support partial dumps
[unix-history] / usr / src / usr.bin / uuencode / uuencode.1
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1.\" Copyright (c) 1980 Regents of the University of California.
2.\" All rights reserved. The Berkeley software License Agreement
3.\" specifies the terms and conditions for redistribution.
4.\"
07717c3a 5.\" @(#)uuencode.1 6.1 (Berkeley) %G%
e0107ca5 6.\"
07717c3a 7.TH UUENCODE 1C ""
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8.UC 4
9.SH NAME
8edddc75 10uuencode,uudecode \- encode/decode a binary file for transmission via mail
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11.SH SYNOPSIS
12.B uuencode
13[ source ] remotedest |
14.B mail
15sys1!sys2!..!decode
16.br
17.B uudecode
18[ file ]
19.SH DESCRIPTION
20.I Uuencode
21and
22.I uudecode
23are used to send a binary file via uucp (or other) mail.
24This combination can be used over indirect mail links
25even when
8edddc75 26.IR uusend (1C)
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27is not available.
28.PP
29.I Uuencode
30takes the named source file (default standard input) and
31produces an encoded version on the standard output.
32The encoding uses only printing ASCII characters,
33and includes the mode of the file and the
34.I remotedest
35for recreation on the remote system.
36.PP
37.I Uudecode
38reads an encoded file,
39strips off any leading and trailing lines added by mailers,
40and recreates the original file with the specified mode and name.
41.PP
42The intent is that all mail to the user ``decode'' should be filtered
43through the uudecode program. This way the file is created automatically
44without human intervention.
45This is possible on the uucp network by either using
8edddc75 46.I sendmail
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47or by making
48.I rmail
49be a link to
50.I Mail
51instead of
52.I mail.
53In each case, an alias must be created in a master file to get
54the automatic invocation of uudecode.
55.PP
56If these facilities are not available, the file can be sent to a
57user on the remote machine who can uudecode it manually.
58.PP
59The encode file has an ordinary text form and can be edited
60by any text editor to change the mode or remote name.
61.SH SEE\ ALSO
8edddc75 62uuencode(5), uusend(1C), uucp(1C), uux(1C), mail(1)
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63.SH AUTHOR
64Mark Horton
65.SH BUGS
66The file is expanded by 35% (3 bytes become 4 plus control information)
67causing it to take longer to transmit.
68.PP
69The user on the remote system who is invoking
70.I uudecode
71(often
72.I uucp)
73must have write permission on the specified file.