uuencode(1)                                                                           uuencode(1)



NAME
       uuencode - encode a binary file

       uudecode - decode a file created by uuencode

SYNOPSIS
       uuencode [-m] [ file ] name

       uudecode [-o outfile] [ file ]...

DESCRIPTION
       Uuencode  and uudecode are used to transmit binary files over transmission mediums that do
       not support other than simple ASCII data.

       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.  If  name  is  /dev/stdout  the
       result  will  be  written  to standard output.  By default the standard UU encoding format
       will be used.  If the option -m is given on the  command  line  base64  encoding  is  used
       instead.

       Uudecode  transforms uuencoded files (or by default, the standard input) into the original
       form.  The resulting file is named name (or outfile if the -o option is  given)  and  will
       have  the  mode of the original file except that setuid and execute bits are not retained.
       If outfile or name is /dev/stdout the result will be written to standard output.  Uudecode
       ignores any leading and trailing lines.  The program can automatically decide which of the
       both supported encoding schemes are used.

EXAMPLES
       The following example packages up 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 which may then be uncompressed and extracted  into  the
       original tree.


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


SEE ALSO
       compress(1), mail(1), uucp(1), uuencode(5)

STANDARDS
       This implementation is compliant with P1003.2b/D11.

BUGS
       If  more  than  one  file is given to uudecode and the -o option is given or more than one
       name in the encoded files are the same the result is probably not what is expected.

       The encoded form of the file is expanded by 37% for UU encoding  and  by  35%  for  base64
       encoding (3 bytes become 4 plus control information).

HISTORY
       The uuencode command appeared in BSD 4.0.



                                                                                      uuencode(1)