File extension PHAR
| File type | PHP Extension And Application Repository Archive Format |
| Developer | Greg Beaver |
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What is a PHAR file?
PHAR file contains PHP files archived (zip or rar archive) compressed using either bzip or gzip2 compression algorithm. This type of file supports checksums. PHAR archives can store images, stylesheet files or other files required for PHP application to run properly. Archive must contain a PHP file stub describing application loading process, a manifest file describing contents of the archive and archived files. Such archive files are created and opened with PHP tool called PHAR, available in PHP 5.3. PHAR archives are similar to Java JAR archives and can be run with PHP.
PHAR files are used for distributing PHP applications as a single file. PEAR (PHP Extension and Application Repository) is a popular tool for managing PHP extensions that uses PHAR file format. APC tools can be used to optimize executable PHP code to further enhance application’s performance by up to six times. Some well-known applications, such as PhpMyAdmin, Composer or PHPUnit are disributed using PHAR archives.
Program(s) that can open the .PHAR file
How to open PHAR files
If you cannot open the PHAR file on your computer - there may be several reasons. The first and most important reason (the most common) is the lack of a suitable software that supports PHAR among those that are installed on your device.
A very simple way to solve this problem is to find and download the appropriate application. The first part of the task has already been done – the software supporting the PHAR file can be found in the table. Now just download and install the appropriate application.
Possible problems with the PHAR format files
The inability to open and operate the PHAR file does not necessarily mean that you do not have an appropriate software installed on your computer. There may be other problems that also block our ability to operate the PHP Extension And Application Repository Archive Format file. Below is a list of possible problems.
- Corruption of a PHAR file which is being opened
- Incorrect links to the PHAR file in registry entries.
- Accidental deletion of the description of the PHAR from the Windows registry
- Incomplete installation of an application that supports the PHAR format
- The PHAR file which is being opened is infected with an undesirable malware.
- The computer does not have enough hardware resources to cope with the opening of the PHAR file.
- Drivers of equipment used by the computer to open a PHAR file are out of date.
If you are sure that all of these reasons do not exist in your case (or have already been eliminated), the PHAR file should operate with your programs without any problem. If the problem with the PHAR file has not been solved, it may be due to the fact that in this case there is also another rare problem with the PHAR file. In this case, the only you can do is to ask for assistance of a professional staff.
Similar extensions
| .a6p | Adobe Authorware Application Format |
| .action | Mac OS X Automator Action Format |
| .actm | Autodesk AutoCAD Action Macro Format |
| .ahk | AutoHotkey Script Format |
| .air | Adobe AIR Rich Internet Applications |
| .apk | Google Android Package Format |
| .app | MAC Application Package Or Core System Service Format |
| .applescript | AppleScript Script Format |
How to associate the file with an installed software?
If you want to associate a file with a new program (e.g. my-file.PHAR) you have two ways to do it. The first and the easiest one is to right-click on the selected PHAR file. From the drop-down menu select "Choose default program", then click "Browse" and find the desired program. The whole operation must be confirmed by clicking OK. The second and more difficult to do is associate the PHAR file extension to the corresponding software in the Windows Registry.
Is there one way to open unknown files?
Many files contain only simple text data. It is possible that while opening unknown files (e.g. PHAR) with a simple text editor like Windows Notepad will allow us to see some of the data encoded in the file. This method allows you to preview the contents of many files, but probably not in such a structure as a program dedicated to support them.