About .TAR File Format
To do word count in TAR archives, let’s get to know a little more about this format.
TAR (Tape Archive) is one of the oldest archive formats in still in active use. Originally designed for use in sequential tape storage.
Originally implemented as a command line utility in Version 7 Unix in 1979, it is still very popular in Unix-like systems. Notably, the TAR format itself does not compress the archived files. It simply collects them into a single file (sometimes called a tarball). File compression utilities can then be used on the tarball.
Many common software utilities can create, modify or open TAR files, notably 7-Zip, WinZip and WinRar (read-only).
Link:
WinZip Home Page
7-Zip Home Page
WinRAR Home Page