tar: '--no-recursion' option doesn't prevent recursion

Earl Parker II · 08-15-2004, 08:00 PM

Referring to the command below:

Code:

tar -cvlpf backup.tar --no-recursion /directory

The --no-recursion option doesn't seem to be preventing recursion into subdirectories of 'directory'- does anyone know why? Thanks for any help!

Tinkster · 08-15-2004, 08:41 PM

Please post ...

tar --version

I'm just curious, because the tar 1.14 from Slack and
1.13.25 from Deb stable doesn't even have that option
according to their man-pages ...

[edit]
Hehe ... info, however, does ...
With the output of tar --help I'd assume that --no-recursion
only works in conjunction with -h
[edit]

Cheers,
Tink

Earl Parker II · 08-15-2004, 10:14 PM

Thanks for replying.

The tar version is 1.14. According to the man page '-h' means 'don't dump symlinks; dump the files they point to'. Out of curiosity (and I'm asking this honestly), why do you think that '--no-recursion' will only work with the '-h' option?

Note: I just added '-h' and it didn't seem to make any difference.

Mephisto · 08-16-2004, 12:00 AM

Why would you want to make a tar file out of a single directory entry and no files?

You could do a

Code:

    tar -cvvf backup.tar --no-recursion myDirectory/*

to backup just the files in the directory. Note it will create the directories inside MyDirectory, they should be empty though.

Earl Parker II · 08-16-2004, 12:09 AM

I apologize for not explaining the situation better. I'm tarring three directories, all containing a number of files and subdirectories containing files. I just used '/directory' in the original post as a placeholder. In two of the directories I'd like to avoid recursion, while in the third one I need recursion.

I just tried

Code:

tar -cvvf backup.tar --no-recursion myDirectory/*

(substituting my directroy path of course) and tar still descends into and copies files in subdirectories.

Perhaps I don't understand the concept of recursion?

Mephisto · 08-16-2004, 12:18 AM

No you seem to be understanding it correctly, though if your statements are accurate it is a mystery to me. I tested with -cvvf and -cvlpf multiple times (though always a single directory) and it worked, copying just the files and the immediate subdirectories. So I have no idea.

EDIT: I am using tar 1.14 as well (from Slack 10 if it makes a difference)

Earl Parker II · 08-16-2004, 12:36 AM

OK, I've narrowed down the problem a bit. When I enter

Code:

tar -cvvf backup.tar --no-recursion /directory/*

it works just fine. If I enter

Code:

tar -cvvf backup.tar --no-recursion /directory/* /directory/subdirectory/*

it also gives the desired result. However, if I enter

Code:

tar -cvvf backup.tar --no-recursion /directory/* /directory/subdirectory/* --recursion /directory/subdirectory/*

then --no-recursion appears to be ignored and --recursion is applied to all subdirectories. According to the tar info page this should work but for some reason it doesn't. Any thoughts?

Tinkster · 08-16-2004, 02:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Earl Parker II
Thanks for replying.

The tar version is 1.14. According to the man page '-h' means 'don't dump symlinks; dump the files they point to'. Out of curiosity (and I'm asking this honestly), why do you think that '--no-recursion' will only work with the '-h' option?

Note: I just added '-h' and it didn't seem to make any difference.

Because of the layout it gives in tar --help

Not really a good reason, I admit, but to me
it looks like some sort of "grouping" ... other-
wise I wouldn't have an explanation for the
'chaotic' way the help output comes across.

Cheers,
Tink

JZL240I-U · 08-16-2004, 10:12 AM

tar the recursive directory first (1. position in the comand) and thereafter the --no-recursive ones?

Earl Parker II · 08-16-2004, 10:40 AM

Funny you should mention that becuase I've been experimenting with that in the last few minutes. What I've found is this: if you specify '--no-recursion' first, then '--recursion', everything defaults to '--recursion'. The reverse is also true. Whichever comes last in the tar command- '--no-recursion' or '--recursion'- becomes the default. I'm getting the feeling that I'm either leaving something out or the command simply doesn't work the way the info page states.

cspangen · 08-16-2004, 11:56 AM

Instead of creating one command to do all the directories why not
tar the recursive directory or non-recursive directories first then
append the other directorie(s). Do a a check on the tar command and if it succends then tar the remander.

Carl

Earl Parker II · 08-16-2004, 12:10 PM

Not trying to anticipate you but that was just about my next move. '--no-recursion' and '--recursion' just don't seem to play well together.

If I understand correctly the idea is to create the first tarball then create the secondar tarball and append it to the first- am I understanding correctly? If not, let me know. I'll give it a try later today.

JZL240I-U · 08-17-2004, 02:49 AM

Still, you might want to notify the tar maintainers if it is not behaving according to the info.

BTW you can still do it with one command when you use a control-file to manage the input for tar...