignored for compatibility*
36
37 --plugin=<string> - load a plugin which adds support for other file formats
38
39 [l] - ignored in :program:`ar`
40
41*Symbol Table*
42
43 Since :program:`llvm-ar` supports bitcode files, the symbol table it creates
44 includes both native and bitcode symbols.
45
46*Deterministic Archives*
47
48 By default, :program:`llvm-ar` always uses zero for timestamps and UIDs/GIDs
49 to write archives in a deterministic mode. This is equivalent to the
50 :option:`D` modifier being enabled by default. If you wish to maintain
51 compatibility with other :program:`ar` implementations, you can pass the
52 :option:`U` modifier to write actual timestamps and UIDs/GIDs.
53
54*Windows Paths*
55
56 When on Windows :program:`llvm-ar` treats the names of archived *files* in the same
57 case sensitive manner as the operating system. When on a non-Windows machine
58 :program:`llvm-ar` does not consider character case.
59
60OPTIONS
61-------
62
63:program:`llvm-ar` operations are compatible with other :program:`ar`
64implementations. However, there are a few modifiers (:option:`L`) that are not
65found in other :program:`ar` implementations. The options for
66:program:`llvm-ar` specify a single basic Operation to perform on the archive,
67a variety of Modifiers for that Operation, the name of the archive file, and an
68optional list of file names. If the *files* option is not specified, it
69generally means either "none" or "all" members, depending on the operation. The
70Options, Operations and Modifiers are explained in the sections below.
71
72The minimal set of options is at least one operator and the name of the
73archive.
74
75Operations
76~~~~~~~~~~
77
78.. option:: d [NT]
79
80 Delete files from the ``archive``. The :option:`N` and :option:`T` modifiers
81 apply to this operation. The *files* options specify which members should be
82 removed from the archive. It is not an error if a specified file does not
83 appear in the archive. If no *files* are specified, the archive is not
84 modified.
85
86.. option:: m [abi]
87
88 Move files from one location in the ``archive`` to another. The :option:`a`,
89 :option:`b`, and :option:`i` modifiers apply to this operation. The *files*
90 will all be moved to the location given by the modifiers. If no modifiers are
91 used, the files will be moved to the end of the archive. If no *files* are
92 specified, the archive is not modified.
93
94.. option:: p [v]
95
96 Print *files* to the standard output stream. If no *files* are specified, the
97 entire ``archive`` is printed. With the :option:`v` modifier,
98 :program:`llvm-ar` also prints out the name of the file being output. Printing
99 binary files is  ill-advised as they might confuse your terminal settings. The
100 :option:`p` operation never modifies the archive.
101
102.. option:: q [LT]
103
104 Quickly append files to the end of the ``archive`` without removing
105 duplicates. If no *files* are specified, the archive is not modified. The
106 behavior when appending one archive to another depends upon whether the
107 :option:`L` and :option:`T` modifiers are used:
108
109 * Appending a regular archive to a regular archive will append the archive
110   file. If the :option:`L` modifier is specified the members will be appended
111   instead.
112
113 * Appending a regular archive to a thin archive requires the :option:`T`
114   modifier and will append the archive file. The :option:`L` modifier is not
115   supported.
116
117 * Appending a thin archive to a regular archive will append the archive file.
118   If the :option:`L` modifier is specified the members will be appended
119   instead.
120
121 * Appending a thin archive to a thin archive will always quick append its
122   members.
123
124.. option:: r [abTu]
125
126 Replace existing *files* or insert them at the end of the ``archive`` if
127 they do not exist. The :option:`a`, :option:`b`, :option:`T` and :option:`u`
128 modifiers apply to this operation. If no *files* are specified, the archive
129 is not modified.
