[module]
name = "tar"
description = "Create, list, and extract archive files"
version = 1
[intro]
text = """
## What is tar?
`tar` (tape archive) bundles files into a single archive. Combined with `gzip`, it creates compressed archives — the standard `.tar.gz` format on Unix.
## Basic Syntax
```
tar [OPTIONS] archive [files...]
```
## Common Flags
- `-c` — create a new archive
- `-x` — extract from an archive
- `-t` — list contents of an archive
- `-f archive` — specify the archive filename
- `-z` — compress/decompress with gzip (.tar.gz)
- `-v` — verbose (print filenames as processed)
- `-C dir` — change to `dir` before extracting
## Memory Aid
**c**reate, e**x**tract, lis**t** — the three operations.
`czf` = create gzipped, `tzf` = list gzipped, `xzf` = extract gzipped.
"""
[[examples]]
title = "Create a compressed archive"
description = "Bundle files into a .tar.gz archive"
command = "tar czf backup.tar.gz file1.txt file2.txt"
output = ""
[[examples]]
title = "List archive contents"
description = "Show what is inside without extracting"
command = "tar tzf backup.tar.gz"
output = "file1.txt\nfile2.txt\n"
[[examples]]
title = "Extract an archive"
description = "Unpack all files into the current directory"
command = "tar xzf backup.tar.gz"
output = ""
[[exercises]]
id = "tar.1"
difficulty = "beginner"
question = """Create a compressed archive named `backup.tar.gz` from `notes.txt` and `data.txt`.
Then list the archive contents to verify both files are included."""
expected_output = "notes.txt\ndata.txt\n"
hints = [
"Use tar czf to create, then tar tzf to list",
"Try: tar czf backup.tar.gz notes.txt data.txt && tar tzf backup.tar.gz",
]
solution = "tar czf backup.tar.gz notes.txt data.txt && tar tzf backup.tar.gz"
match_mode = "sorted"
[[exercises.fixtures]]
filename = "notes.txt"
content = "some notes\n"
[[exercises.fixtures]]
filename = "data.txt"
content = "some data\n"
[[exercises]]
id = "tar.2"
difficulty = "beginner"
question = """Archive the entire `src/` directory into `src.tar.gz`.
Then list its contents to confirm both files are present (files only, not directories)."""
expected_output = "src/main.rs\nsrc/lib.rs\n"
hints = [
"Use tar czf to create, tar tzf to list, then grep -v to remove directory entries",
"Try: tar czf src.tar.gz src/ && tar tzf src.tar.gz | grep -v '/$'",
]
solution = "tar czf src.tar.gz src/ && tar tzf src.tar.gz | grep -v '/$'"
match_mode = "sorted"
[[exercises.fixtures]]
filename = "src/main.rs"
content = "fn main() {}\n"
[[exercises.fixtures]]
filename = "src/lib.rs"
content = "pub fn lib() {}\n"
[[exercises]]
id = "tar.3"
difficulty = "intermediate"
question = """Create an archive `files.tar.gz` from `readme.txt`.
Then extract it into a new subdirectory called `out/` and print the content of `out/readme.txt`."""
expected_output = "Hello from readme\n"
hints = [
"Use tar czf to create, mkdir out, then tar xzf -C out to extract",
"Try: tar czf files.tar.gz readme.txt && mkdir out && tar xzf files.tar.gz -C out && cat out/readme.txt",
]
solution = "tar czf files.tar.gz readme.txt && mkdir out && tar xzf files.tar.gz -C out && cat out/readme.txt"
match_mode = "exact"
[[exercises.fixtures]]
filename = "readme.txt"
content = "Hello from readme\n"
[[exercises]]
id = "tar.4"
difficulty = "intermediate"
question = """Create an archive `logs.tar.gz` from all three `.log` files.
Then count how many files are inside the archive."""
expected_output = "3\n"
hints = [
"Use a glob to select .log files, then pipe tar tzf to wc -l",
"Try: tar czf logs.tar.gz *.log && tar tzf logs.tar.gz | wc -l | tr -d ' '",
]
solution = "tar czf logs.tar.gz *.log && tar tzf logs.tar.gz | wc -l | tr -d ' '"
match_mode = "exact"
[[exercises.fixtures]]
filename = "app.log"
content = "log entry 1\n"
[[exercises.fixtures]]
filename = "error.log"
content = "error entry\n"
[[exercises.fixtures]]
filename = "access.log"
content = "access entry\n"
[[exercises]]
id = "tar.5"
difficulty = "advanced"
question = """Create an archive `project.tar.gz` from the `src/` directory with verbose output.
The verbose flag prints each filename as it is added.
Show only the file paths (not directory entries) — one per line."""
expected_output = "src/main.rs\nsrc/utils.rs\n"
hints = [
"Use tar czvf, redirect stderr to stdout, strip BSD 'a ' prefix with sed, then filter to lines with '/'",
"Try: tar czvf project.tar.gz src/ 2>&1 | sed 's/^a //' | grep -v '/$' | grep '/'",
]
solution = "tar czvf project.tar.gz src/ 2>&1 | sed 's/^a //' | grep -v '/$' | grep '/'"
match_mode = "sorted"
[[exercises.fixtures]]
filename = "src/main.rs"
content = "fn main() {}\n"
[[exercises.fixtures]]
filename = "src/utils.rs"
content = "pub fn util() {}\n"