DLB(6) Games Manual DLB(6)

# [NAME](#NAME)

dlb - NetHack data librarian

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

**dlb** {**c**|**t**|**x**}\[**v**]\[**C** *directory*] \[*file*] ...

**dlb** {**c**|**t**|**x**}\[**v**]**I** *list-file*

**dlb** {**c**|**t**|**x**}\[**v**]\[**f** *archive-file-name*] \[*file*] ...

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

*Dlb* is a file archiving tool in the spirit (and tradition) of [*tar*(1)](/man/os/nethack/tar.1) for [*nethack*(6)](/man/os/nethack/nethack.6) version 3.1 and higher. It is used to maintain the archive files from which the game reads special level files and other read-only information. Note that like *tar*, the letters specifying the operation and options are expressed as a continuous string. Unlike *tar*, *dlb* is configured with a default set of file names to process.

## [Operations](#Operations)

**c** causes *dlb* to create a new archive from files in the current directory.

**t** lists the files in the archive.

**x** causes *dlb* to extract the contents of the archive into the current directory.

# [OPTIONS](#OPTIONS)

[**C dir**](#C)

Change directory to *dir* before trying to read any files.

[**f archive**](#f)

Read from or write to *archive* instead of LIBFILE (usually the *nhdat* file in the playground).

[**I list-file**](#I)

Read from *list-file* the names of files to emplace within or extract from the archive. The default for archive creation is LIBLISTFILE.

[**v**](#v)

Operate verbosely.

# [EXAMPLES](#EXAMPLES)

Create the default archive from the default file list:

```
dlb c
```

List the contents of the archive *foo*:

```
dlb tf foo
```

# [AUTHOR](#AUTHOR)

Kenneth Lorber

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

[*nethack*(6)](/man/os/nethack/nethack.6), [*tar*(1)](/man/os/nethack/tar.1)

# [BUGS](#BUGS)

- Not a good *tar* emulation; **-** does not mean stdin or stdout.
- Should include an optional compression facility.
- Not all read-only files for NetHack can be read out of an archive; examining the source is the only way to know which files can be.

# [COPYRIGHT](#COPYRIGHT)

This file is Copyright (C) Kenneth Lorber, 2024 for version keni-gitset:1.13. NetHack may be freely redistributed. See license for details.

25 December 2024 NETHACK

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Document: dlb(6) from nethack 5.0.0-r2 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/NetHack/NetHack