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<h1>Comparison of archive formats</h1>
<p><a href="http://encycl.opentopia.com/">Encyclopedia</a> : <a href="http://encycl.opentopia.com/C">C</a> : <a href="http://encycl.opentopia.com/C/CO">CO</a> : <a href="http://encycl.opentopia.com/C/CO/COM">COM</a> : Comparison of archive formats</p>
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<div class="messagebox cleanup metadata">
<strong>This article or section is in need of attention from an <a href="/term/Expert">expert</a> on the subject</strong>.<br>Please help recruit one, or  improve this page yourself}} if you can. See &#091;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia talk:" target="_blank">discussion page</a>&#093; for details.</div><includeonly></includeonly><p>

The following tables compare the various archive formats used for computer <a href="/term/Backup">backup</a>s or transferring files.<p>

<div class="tabcontent">
<div class="tabconthead">Contents</div>
<ul class="tabcontlist">
<li><a href="#General_information">1&nbsp;General information</a></li><li><a href="#Features">2&nbsp;Features</a></li><ul class="tabcontlist t2"><li><a href="#Notes">2.1&nbsp;Notes</a></li></ul><li><a href="#See_also">3&nbsp;See also</a></li></ul>
</div>
<a name="General_information" id="General_information"></a><h2>General information</h2>
<!-- 
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<table   class="wikitable" style="width: 100%; text-align: center; font-size: smaller; table-layout: fixed;"><tr>
<th > Format
</th><th > Created by
</th><th > Introduced in
</th><th > Based on
</th><th > Purpose
</td></tr><tr >
<th   colspan="5" style="background-color: #eeeeff" > Archiving only
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Ar_(Unix)">Archive</a> (ar)
</td><td > 
</td><td >  <!-- Pre-Version 6 Unix -->
</td><td > Original
</td><td > Archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Cpio">cpio</a>
</td><td > 
</td><td > <a href="/term/UNIX_System_V">Unix System V</a> (<a href="/term/1983">1983</a>)
</td><td >  <!-- Probably Original -->
</td><td > Archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Shar">Shell Archive</a> (shar)
</td><td > 
</td><td > 4.4BSD (<a href="/term/1994">1994</a>)
</td><td > Original
</td><td > Archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Tar_(file_format)">Tape Archive</a> (tar)
</td><td > 
</td><td > <a href="/term/Version_6_Unix">Version 6 Unix</a> (<a href="/term/1975">1975</a>)
</td><td >  <!-- Probably Original -->
</td><td > Archive
<!-- removed, see talk </td></tr><tr >
<th   colspan="5" style="background-color: #eeeeff" > Compression only
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Bzip2">bzip2</a>
</td><td > <a href="/term/Julian_Seward">Julian Seward</a>
</td><td > <a href="/term/1996">1996</a>
</td><td > <a href="/term/Burrows-Wheeler_transform">Burrows-Wheeler transform</a>
</td><td > Compress
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Compress">compress</a>
</td><td > 
</td><td > 4.3BSD (<a href="/term/1986">1986</a>)
</td><td > <a href="/term/LZW">LZW</a>
</td><td > Compress
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Gzip">GNU Zip</a> (gzip)
</td><td > Jean-Loup&nbsp;Gailly and Mark&nbsp;Adler
</td><td > <a href="/term/1992">1992</a>
</td><td > <a href="/term/DEFLATE_(algorithm)">DEFLATE</a>
</td><td > Compress
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/LZMA">LZMA</a>
</td><td > Igor Pavlov
</td><td > <a href="/term/2001">2001</a>
</td><td > <a href="/term/LZ77">LZ77</a> and <a href="/term/LZW">LZW</a>
</td><td > Compress
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/LZO">LZO</a>
</td><td > Markus Oberhumer
</td><td > <a href="/term/1996">1996</a>
</td><td > <a href="/term/LZW">LZW</a>
</td><td > Compress
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Rzip">rzip</a>
</td><td > <a href="/term/Andrew_Tridgell">Andrew Tridgell</a>
</td><td > <a href="/term/1999">1999</a>
</td><td > <a href="/term/Bzip2">bzip2</a>
</td><td > Compress -->
<tr >
<th   colspan="5" style="background-color: #eeeeff" > Archiving and Compression
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/7z">7z</a>
</td><td > Igor Pavlov
</td><td > <a href="/term/2000">2000</a>
</td><td >  <!-- Original? -->
</td><td > Compressed archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/.arc">ARC</a>
</td><td >  <!-- See article -->
</td><td > <a href="/term/1985">1985</a>
</td><td >  <!-- Probably Original -->
</td><td > Compressed archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/ARJ">ARJ</a>
</td><td > Robert Jung
</td><td > <a href="/term/1991">1991</a>
</td><td > 
</td><td > Compressed archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Cabinet_(file_format)">Cabinet</a>
</td><td > <a href="/term/Microsoft">Microsoft Corp.</a>
</td><td > <a href="/term/Windows_3.1">Windows 3.1</a> (<a href="/term/1992">1992</a>)
