TAR parser written in pure javascript
npm install tarparser 
A JavaScript library to parse .tar and .tar.gz (gzip-compressed tarballs) files. It supports extracting file metadata and content directly in the browser or Node.js environments.
- Supports TAR and GZIP file formats.
- Extracts file names, sizes, and content.
- Handles file attributes such as permissions, ownership, and modification time.
- Supports both short and long file names in TAR archives.
You can install the library using npm or include it via a
Import the parseTar function to start using the library:
`
import { parseTar } from 'tarparser';
// Select file input from DOM
const fileInput = document.querySelector('input[type="file"]');
fileInput.addEventListener('change', async () => {
const file = fileInput.files[0]; // Read file as ArrayBuffer
const buffer = await file.arrayBuffer();
// Parse the .tar.gz file
const tarFiles = await parseTar(buffer);
// Log file names and content
tarFiles.forEach(file => {
console.log(
);
console.log(Content: ${file.text});
});
});
`API
* data: The binary data of the TAR archive, either .tar or .tar.gz.
* Returns: A Promise that resolves to an array of file items.
Each file item has the following properties:
* name: The file name.
* size: The size of the file in bytes.
* type: The type of the item (file or directory).
* data: The binary data of the file (Uint8Array).
* text: A decoded string of the file contents (only for files).
* attrs: Object containing file metadata like mode, uid, gid, mtime, user, and group.
File Attributes
* mode: File permissions in octal format.
* uid: User ID of the file owner.
* gid: Group ID of the file owner.
* mtime: Last modification time (Unix timestamp).
* user: Owner's username.
* group: Owner's group name.
File Types Supported
* GZIP: Gzip-compressed tarball.
* TAR: Standard TAR archive.