VMS TAR

Submitted by: Tim Cook, Computer Services, Victoria College, Melbourne
   Australia.

Operating System: VAX/VMS V5.0 or higher
Source Language: Pascal, MACRO-32
Memory Required: Not a lot.
Keywords: TAR, tape, archive, UNIX

Abstract:
   VMS TAR is a utility that emulates the UNIX tar, or Tape ARchive
   utility, which is used to store a set of files in a single file, usually
   on an offline medium, such as 9-track tape.

   VMS TAR automatically performs conversion of files to and from the UNIX
   file format, and converts between UNIX and VMS file protections and
   modification times.

   A help source file is included with VMS TAR.

---------------------

To compile VMS TAR, either run the MMS script to build the target TAR.EXE
($ MMS/DESC=TAR.MMS TAR.EXE), or execute BUILD_TAR.COM, which was created by
MMS.

To install VMS TAR:

   1. Move TAR.EXE to where you want to store it (or leave it with the
      sources).

   2. Define either SYS$TIME_ZONE or TAR_TIMEZONE to an appropriate value (see
      the Caveats section in TAR.HLP).

   3. Edit TAR.CLD so that it points DCL to where you have put TAR.EXE, then
      add the TAR verb to your command table.  You can either add it to your
      process command table (lost when you log out) by entering:

         $ SET COMMAND TAR.CLD

      or you can add it to the system default table with the following
      commands (you have to be privileged to do this):

         $ SET COMMAND TAR.CLD /TABLE=SYS$LIBRARY:DCLTABLES -
              /OUTPUT=SYS$COMMON:[SYSLIB]DCLTABLES
         $ INSTALL REPLACE SYS$LIBRARY:DCLTABLES

---------------
Copyright:
Copyright:

VMS TAR is (c) Copyright 1989 Victoria College Computer Services, as it was
written on their time, but as I don't see them making a quid on it, the right
to redistribute and reuse any of its code for any non-commercial pupose is
hereby granted.  For your conscience' sake, you should always credit the
original author in reused source.

VMS TAR is (c) Copyright 1989 Victoria College Computer Services, as it was
written on their time, but as I don't see them making a quid on it, the right
to redistribute and reuse any of its code is hereby granted.  For your
conscience' sake, you should always credit the original author in reused
source.

Miscellaneous:

I originally wrote VMS TAR out of need in early 1988.  Since then I have seen
at least three versions of TAR for VMS (all released to the world before mine).
I thought my version was still worth the effort of maintaining and enhancing
because it has functionality and proper meshing with VMS and DCL.  None of the
TARs I have seen have both these properties.

Most of the features of VMS TAR were added later though, so there has been a
lot of opportunity for bugs to creep in.  If you get any bugs you are
unsatisfied with, send details of them to:

	Tim Cook
	Computer Services
	Victoria College
	Burwood	3125
	Australia

   or

	timcc@viccol.edu.au

        (UUCP heads can try {backbone}!uunet!viccol.edu.au!timcc)

I can't guarantee that they will be looked at promptly, but I am willing to
fix the fixable.
