3.1 arch Commands in General

Every command in arch is accessed via the program tla, using an ordinary sub-command syntax:

 % tla <sub-command> <options> <parameters>

A list of sub-commands can be obtained from:

 % tla help

A brief summary of the options to any command is given by:

 % tla <sub-command> -h

A more detailed help message for each command is given by:

 % tla <sub-command> -H

For example, try:

 % tla my-id -H
 print or change your id
 usage: tla my-id [options] [id]
 -h, --help Display a help message and exit.
 -H Display a verbose help message and exit.
 -V, --version Display a release identifier string
 and exit.
 -e, --errname specify program name for errors
 -u, --uid print only the UID portion of the ID
 With no argument print your arch id.
 With an argument, record ID-STRING as your id
 in ~/.arch-params/=id
 Your id is recorded in various archives and log messages
 as you use arch. It must consist entirely of printable
 characters and fit on one line. By convention, it should
 have the form of an email address, as in this example:
 Jane Hacker <jane.hacker@gnu.org>
 The portion of an id string between < and > is called your
 uid. arch sometimes uses your uid as a fragment when generating
 unique file names.
 The option -u (--uid) causes only the uid part of your id string
 to be printed.

There is a great deal of regularity among commands regarding option names and parameter syntax. Hopefully, you'll pick this up as you learn the various commands.