PHARC

PHARC is a term used in computing to refer to at least one archival format and its accompanying software library. The most commonly described use of PHARC is as a lightweight container designed to package multiple files with optional compression and metadata. A PHARC archive typically organizes data into a header, a data area containing file payloads, and an index or directory that enables listing and selective extraction of archived items without decompressing the entire archive. Implementations of PHARC have appeared in various programming languages and are used in contexts where portability and simplicity are valued, such as embedded systems and open-source tooling. The format emphasizes straightforward parsing and basic metadata support, with optional compression to reduce storage requirements.

Because the name PHARC is not tied to a single universal standard, several different projects and libraries have been described under this term. This has led to occasional confusion with other packaging formats that share similar goals or naming conventions, such as PHAR (a PHP Archive format) or more general archive tools that produce ZIP, TAR, or 7z files. In practice, references to PHARC often point to a particular community-maintained archive library or a family of similarly structured, small-scale archive formats rather than a single, widely adopted specification.

See also: TAR, ZIP, PHAR. Notes about PHARC typically depend on the specific implementation being discussed, including details of the archive structure, supported compression methods, and API design.