untaring tar file and putting files into a specified directory

Hi all,

I am using com.ice.tar to work with a tar file (if you can recommend a better utility class for me that would be good too).  

here is what I want to do:
1 - read a tar file (tardemo.tar)
2 - extract the files to a directory

I am able to do (1) but I have problems retrieving the files.

here is some code:
======= start of code snippet
String fileName = "tardemo.tar";
FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream(fileName);
TarInputStream tis = new TarInputStream(fis);

TarEntry te = null;
File entryFile = null;

while (null != (te = tis.getNextEntry())){
     if (!te.isDirectory()){
     entryFile = te.getFile();
     }
}
======= end of code snippet

it turns out that the code "te.getFile()" is always returning null.  but when I do te.getName() I a get the name of the file.  And te.getSize() gives me the right size for the each file so I don't think my tar file is corrupt.  I guess, somehow, the file is not being stored in the TarEntry object as a protected variable?

can anyone offer suggestions on how to go about solving this problem?  Or, does someone have any ample code that might shed some light on the subject?

thanks,
- tekel