This file contains some instructions on how to use the command line arguments. Extraction ---------- 1) Extract an archive to a specified directory: file-roller --extract-to=/path/to/dir archive.tgz create the destination folder without asking the user to confirm file-roller --force --extract-to=/path/to/dir archive.tgz 2) Extract an archive letting the user choose the destination directory: file-roller --extract archive.tgz set the directory to show in the folder chooser dialog: file-roller --default-dir=/path/to/show --extract archive.tgz 3) Extract an archive in its parent folder creating a subfolder if the archive contains more than one top level object (that is avoiding the tar-bombing). This is the same command used in the Nautilus context menu to extract archives. file-roller --extract-here archive.tgz Use the --notify option to show a dialog that notifies the user that the operation has completed successfully and allows to open the destination folder. You can extract a series of archives with a single command. Compression ----------- 1) Compress a series of files specifing the archive name: file-roller --add-to=/path/to/archive.tgz file1 file2 .. the archive is created if it doesn't exit. 2) Compress a series of files letting the user choose the archive name: file-roller --add file1 file2 .. set the directory to show in the folder chooser dialog: file-roller --default-dir=/path/to/show --add file1 file2 .. Use the --notify option to show a dialog that notifies the user that the operation has completed successfully and allows to open the created archive.