</td><td >  <!-- Probably Original -->
</td><td > Compressed archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Compact_Pro">Compact Pro</a>
</td><td > Bill Goodman
</td><td >  <!-- Mid 80s -->
</td><td >  <!-- Probably Original -->
</td><td > Compressed archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/DAR_(Disk_Archiver)">Disk Archive</a> (DAR)
</td><td > Denis Corbin
</td><td > <a href="/term/2002">2002</a>
</td><td > <a href="/term/Tar_(file_format)">tar</a>
</td><td > Compressed archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/DGCA">DGCA</a>
</td><td > Shin-ichi Tsuruta
</td><td > <a href="/term/2001">2001</a>
</td><td > <a href="/term/GCA_(file_format)">GCA</a>
</td><td > Compressed archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/JAR_(file_format)">Java Archive</a> (JAR)
</td><td > <a href="/term/Sun_Microsystems">Sun Microsystems</a>
</td><td >  <!-- Probably some early version of Java -->
</td><td > <a href="/term/PKZIP">PKZIP</a>
</td><td > Compressed archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/LHA_(file_format)">LHA</a> (also LZH)
</td><td > Haruyasu Yoshizaki
</td><td > <a href="/term/1988">1988</a>
</td><td >  <!-- Some Lempel-Ziv, possibly LZ77 -->
</td><td > Compressed archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th > LZX <!-- Watch for anchor name changes -->
</td><td > Jonathan&nbsp;Forbes and Tomi&nbsp;Poutanen
</td><td > <a href="/term/1995">1995</a>
</td><td > <a href="/term/LZ77">LZ77</a>
</td><td > Compressed archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/.dmg">Macintosh Disk Image</a>
</td><td > <a href="/term/Apple_Computer">Apple Computer</a>
</td><td > <a href="/term/System_7_(Macintosh)">Macintosh System 7</a> (1991)
</td><td > Original
</td><td > Compressed archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th > Partition Image (Partimage)
</td><td > François&nbsp;Dupoux and Franck&nbsp;Ladurelle
</td><td > <a href="/term/2000">2000</a> <!-- Date of registration of Sourceforge project -->
</td><td > 
</td><td > Compressed archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/PAQ">PAQ</a> (Several formats)
</td><td > Matt Mahoney
</td><td > <a href="/term/2002">2002</a>&ndash;<a href="/term/2006">2006</a>
</td><td > Original
</td><td > Compressed archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Quadruple_D">Quadruple D</a>
</td><td > 
</td><td > 
</td><td > 
</td><td > Compressed archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/RAR">RAR</a>
</td><td > Eugene Roshal
</td><td > 
</td><td > Original
</td><td > Compressed archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/WinRK">RK</a>
</td><td > M Software, Ltd.
</td><td > 
</td><td > 
</td><td > Compressed archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/StuffIt">StuffIt</a> (also SIT)
</td><td > Raymond Lau
</td><td > <a href="/term/1987">1987</a>
</td><td > 
</td><td > Compressed archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/ZIP_(file_format)">ZIP</a> (also PKZIP)
</td><td > Phil Katz
</td><td > <a href="/term/1989">1989</a>
</td><td > <a href="/term/DEFLATE_(algorithm)">DEFLATE</a>
</td><td > Compressed archive
</td></tr><tr >
<th   colspan="5" style="background-color: #eeeeff" > Software Packaging and Distribution
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Deb_(file_format)">Debian package</a> (deb)
</td><td > <a href="/term/Debian_GNU/Linux">Debian GNU/Linux</a>
</td><td >  <!-- Version of Debian -->
</td><td > <a href="/term/Ar_(Unix)">ar</a>, <a href="/term/Tar_(file_format)">tar</a>, and <a href="/term/Gzip">gzip</a>
</td><td > Software package
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Installer_(Mac_OS_X)">Macintosh Installer</a>
</td><td > <a href="/term/NeXT">NeXT</a>
</td><td > <a href="/term/NeXTSTEP">NeXTSTEP</a> 1.0 (<a href="/term/1989">1989</a>) <!-- Correct version? -->
</td><td >  <!-- Probably Original -->
</td><td > Software package
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/RPM_Package_Manager">RPM Package Manager</a> (RPM)
</td><td > <a href="/term/Red_Hat_Linux">Red Hat Linux</a>
</td><td >  <!-- Version of RHL -->
</td><td > <a href="/term/Cpio">cpio</a> and <a href="/term/Gzip">gzip</a>
</td><td > Software package
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Slackware">Slackware</a> Package
</td><td > Patrick Volkerding
</td><td >  <!-- Version of Slackware -->
</td><td > <a href="/term/Tar_(file_format)">tar</a> and <a href="/term/Gzip">gzip</a>
</td><td > Software package
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Windows_Installer">Windows Installer</a> (also MSI)
</td><td > <a href="/term/Microsoft">Microsoft Corp.</a>
</td><td > <a href="/term/Windows_2000">Windows 2000</a> (<a href="/term/2000">2000</a>)
</td><td >  <!-- May be wholly original -->
</td><td > Software package
</td></tr></table><p>

