NAME

uuencode, uudecode − encode/decode a binary file

SYNOPSIS

uuencode [ file ] name
uudecode [ file ... ]

DESCRIPTION

uuencode and uudecode are used to transmit binary files over transmission mediums that do not support data in a form other than simple ASCII. 

uuencode reads file (or by default the standard input) and writes an encoded version to the standard output.  The encoding uses only printing ASCII characters and includes the mode of the file and the operand name for use by uudecode.

uudecode transforms uuencoded files (or by default the standard input) into the original form. The resulting file is named name and will have the mode of the original file except that setuid and execute bits are not retained.  uudecode ignores any leading and trailing lines. 

EXAMPLES

The following example packages a source tree, compresses it, uuencodes it, and mails it to a user on another system. When uudecode is run on the target system, the file src_tree.tar.Z will be created:

tar cf − src_tree | compress | uuencode src_tree.tar.Z | mail sys1!sys2!user

It may then be decoded, uncompressed, and extracted into the original tree. 

SEE ALSO

compress(1), mail(1), uucp(1C). 
uuencode(4).

WARNING

The encoded form of the file is expanded by 35 percent (3 bytes become 4 plus control information). 

ADDED VALUE

This entry, supplied by SunSoft, Inc., is an extension of UNIX System V. 

\*U  —  Version 1.0