How to uncompress tar.gz with one command

Problem:
I have a file called "thefiles.tar.gz" and I want to uncompress and unarchive in one Unix command.

Solution:
Use the command

tar xzpvf thefiles.tar.gz


Problem:
I have a directory called "thefiles" and I want to compress and archive it into a file called "thefiles.tar.gz" in one command.

Solution:
Use the command

tar czpvf thefiles.tar.gz thefiles