<!--<p>

Future expansion<p>

<a name="Features" id="Features"></a><h2>Features</h2><p>

<table   class="wikitable"><tr >
<th > Archive format
</th><th > Built-in compression
</th><th > Self-extracting
</th><th > Stores directories
</th><th > Stores POSIX attributes (<a href="/term/UID">UID</a>, <a href="/term/GID">GID</a>, permissions)
</th><th > Stores <a href="/term/Access_Control_List">ACL</a>s
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Cpio">cpio</a>
</td><td   <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > 
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Tar_(file_format)">tar</a>
</td><td   <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/DAR_(Disk_Archiver)">dar</a>
</td><td   <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Ar_(Unix)">ar</a>
</td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Pax_(program)">pax</a>
</td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Dump_(program)">dump</a>
</td><td   <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Shar">shar</a>
</td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > 
</td></tr><tr >
<th > makeself
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Zip_(file_format)">zip</a>
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td   style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > 
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/RAR_(file_format)">rar</a>
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td   style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > 
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/ACE_(file_format)">ace</a>
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > 
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Arj">arj</a>
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td   style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Zoo_(file_format)">zoo</a>
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > 
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/ISO_9660">ISO 9660</a> (CD-ROM)
</td><td   <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" |  (with Rock Ridge extension)
</td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Cabinet_(file_format)">cab</a>
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td   style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > 
</td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > 
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/RPM_Package_Manager">rpm</a>
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > 
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/Deb_(file_format)">deb</a>
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > 
</td></tr><tr >
<th > <a href="/term/7z">7z</a>
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > <!-- couldn't be displayed-->
<pre><a href="/term/Northern_Ontario">Northern Ontario</a>
</pre></td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > style="background: #ddffdd" | 
</td><td > 
</td></tr><tr >
<th > Archive format
</th><th > Built-in compression
</th><th > Self-extracting
</th><th > Stores directories
</th><th > Stores POSIX attributes (<a href="/term/UID">UID</a>, <a href="/term/GID">GID</a>, permissions)
</th><th > Stores <a href="/term/Access_Control_List">ACL</a>s
</td></tr></table><p>


<a name="Notes" id="Notes"></a><h3>Notes</h3>
<cite id="fn_1">Note 1: </cite> Compression is not a built-in feature of the formats, however, the resulting archive can be compressed with any algorithm of choice. Several implementations include functionality to do this automatically<br/>
<cite id="fn_2">Note 2: </cite> That is, most implementations can optionally produce a self-extracting executable<br/>
<cite id="fn_3">Note 3: </cite> Per-file compression with <a href="/term/Gzip">gzip</a> or <a href="/term/Bzip2">bzip2</a> (as opposed to compressing the whole archive). An individual can choose not to compress already compressed filenames based on their suffix as well.<p>

--><p>

<a name="See_also" id="See_also"></a><h2>See also</h2>
<ul><li>Comparison of compression algorithms</li><li>Comparison of file systems</li></ul><p>


<p>&nbsp;
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<p id="wpcredit">From <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_archive_formats" target="_blank">here</a>. Support Wikipedia by contributing or <a href="http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Fundraising" target="_blank">donating</a>.<br />All text is available under the terms of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License">GNU Free Documentation License</a> See <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Copyrights" target="_blank">Wikipedia Copyrights</a> for details.</p>
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