Example of reading elements of archive file by using libarchive library.

list_contents.c

#include <archive.h>
#include <archive_entry.h>

int main() {
  struct archive* a;
  struct archive_entry* entry;
  int r;

  a = archive_read_new();
  archive_read_support_filter_all( a );
  archive_read_support_format_all( a );
  r = archive_read_open_filename( a, "archive.tar.bz2", 10240 );
    
  if( r != ARCHIVE_OK ) 
    exit( 1 );

  while( archive_read_next_header( a, &entry ) == ARCHIVE_OK ) {
    printf("%s\n", archive_entry_pathname( entry ) );
    archive_read_data_skip( a ); // Optional
  }

  r = archive_read_free( a );

  if( r != ARCHIVE_OK )
    exit( 1 );

  return 0;
}