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.TH "UNALF" 1 "2025-11-12" "0.0.0" "Urchlay's Atari 8-bit Tools"
.SH NAME
unalf \- extract Atari 8-bit ALF archives
.\" RST source for unalf(1) man page. Convert with:
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.SH SYNOPSIS
.sp
unalf [\fB\-l\fP] \fBalf\-file\fP
.SH DESCRIPTION
.sp
\fBunalf\fP lists or extracts the contents of an \fIALF\fP archive.
.sp
\fIALF\fP is a compressed archive format similar to \fBarc\fP(1), though
not compatible with it. It was used on the Atari 8\-bit platform
beginning in the late 1980s.
.sp
Extracted files are written to the current directory. Existing files
are overwritten without warning.
.SH OPTIONS
.sp
For compatibility with \fBarc\fP(1) usage, the \fB\-\fP in front of
option letters is optional.
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B  \-l
List contents of archive, but do not extract. The output format
is similar to that of \fBarc \-v\fP, minus the \fIStowage\fP column, since
\fIALF\fP doesn\(aqt support multiple compression types. The date and time
are displayed, but in most .alf files these are the default values
of "8 Jan 82  12:24a".
.TP
.B  \-v
Same as \fB\-l\fP\&.
.UNINDENT
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \fB\-e\fP, \fB\-x\fP
Extract files. This is actually a no\-op, as extraction is the
default action.
.UNINDENT
.SH EXIT STATUS
.sp
\fB0\fP for success, \fB1\fP for failure.
.SH DIAGNOSTICS
.sp
Besides the standard error messages such as "no such file or directory":
.INDENT 0.0
.TP
.B \fBunalf: this is an ARC file, not ALF\fP
Self\-explanatory. Use the \fBarc\fP(1) utility for this file.
.TP
.B \fBunalf: not an ALF file\fP
Self\-explanatory. Either the file is too small (less than 29 bytes)
or its first two bytes don\(aqt match the \fIALF\fP signature \fB0x1a\fP \fB0x0f\fP\&.
.TP
.B \fBunalf: junk at EOF (ignored)\fP
Usually this is caused by the .alf file being stored on a CP/M disk
at some time, or by a dumb file transfer protocol. Either way, the
file gets padded to the block size of the filesystem or protocol.
Usually, the padding characters are \fB0x1a\fP, aka ASCII control\-Z.
.sp
If you see this message, you can ignore it. It\(aqs intended to let
you know that this .alf file can\(aqt be appended to by the \fBALF.COM\fP
aka \fBLZ.COM\fP Atari utility.
.TP
.B \fBunalf: checksum error on\fP \fI<file>\fP
The archive is corrupt. If \fI<file>\fP is a text file, it may be
partially readable. If it\(aqs an executable or other binary file, it\(aqs
probably unrecoverable.
.UNINDENT
.SH NOTES
.sp
This \fBunalf\fP is 100% compatible with the original Atari \fBUNALF.COM\fP
aka \fBDZ.COM\fP, with the following differences:
.INDENT 0.0
.IP \(bu 2
There is no interactive mode. The file to extract must be given as
a command\-line argument.
.IP \(bu 2
Files are always extracted to the current directory. The original
\fBUNALF.COM\fP accepted a 2nd argument or prompted for the output directory.
.IP \(bu 2
This \fBunalf\fP is capable of listing the contents of an archive
without extracting it.
.IP \(bu 2
Turning the screen off for speed makes no sense on modern operating
systems, so there\(aqs no option for that.
.UNINDENT
.sp
Neither this \fBunalf\fP nor \fBUNALF.COM\fP actually use the dates/times
stored in the archive. Extracted files will have their timestamps set
to the current date/time.
.SH COPYRIGHT
.sp
\fBunalf\fP is released under the WTPFL: Do WTF you want with this.
.SH AUTHORS
.INDENT 0.0
.IP B. 3
Watson <\fI\%urchlay@slackware.uk\fP>
.UNINDENT
.SH SEE ALSO
.sp
TODO
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