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3.3 The Three Option Styles
===========================
There are three styles for writing operations and options to the command
line invoking 'tar'. The different styles were developed at different
times during the history of 'tar'. These styles will be presented
below, from the most recent to the oldest.
Some options must take an argument(1). Where you _place_ the
arguments generally depends on which style of options you choose. We
will detail specific information relevant to each option style in the
sections on the different option styles, below. The differences are
subtle, yet can often be very important; incorrect option placement can
cause you to overwrite a number of important files. We urge you to note
these differences, and only use the option style(s) which makes the most
sense to you until you feel comfortable with the others.
Some options _may_ take an argument. Such options may have at most
long and short forms, they do not have old style equivalent. The rules
for specifying an argument for such options are stricter than those for
specifying mandatory arguments. Please, pay special attention to them.
Menu
* Long Options Long Option Style
* Short Options Short Option Style
* Old Options Old Option Style
* Mixing Mixing Option Styles
---------- Footnotes ----------
(1) For example, '--file' ('-f') takes the name of an archive file as
an argument. If you do not supply an archive file name, 'tar' will use
a default, but this can be confusing; thus, we recommend that you always
supply a specific archive file name.
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