help information running off the screen with tar command
 

hi ...im using tar command
typing tar filename.tar/bz2
and im getting old option f requires and argument
i type tar --help

the problem is the output of the help most of it runs off the screen and doesnt stop...like when using the function (man).
what can i do to stop it running of the screen so i can read what is going on ...and

what is wrong with my tar command
thanks

Pipe the output of tar --help in to less so you can read it all

# tar --help | less

You have to tell tar what it has to do. If you want to extract a file you have to give it the extract option -x and you have to tell that you want to extract a file, not the standard input, with the -f option. So your command should look like this:

thanks guys .... using the pipe less command piped the output of help through screen by screen ...and enabled me to look at the command structure..
i ended up doing the -tvf to see what was in there and then the -xf to extract...
thank again guys ...the linux crowd are so efficient and helpful..