.TH mpac 1

'''

.SH NAME

\fBmpac\fR \- PAC archive format tool

'''

.SH SYNOPSIS

\fBmpac\fR [\fBc\fR|\fBcreate\fR] \fIfile.pac\fR \fIdirectory\fR

.br

Pack the contents of \fIdirectory\fR into \fIfile.pac\fR.

.P

\fBmpac\fR [\fBx\fR|\fBextract\fR] \fIfile.pac\fR \fIdirectory\fR

.br

Unpack \fIfile.pac\fR into \fIdirectory\fR.

.P

\fBmpac\fR [\fBp\fR|\fBpack\fR] \fIfile.pac\fR \fIinput.list\fR

.br

Create archive containing files listed in \fIinput.list\fR.

.P

\fBmpac\fR [\fBt\fR|\fBlist\fR] \fIfile.pac\fR

.br

List file names packed in \fIfile.pac\fR.

.P

\fBmpac\fR [\fBd\fR|\fBdump\fR] \fIfile.pac\fR

.br

Output raw index entries in \fIfile.pac\fR.

'''

.SH PACK DESCRIPTION FORMAT

The \fBpack\fR command takes a text file in the following format:

.P

.ni

# comment

path/to/foo.bin

> some/dir

path/to/bar.bin

.fi

.P

Each non-prefix line is a path name to a file in the local filesystem.

The file will be opened using its path name, but in the archive only its base

name will remain. The \fB>\fR lines describe the directory structure within

the archive. Files following a directory line are packed inside that directory

within the archive.

.P

The example above describes an archive with two files, \fIfoo.bin\fR and

\fIsome/dir/bar.bin\fR. The content for those files will be taken from

\fIpath/to/foo.bin\fR and \fIpath/to/bar.bin\fR respectively.

.P

Directories must come in byte order of their components. Within each directory,

files must come in byte order of their base names. The order will be checked by

\fBmpac\fR.

'''

.SH DUMP OUTPUT FORMAT

The \fBdump\fR command outputs raw index entries, formatted for readability,

but otherwise left as is. It may be useful for examining how the archive

structure looks internally.

.P

Each line is an entry, with prefix denoting its type: \fB-\fR is a regular

files, \fB+\fR executable, \fB~\fR symlink. Numeric prefix means directory,

and the number is its depth. For leaf entries, file size is given after the

name in parenthesis.

.P

The entries are show in the order they appear in the index.

'''

.SH USAGE NOTES

PAC format is meant to be used for distributing pre-built software packages,

and for used as the packing format for the system package manager. In this

application, \fBmpac\fR should be used to create and examine packages, but

not to install them. Another tool is needed to handle installation, removal

and package management overall. See \fBmpkg\fR(1) for instance.

.P

\fBmpac\fR treats symlinks as plain text files containing link target filenames.

Symlinks are never dereferenced, and no processing is ever done on their

contents.

'''

.SH SEE ALSO

\fBmpkg\fR(1).