xref: /freebsd-13.1/usr.bin/uuencode/uuencode.1 (revision bb0d0a8e)
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32.\"     @(#)uuencode.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
33.\" $FreeBSD$
34.\"
35.Dd June 6, 1993
36.Dt UUENCODE 1
37.Os BSD 4
38.Sh NAME
39.Nm uuencode ,
40.Nm uudecode
41.Nd encode/decode a binary file
42.Sh SYNOPSIS
43.Nm
44.Op Ar file
45.Ar name
46.Nm uudecode
47.Op Fl cips
48.Op Ar
49.Sh DESCRIPTION
50.Nm Uuencode
51and
52.Nm uudecode
53are used to transmit binary files over transmission mediums
54that do not support other than simple
55.Tn ASCII
56data.
57.Pp
58.Nm Uuencode
59reads
60.Ar file
61(or by default the standard input) and writes an encoded version
62to the standard output.
63The encoding uses only printing
64.Tn ASCII
65characters and includes the
66mode of the file and the operand
67.Ar name
68for use by
69.Nm uudecode .
70.Pp
71.Nm Uudecode
72transforms
73.Em uuencoded
74files (or by default, the standard input) into the original form.
75The resulting file is named
76.Ar name
77and will have the mode of the original file except that setuid
78and execute bits are not retained.
79.Nm Uudecode
80ignores any leading and trailing lines.
81.Pp
82The following options are available for
83.Nm uudecode :
84.Bl -tag -width ident
85.It Fl c
86Decode more than one uuencode'd file from
87.Ar file
88if possible.
89.It Fl i
90Do not overwrite files.
91.It Fl p
92Decode
93.Ar file
94and write output to standard output.
95.It Fl s
96Do not strip output pathname to base filename.
97By default
98.Nm uudecode
99deletes any prefix ending with the last slash '/' for security
100purpose.
101.Sh EXAMPLES
102The following example packages up a source tree, compresses it,
103uuencodes it and mails it to a user on another system.
104When
105.Nm uudecode
106is run on the target system, the file ``src_tree.tar.Z'' will be
107created which may then be uncompressed and extracted into the original
108tree.
109.Pp
110.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
111tar cf \- src_tree \&| compress \&|
112uuencode src_tree.tar.Z \&| mail sys1!sys2!user
113.Ed
114
115The following example unpack all uuencode'd
116files from your mailbox into your current working directory.
117.Pp
118.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
119uudecode -c < $MAIL
120.Ed
121
122The following example extract a compress'ed tar
123archive from your mailbox
124.Pp
125.Bd -literal -offset indent -compact
126uudecode -p < $MAIL | zcat | tar xfv -
127.Ed
128.Sh SEE ALSO
129.Xr basename 1 ,
130.Xr compress 1 ,
131.Xr mail 1 ,
132.Xr uucp 1 ,
133.Xr uuencode 5
134.Sh BUGS
135The encoded form of the file is expanded by 35% (3 bytes become 4 plus
136control information).
137.Sh HISTORY
138The
139.Nm uudecode
140and
141.Nm
142utilities appeared in
143.Bx 4.0 .
144