Which command would you use to list the contents of a tar archive without extracting it?

Which command would you use to list the contents of a tar archive without extracting it?

• A. tar -t
• B. tar -l
• C. tar -v
• D. tar -x

Answer: (A)

The command used to list the contents of a tar archive without extracting it is indeed "tar -t". The "-t" option stands for "list" and is specifically designed for this purpose. When you run "tar -t -f archive.tar", it will output the names of all the files contained within the specified archive file, giving you an overview of its contents. The other options serve different functions: The "-l" option is not a valid option for the tar command; it does not perform any specific operation related to listing an archive's contents. The "-v" option is used to enable verbose mode, which provides detailed output while performing operations like extracting or creating archives but does not specifically list the contents on its own. The "-x" option is used for extraction, signifying that you want to extract files from the archive rather than merely list them.

The command used to list the contents of a tar archive without extracting it is indeed "tar -t". The "-t" option stands for "list" and is specifically designed for this purpose. When you run "tar -t -f archive.tar", it will output the names of all the files contained within the specified archive file, giving you an overview of its contents.

The other options serve different functions:

The "-l" option is not a valid option for the tar command; it does not perform any specific operation related to listing an archive's contents.

The "-v" option is used to enable verbose mode, which provides detailed output while performing operations like extracting or creating archives but does not specifically list the contents on its own.

The "-x" option is used for extraction, signifying that you want to extract files from the archive rather than merely list them.