WWWTar currently assumes that you want to make tar files available under a single directory tree. This directory tree is compiled into WWWTar when it is built.
For example, if you distribute tar files on your web server, it may be convenient to make the root of the WWWTar tree the same as the root of your document tree.
WWWTar is initially called with the name of the tar file to display, omitting the root. So, if you have set the root in WWWTar to be, /users/www/docs/, and you would like to show /users/www/docs/tar/package.tar.gz, then the URL would be:
/cgi-bin/wwwtar?/tar/package.tar.gz
WWWTar then appends the query string to the end of the root, resolves the path name, and sends a listing.
The listing has links to the files inside the tar archive. These are of the form:
/cgi-bin/wwwtar?/tar/package.tar.gz+filename
If the file is text, then the link would be:
/cgi-bin/wwwtar?/tar/package.tar.gz+filename+text
You can therefore include links inside your documents that point directly to files in a tar archive - including text, PostScript, mpeg movies, etc... To see an example, view the mpeg_play tar archive.
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