arpy

2.3.0 verified Fri May 01 auth: no python

arpy is a Python library for reading and writing Unix archive (ar) files, commonly used for static libraries (.a) and Debian packages (.deb). Version 2.3.0 supports Python 3.6+. It provides a simple interface to iterate over archive members and extract or add files.

pip install arpy

Common errors

error AttributeError: module 'arpy' has no attribute 'Archive' ↓

cause Importing incorrectly, e.g., 'import arpy' then using arpy.Archive instead of from arpy import Archive.

fix

Use 'from arpy import Archive'.

error TypeError: write() argument must be a bytes-like object, not 'str' ↓

cause Passing a string to Archive.write() instead of bytes.

fix

Encode string to bytes: archive.write('file.txt', 'content'.encode()).

error FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'test.ar' ↓

cause Trying to open a nonexistent archive for reading.

fix

Check the file path exists, or create a new archive with mode='w'.

Warnings

gotcha The Archive class context manager does not close the file on __exit__ in some versions; manually call .close() if needed. ↓

fix Explicitly call archive.close() after use, or upgrade to 2.3.0+.

gotcha Writing archives: the write() method expects bytes, not str. Passing a string will raise a TypeError. ↓

fix Ensure data is bytes: archive.write(entry_name, b'data').

breaking In version 2.0.0, the API changed from old-style (archive = Archive('file'); archive.read()) to context manager. Old code will break. ↓

fix Use 'with Archive(...) as archive:' pattern. See docs.

Imports

Archive
```
from arpy import Archive
```

Quickstart

Open an existing ar file and list its members.

from arpy import Archive

with Archive('test.ar') as archive:
    for entry in archive:
        print(entry.name, entry.size)