Create TAR

TAR, short for 'Tape Archive,' is a file archiving format and utility used in Unix and Linux systems. It bundles multiple files and directories into a single archive without compression, preserving the file structure and metadata. TAR is often combined with compression utilities like gzip or bzip2 to create compressed archives, commonly used for data backups and software distribution.

Creating a TAR Archive

The following demonstrates how to create a TAR file using an IronTarArchive object. This example assumes a fictional library, as IronTarArchive is not part of standard libraries. The steps include creating an empty TAR file, adding files or directories, and saving the TAR file.

• Creating the TAR archive: new IronTarArchive() creates an empty tar container that conforms to TAR format. You must wrap it in a using block for proper disposal
• Adding files: Use tar.Add(string FilePath) to append files into the archive. It preserves the file structure when extracted later.
• Saving: tar.SaveAs(outputTar) writes out the .tar file you specify. The archive cannot accept further additions after saving
• Resource management: The using statement ensures Dispose() is called automatically at the end, releasing internal resources cleanly
• Directory support: TAR archives support multiple files and directory structures—even though TAR itself is not compressed.

Discover how to seamlessly create, read, and extract ZIP files with our detailed C# tutorial!