Dar can split an archive up into a number of files or "slices" of a specified maximum size, making it possible, for example, to store several GB of data on an appropriate number of CDs. Slice filenames are composed of the archive base name followed by a dot, a number, a dot and the extension (dar).

The Slices page of the New archive window allows you to decide the size of the individual slices of the archive and any action to be taken after writing each slice.

• Use slices - if this is not selected then dar will create the archive in one file. If the archive is very large (over 2GB) this can cause problems with some filesystems.

• Different first slice size - it is possible to make the size of the first slice different from the others. This can be useful if you want to include other files on the first disk of a series, for example a copy of the dar_static program.
  
  Note when using versions of dar older than 2.4.0: to read the contents of an archive which is composed of more than one slice DarGUI needs to be able to access both the first and last slices, in the same location. This makes it impossible to read the contents of an archive which has been stored, for example, on a number of CD-ROM unless the Slice size on the Options tab is set to slightly less than half of the size of the storage medium - eg 320Mb for a 650Mb CD-ROM. Two slices can then be saved on each disk, ensuring that the first and final slices are saved on the same disk.

• Pause between slices - dar will pause after writing each slice and wait for the user to press 'Enter' before continuing. This can be used if filespace is scarce, to allow each slice to be written to CDROM or DVD and then deleted from the local disk.
• Enter command to execute after each slice - dar will attempt to execute the command after writing each slice. Note that DarGUI makes no checks on the validity of the command entered.
  
  Information about the slice just written can be passed to a script or program using the following substitution strings:
  %p  will be replaced by the slice path
  %b  will be replaced by the slice basename
  %n  will be replaced by the slice number just written.
  %%  will be replaced by %