ARK(1)

📦
version 26.08.2 · 4 versions
, in arch rolling, debian trixie, epel 10, fedora 43, fedora 44, nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable, opensuse-leap 16.0, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

✨ ark — the KDE archiving tool bestie ✨

okay so real talk, this is the manual for ark, the KDE archiving tool 💖 like, the actual Ark User's Manual, and it's giving "I can open literally any compressed thing you throw at me" energy. periodt.

🦋 SYNOPSIS

ark [-b] [-a] [-e] [-O] [-c] [-f suffix] [-p] [-t file] [-d] [-m] [-o
    directory] [KDE Frameworks Generic Options] [Qt(TM) Generic Options]

no cap, that's the whole shape of it. keep reading, we're gonna go through every single one 🫶

🌸 DESCRIPTION

Ark is a program for managing various compressed file formats within KDE 💅 Archives can be viewed, extracted, created and modified with Ark. like, all four. main character behaviour fr fr.

The program can handle various formats such as tar, gzip, bzip2, zip, rar (when the appropriate libraries or command-line programs are installed). 👑 note the little parentheses moment there — rar is a "when you have the right stuff installed" situation, not a guarantee. iykyk.

🎀 OPERATION MODES

Ark can be used either as a stand-alone GUI program as well as a command-line program in order to perform some specific tasks. so it's bi-mode. iconic.

  • If invoked without the -b (--batch) or -c (--add) options, Ark is started as a normal GUI program. 🖥️✨
  • When the -b (--batch) option is used, Ark can be used to extract the contents of one or more files directly from the command-line, without launching its GUI. 💀 no window, just vibes.
  • When the -c (--add) option is used, Ark prompts for files that should be added to a new archive or to an existing archive. 🍓

💜 OPTIONS

  • -d, --dialog — Show a dialog for specifying the options for a batch or add operation. it pops up and asks you stuff, very considerate 🎀
  • -m, --mimetypes — List supported MIME types. so you can see exactly what formats it's down for 🌈
  • -o, --destination directory — Default the extraction directory to directory. If not passed, the current path is used. so if you don't say where, it just goes "okay, here then" 💅

✨ Options for adding files ✨

  • -c, --add — Query the user for an archive filename and add specified files to it. Quit when finished. it asks, you answer, it adds, it dips 🫡
  • -t, --add-to filename — Add the specified files to filename. Create archive if it does not exist. Quit when finished. no existing archive? it just makes one. slay. 🔥
  • -p, --changetofirstpath — Change the current directory to the first entry and add all other entries relative to this one. 🧭
  • -f, --autofilename suffix — Automatically choose a filename, with the selected suffix (for example rar, tar.gz, zip or any other supported types). let it pick the name, you just pick the suffix ✨

🦋 Options for batch extraction 🦋

  • -b, --batch — Use the batch interface instead of the usual dialog. This option is implied if more than one url is specified. so if you hand it multiple urls, bestie, -b is just assumed 👑
  • -e, --autodestination — The destination argument will be set to the path of the first file supplied. 🌸
  • -a, --autosubfolder — Archive contents will be read, and if detected to not be a single folder archive, a subfolder by the name of the archive will be created. it checks first, then decides. so thoughtful 💖
  • -O, --opendestination — Open the destination folder when the extraction is complete. it's like "done! here's where it went 🎀"

🌈 SEE ALSO

  • More detailed user documentation is available from help:/ark (either enter this URL into Konqueror, or run khelpcenter help:/ark). 📚
  • kf6options(7)
  • qt6options(7)

🍓 EXAMPLES

ark --batch archive.tar.bz2

Will extract archive.tar.bz2 into the current directory without showing any GUI. pure command-line, zero windows, immaculate. 💅

ark -b -d archive.tar.bz2 archive2.zip

Will first show an extraction options dialog and then extract both archive.tar.bz2 and archive2.zip into the directory chosen in the dialog. two archives, one dialog, extremely efficient 🫶

ark --add-to my-archive.zip photo1.jpg text.txt

Will create my-archive.zip if does not exist and then add photo1.jpg and text.txt to it. (yes, the original says "if does not exist" — we're keeping it exactly like that, no edits, no cap 😭)

👑 MAINTAINERSHIP

Ark is currently maintained by Elvis Angelaccio and Ragnar Thomsen. thank you for your service, legends 🫡💖

💜 AUTHORS

  • Lauri Watts <lauri@kde.org> — Initial version of Ark man page in 2005. the OG 🌱
  • Raphael Kubo da Costa <rakuco@FreeBSD.org> — Update of Ark man page in 2009. glow-up era ✨
  • Ragnar Thomsen <rthomsen6@gmail.com> — Update of Ark man page in 2015 and 2016. double update, double slay 💅
and that's the whole thing bestie, every flag, every path, every author, every last detail 💖 go forth and extract responsibly 🌸

this page is from KDE Applications 18.12, dated 2018-08-08 🎀 so yes, it's a vintage icon, and we love her for it. bye pookie 🦋✨

📦 where this page comes from