UUENCODE, UUDECODE(1,C)     AIX Commands Reference      UUENCODE, UUDECODE(1,C)



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uuencode, uudecode



PURPOSE

These commands encode/decode a binary file for transmission via mail.

SYNTAX


            +--------------+
uuencode ---|              |--- remotedest ---|
            +- sourcefile -+

            +--------+
uudecode ---|        |---|
            +- file -+


DESCRIPTION

The uuencode command and the uudecode command send a binary file via uucp (or
other) mail.  This combination can be used over indirect mail links even when
uusend is not available.

The uuencode command takes the named source file (default standard input) and
produces and encoded version on the standard output.  The encoding uses only
printing ASCII characters, and includes the mode of the file and the remotedest
for recreation on the remote system.

The uudecode command reads an encoded file, strips off any leading and trailing
lines added by mailers, and recreates the original file with the specified mode
and name.

The intent is that all mail to the user "decode" should be filtered through the
uudecode program.  This way the file is created automatically without human
intervention.  This is possible on the uucp network by either using sendmail or
by making rmail be a link to Mail instead of mail.  In each case, an alias must
be created in a master file to get the automatic invocation of uudecode.

If these facilities are not available, the file can be sent to a user on the
remote machine who can uudecode it manually.

The encode file has an ordinary text form and can be edited by any text editor
to change the mode or remote name.

The file is expanded by 35% (3 bytes become 4 plus control information) causing
it to take longer to transmit.





Processed November 8, 1990  UUENCODE, UUDECODE(1,C)                           1

UUENCODE, UUDECODE(1,C)     AIX Commands Reference      UUENCODE, UUDECODE(1,C)



The user on the remote system who is invoking the uuencode command (often uucp)
must have write permission on the specified files.

RELATED INFORMATION

See the following commands:  "uucp,"  "uux,"  "mail, Mail."

See the chapter on basic networking utilities in Managing the AIX Operating
System.














































Processed November 8, 1990  UUENCODE, UUDECODE(1,C)                           2