130
131t[v]
132.. option:: t [vO]
133
134 Print the table of contents. Without any modifiers, this operation just prints
135 the names of the members to the standard output stream. With the :option:`v`
136 modifier, :program:`llvm-ar` also prints out the file type (B=bitcode,
137 S=symbol table, blank=regular file), the permission mode, the owner and group,
138 are ignored when extracting *files* and set to placeholder values when adding
139 size, and the date. With the :option:`O` modifier, display member offsets. If
140 any *files* are specified, the listing is only for those files. If no *files*
141 are specified, the table of contents for the whole archive is printed.
142
143.. option:: V
144
145 A synonym for the :option:`--version` option.
146
147.. option:: x [oP]
148
149 Extract ``archive`` members back to files. The :option:`o` modifier applies
150 to this operation. This operation retrieves the indicated *files* from the
151 archive and writes them back to the operating system's file system. If no
152 *files* are specified, the entire archive is extracted.
153
154Modifiers (operation specific)
155~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
156
157The modifiers below are specific to certain operations. See the Operations
158section to determine which modifiers are applicable to which operations.
159
160.. option:: a
161
162 When inserting or moving member files, this option specifies the destination
163 of the new files as being after the *relpos* member. If *relpos* is not found,
164 the files are placed at the end of the ``archive``. *relpos* cannot be
165 consumed without either :option:`a`, :option:`b` or :option:`i`.
166
167.. option:: b
168
169 When inserting or moving member files, this option specifies the destination
170 of the new files as being before the *relpos* member. If *relpos* is not
171 found, the files are placed at the end of the ``archive``. *relpos* cannot
172 be consumed without either :option:`a`, :option:`b` or :option:`i`. This
173 modifier is identical to the :option:`i` modifier.
174
175.. option:: i
176
177 A synonym for the :option:`b` option.
178
179.. option:: L
180
181 When quick appending an ``archive``, instead quick append its members. This
182 is a feature for :program:`llvm-ar` that is not found in gnu-ar.
183
184.. option:: N
185
186 When extracting or deleting a member that shares its name with another member,
187 the *count* parameter allows you to supply a positive whole number that
188 selects the instance of the given name, with "1" indicating the first
189 instance. If :option:`N` is not specified the first member of that name will
190 be selected. If *count* is not supplied, the operation fails.*count* cannot be
191
192.. option:: o
193
194 When extracting files, use the modification times of any *files* as they
195 appear in the ``archive``. By default *files* extracted from the archive
196 use the time of extraction.
197
198.. option:: O
199
200 Display member offsets inside the archive.
201
202.. option:: T
203
204 Alias for ``--thin``. In many ar implementations ``T`` has a different
205 meaning, as specified by X/Open System interface.
206
207.. option:: v
208
209 When printing *files* or the ``archive`` table of contents, this modifier
210 instructs :program:`llvm-ar` to include additional information in the output.
211
212Modifiers (generic)
213~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
214
215The modifiers below may be applied to any operation.
216
217.. option:: c
218
219 For the :option:`r` (replace)and :option:`q` (quick update) operations,
220 :program:`llvm-ar` will always create the archive if it doesn't exist.
221 Normally, :program:`llvm-ar` will print a warning message indicating that the
222 ``archive`` is being created. Using this modifier turns off
223 that warning.
224
225.. option:: D
226
227 Use zero for timestamps and UIDs/GIDs. This is set by default.
228
229.. option:: P
230
231 Use full paths when matching member names rather than just the file name.
232 This can be useful when manipulating an ``archive`` generated by another
233 archiver, as some allow paths as member names. This is the default behavior
234 for thin archives.
235
236.. option:: s
237
238 This modifier requests that an archive index (or symbol table) be added to the
239 ``archive``, as if using ranlib. The symbol table will contain all the
240 externally visible functions and global variables defined by all the bitcode
241 files in the archive. By default :program:`llvm-ar` generates symbol tables in
242 archives. This can also be used as an operation.
243
244.. option:: S
245
246 This modifier is the opposite of the :option:`s` modifier. It instructs
247 :program:`llvm-ar` to not build the symbol table. If both :option:`s` and
248 :option:`S` are used, the last modifier to occur in the options will prevail.
