### 1.2 Controlling ar with a Script

         ar -M [ <script ]

If you use the single command-line option -M with ar, you can control its operation with a rudimentary command language. This form of ar operates interactively if standard input is coming directly from a terminal. During interactive use, ar prompts for input (the prompt is AR >), and continues executing even after errors. If you redirect standard input to a script file, no prompts are issued, and ar abandons execution (with a nonzero exit code) on any error.

The ar command language is not designed to be equivalent to the command-line options; in fact, it provides somewhat less control over archives. The only purpose of the command language is to ease the transition to gnu ar for developers who already have scripts written for the MRI “librarian” program.

The syntax for the ar command language is straightforward:

- commands are recognized in upper or lower case; for example, `LIST` is the same as `list`. In the following descriptions, commands are shown in upper case for clarity.
- a single command may appear on each line; it is the first word on the line.
- empty lines are allowed, and have no effect.
- comments are allowed; text after either of the characters * or ; is ignored.
- Whenever you use a list of names as part of the argument to an ar command, you can separate the individual names with either commas or blanks. Commas are shown in the explanations below, for clarity.
- + is used as a line continuation character; if + appears at the end of a line, the text on the following line is considered part of the current command.

Here are the commands you can use in ar scripts, or when using ar interactively. Three of them have special significance:

`OPEN` or `CREATE` specify a current archive, which is a temporary file required for most of the other commands.

`SAVE` commits the changes so far specified by the script. Prior to `SAVE`, commands affect only the temporary copy of the current archive.

`ADDLIB` archive
`ADDLIB` archive `(` module `,` module `, ...` module `)`
  Add all the contents of archive (or, if specified, each named module from archive) to the current archive.

  Requires prior use of `OPEN` or `CREATE`.

`ADDMOD` member `,` member `, ...` member
  Add each named member as a module in the current archive.

  Requires prior use of `OPEN` or `CREATE`.

`CLEAR`
  Discard the contents of the current archive, canceling the effect of any operations since the last `SAVE`. May be executed (with no effect) even if no current archive is specified.
`CREATE` archive
  Creates an archive, and makes it the current archive (required for many other commands). The new archive is created with a temporary name; it is not actually saved as archive until you use `SAVE`. You can overwrite existing archives; similarly, the contents of any existing file named archive will not be destroyed until `SAVE`.
`DELETE` module `,` module `, ...` module
  Delete each listed module from the current archive; equivalent to ar -d archive module ... module.

  Requires prior use of `OPEN` or `CREATE`.

`DIRECTORY` archive `(` module `, ...` module `)`
`DIRECTORY` archive `(` module `, ...` module `)` outputfile
  List each named module present in archive. The separate command `VERBOSE` specifies the form of the output: when verbose output is off, output is like that of ar -t archive module .... When verbose output is on, the listing is like ar -tv archive module ....

  Output normally goes to the standard output stream; however, if you specify outputfile as a final argument, ar directs the output to that file.

`END`
  Exit from ar, with a `0` exit code to indicate successful completion. This command does not save the output file; if you have changed the current archive since the last `SAVE` command, those changes are lost.
`EXTRACT` module `,` module `, ...` module
  Extract each named module from the current archive, writing them into the current directory as separate files. Equivalent to ar -x archive module ....

  Requires prior use of `OPEN` or `CREATE`.

`LIST`
  Display full contents of the current archive, in “verbose” style regardless of the state of `VERBOSE`. The effect is like ar tv archive. (This single command is a gnu ar enhancement, rather than present for MRI compatibility.)

  Requires prior use of `OPEN` or `CREATE`.

`OPEN` archive
  Opens an existing archive for use as the current archive (required for many other commands). Any changes as the result of subsequent commands will not actually affect archive until you next use `SAVE`.
`REPLACE` module `,` module `, ...` module
  In the current archive, replace each existing module (named in the `REPLACE` arguments) from files in the current working directory. To execute this command without errors, both the file, and the module in the current archive, must exist.

  Requires prior use of `OPEN` or `CREATE`.

`VERBOSE`
  Toggle an internal flag governing the output from `DIRECTORY`. When the flag is on, `DIRECTORY` output matches output from ar -tv ....
`SAVE`
  Commit your changes to the current archive, and actually save it as a file with the name specified in the last `CREATE` or `OPEN` command.

  Requires prior use of `OPEN` or `CREATE`.