SHTOOL-ARX.TMP(1)

✨ shtool-arx ✨

okay bestie, gather round, because this is the GNU shtool version of the ar(1) command — the extensional one, the glow-up edition 💅

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🌸 NAME 🌸

shtool-arx — the GNU shtool ar(1) extensional command, no cap 🫶

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

shtool arx [-t|--trace] [-C|--command cmd] op archive file [file ...]

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💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

So shtool arx is literally just a wrapper around the archiving tool ar(1) — but she's got range. The way she ate is that she can build archives out of existing archives. Like, if one of the file arguments matches "*.a", then the archive member files inside that file get used instead of file itself. Iconic behavior, honestly. ✨

The whole trick of this command is the automatic handling of archive members, and it's highkey the moment if you wanna construct a (usually top-level) library archive out of pre-built sub-library archives (usually staying inside subdirs) in a large source tree. Very main character. 🌈

And for GNU libtool based projects — surprise — a similar functionality is provided by GNU libtool internally too. So she's not the only one doing it, but she IS the one doing it right here. periodt. 👑

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🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

The following command line options are available. Slay, there's two.

• -t, --trace — shows the actually involved shell commands. Basically she narrates her own drama so you can see exactly what she ran. 🕵️‍♀️
• -C, --command cmd — set the used ar(1) command to cmd instead of just "ar" (which would be searched in $PATH). Pick your own fave ar, bestie. 💫

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🌟 EXAMPLE 🌟

Here's her in the wild, doing Makefile things:

#   Makefile
AR=ar
RANLIB=ranlib
  :
OBJS=foo.o bar.o
LIBS=baz/libbaz.a quux/libquux.a
  :
libfoo.a: $(OBJS) $(LIBS)
    shtool arx -C $(AR) rc libfoo.a $(OBJS) $(LIBS)
    $(RANLIB) libfoo.a

See how LIBS is pointing at a bunch of sub-library archives? Yeah. She opens them up and folds their members right into libfoo.a. Chef's kiss. 🤌

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💜 HISTORY 💜

The GNU shtool arx command was originally written by Ralf S. Engelschall <rse@engelschall.com> in 1999 for GNU shtool. It was prompted by need to build libraries out of sub-libraries inside the OSSP project. A founding mother of build-system drama, we love her. 🌸

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👀 SEE ALSO 👀

shtool(1), ar(1).

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ngl if you're out here linking pre-built .a files by hand, you're doing it the hard way. let her cook. 🍓

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okay that's the whole page, mwah 💖 this was brought to you by shtool 2.0.8, dated 18-Jul-2008 — yes she's vintage, yes she still slays, we stan a legacy queen 👑✨🫶