(tar.info.gz) multiple

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(tar.info.gz) appending files

(tar.info.gz) append

 
 Multiple Files with the Same Name
 .................................
 
    You can use `--append' (`-r') to add copies of files which have been
 updated since the archive was created.  (However, we do not recommend
 doing this since there is another `tar' option called `--update'; 
 update for more information.  We describe this use of `--append' here
 for the sake of completeness.)  When you extract the archive, the older
 version will be effectively lost.  This works because files are
 extracted from an archive in the order in which they were archived.
 Thus, when the archive is extracted, a file archived later in time will
 replace a file of the same name which was archived earlier, even though
 the older version of the file will remain in the archive unless you
 delete all versions of the file.
 
    Supposing you change the file `blues' and then append the changed
 version to `collection.tar'.  As you saw above, the original `blues' is
 in the archive `collection.tar'.  If you change the file and append the
 new version of the file to the archive, there will be two copies in the
 archive.  When you extract the archive, the older version of the file
 will be extracted first, and then replaced by the newer version when it
 is extracted.
 
    You can append the new, changed copy of the file `blues' to the
 archive in this way:
 
      $ tar --append --verbose --file=collection.tar blues
      blues
 
 Because you specified the `--verbose' option, `tar' has printed the
 name of the file being appended as it was acted on.  Now list the
 contents of the archive:
 
      $ tar --list --verbose --file=collection.tar
      -rw-rw-rw- me user     28 1996-10-18 16:31 jazz
      -rw-rw-rw- me user     21 1996-09-23 16:44 blues
      -rw-rw-rw- me user     20 1996-09-23 16:44 folk
      -rw-rw-rw- me user     20 1996-09-23 16:44 rock
      -rw-rw-rw- me user     58 1996-10-24 18:30 blues
 
 The newest version of `blues' is now at the end of the archive (note
 the different creation dates and file sizes).  If you extract the
 archive, the older version of the file `blues' will be replaced by the
 newer version.  You can confirm this by extracting the archive and
 running `ls' on the directory.   Writing, for more information.
 (_Please note:_ This is the case unless you employ the `--backup'
 option. .)
 

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(tar.info.gz) appending files

(tar.info.gz) append