UNSHAR(1L)

NAME
unshar - unpack shell archives from news, mail, notes, etc.

SYNOPSIS
    unshar [ -cpath ] [ -dpath ] [ -hfile ] [ -f ] [ -n ] [ -s ] [ -v ] [ file... ]

DESCRIPTION
Unshar removes mail and news header lines from its input, and feeds the remainder to /bin/sh(1) so that a shell archive can be properly unpacked. If no files are specified, unshar reads from standard input. The program is designed to be useful when unpacking archives directly from the news or mail systems (e.g., s | unshar).

Unshar normally unpacks its files in the current directory. Use the ``-c'' option to have the program change to a new directory before invoking the shell. If the directory does not exist, unshar will try to create it. If the directory name starts with a question mark, then unshar will ask for the directory name before doing anything; this is most useful with the environment variable UNSHAREDIR. If the directory name starts with a tilde, then the value of the HOME environment variable is inserted in place of that character. For convenience, the ``-d'' option is a synonym for the ``-c'' option.

Unshar normally complains if the input looks like something other than a shar file. (Among other things, it checks for files that resemble C, and Pascal code). It can be fooled, however, by nonstandard versions of news, notes, etc. The ``-f'' option forces unshar to try unpacking files, even if they look like something else.

Depending on how the program is installed, unshar may or may not try to preserve the header part of file ``foo'' into the name ``foo.hdr'' (if the file is standard input, the name will be ``UNSHAR.HDR''). Using the ``-s'' option forces the program to save the headers, while using the ``-n'' option forces it to discard the headers. The file is appended to, if it already exists, so all headers can be easily saved in one file. The name of the file may be given by using the ``-h'' option; this is particularly useful when processing more than one file at a time.

The ``-v'' option prints out the current version and exits.

ENVIRONMENT
HOME    Used if directory name starts with a tilde.
UNSHAREDIR    Default value for ``-c'' option.

SEE ALSO
shar(1L).