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uuencode, uudecode - Encodes or decodes a binary file
uuencode [file] remotefile
uudecode [file...]
Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to industry standards as follows:
uudecode: XPG4
uuencode: XPG4
Refer to the
standards(5)
reference page for more information
about industry standards and associated tags.
The uuencode and uudecode commands are used to 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 file (default standard input) and produces an encoded version on the standard output. The encoding uses only printing ASCII characters, and includes the mode of the file and the name for re-creation on the remote system, specified by remotefile.
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. Filter the encode through the uudecode program. Filtering the file causes the original file to be automatically recreated. This is possible on the uucp network by using sendmail or by making rmail be a link to mailx. In each case, an alias must be created in a master file to get the automatic invocation of uudecode.
If neither of the preceding facilities is available on a user's system,
uudecode
can be applied to the file manually by editing the file
with any text editor, removing the trailing and leading lines, and changing
the mode or remote system name. The encoded file is an ordinary text file.
In the following example, the ex1 file is encoded; the output is also redirected to the ex1.out file: prompt> uuencode ex1 ex1.en > ex1.out
Commands: ct(1), cu(1), mailx(1), Mail(1), rmail(1), sendmail(8), tip(1), uucico(8), uucleanup(8), uucp(1), uulog(1), uuname(1), uupick(1), uusched(8), uusend(1), uustat(1), uuto(1), uux(1)
Standards: standards(5)