249
250.. option:: u
251
252 Only update ``archive`` members with *files* that have more recent
253 timestamps.
254
255.. option:: U
256
257 Use actual timestamps and UIDs/GIDs.
258
259Other
260~~~~~
261
262.. option:: --format=<type>
263
264 This option allows for default, gnu, darwin or bsd ``<type>`` to be selected.
265 When creating an ``archive``, ``<type>`` will default to that of the host
266 machine.
267
268.. option:: -h, --help
269
270 Print a summary of command-line options and their meanings.
271
272.. option:: -M
273
274 This option allows for MRI scripts to be read through the standard input
275 stream. No other options are compatible with this option.
276
277.. option:: --output=<dir>
278
279 Specify a directory where archive members should be extracted to. By default the
280 current working directory is used.
281
282.. option:: --rsp-quoting=<type>
283 This option selects the quoting style ``<type>`` for response files, either
284 ``posix`` or ``windows``. The default when on Windows is ``windows``, otherwise the
285 default is ``posix``.
286
287.. option:: --thin
288
289 When creating or modifying an archive, this option specifies that the
290 ``archive`` will be thin. By default, archives are not created as thin archives
291 and when modifying a thin archive, it will be converted to a regular archive.
292
293.. option:: --version
294
295 Display the version of the :program:`llvm-ar` executable.
296
297.. option:: -X mode
298
299 Specifies the type of object file :program:`llvm-ar` will recognise. The mode must be
300 one of the following:
301
302   32
303         Process only 32-bit object files.
304   64
305         Process only 64-bit object files.
306   32_64
307         Process both 32-bit and 64-bit object files.
308   any
309         Process all object files.
310
311 The default is to process 32-bit object files (ignore 64-bit objects). The mode can also
312 be set with the OBJECT_MODE environment variable. For example, OBJECT_MODE=64 causes ar to
313 process any 64-bit objects and ignore 32-bit objects. The -X flag overrides the OBJECT_MODE
314 variable.
315
316.. option:: @<FILE>
317
318  Read command-line options and commands from response file ``<FILE>``.
319
320MRI SCRIPTS
321-----------
322
323:program:`llvm-ar` understands a subset of the MRI scripting interface commonly
324supported by archivers following in the ar tradition. An MRI script contains a
325sequence of commands to be executed by the archiver. The :option:`-M` option
326allows for an MRI script to be passed to :program:`llvm-ar` through the
327standard input stream.
328
329Note that :program:`llvm-ar` has known limitations regarding the use of MRI
330scripts:
331
332* Each script can only create one archive.
333* Existing archives can not be modified.
334
335MRI Script Commands
336~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
337
338Each command begins with the command's name and must appear on its own line.
339Some commands have arguments, which must be separated from the name by
340whitespace. An MRI script should begin with either a :option:`CREATE` or
341:option:`CREATETHIN` command and will typically end with a :option:`SAVE`
342command. Any text after either '*' or ';' is treated as a comment.
343
344.. option:: CREATE archive
345
346 Begin creation of a regular archive with the specified name. Subsequent
347 commands act upon this ``archive``.
348
349.. option:: CREATETHIN archive
350
351 Begin creation of a thin archive with the specified name. Subsequent
352 commands act upon this ``archive``.
353
354.. option:: ADDLIB archive
355
356 Append the contents of ``archive`` to the current archive.
357
358.. option:: ADDMOD <file>
359
360 Append ``<file>`` to the current archive.
361
362.. option:: DELETE <file>
363
364 Delete the member of the current archive whose file name, excluding directory
365 components, matches ``<file>``.
366
367.. option:: SAVE
368
369 Write the current archive to the path specified in the previous
370 :option:`CREATE`/:option:`CREATETHIN` command.
371
372.. option:: END
373
374 Ends the MRI script (optional).
375
376EXIT STATUS
377-----------
378
379If :program:`llvm-ar` succeeds, it will exit with 0.  Otherwise, if an error occurs, it
380will exit with a non-zero value.
381