[unix-history] / usr / src / usr.bin / uuencode / uuencode.1

.\" Copyright (c) 1980 Regents of the University of California.
.\" All rights reserved.  The Berkeley software License Agreement
.\" specifies the terms and conditions for redistribution.
.\"
.\"	@(#)uuencode.1	6.2 (Berkeley) %G%
.\"
.TH UUENCODE 1C ""
.UC 4
.SH NAME
uuencode, uudecode \- encode/decode a binary file for transmission via mail
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B uuencode
[ source ] remotedest |
.B mail
sys1!sys2!..!decode
.br
.B uudecode
[ file ]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Uuencode
and
.I uudecode
are used to send a binary file via uucp (or other) mail.
This combination can be used over indirect mail links
even when
.IR uusend (1C)
is not available.
.PP
.I Uuencode
takes the named source 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
.I remotedest
for recreation on the remote system.
.PP
.I Uudecode
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.
.PP
The intent is that all mail to the user ``decode'' should be filtered
through the
.I uudecode
program.  This way the file is created automatically
without human intervention.
This is possible on the uucp network by either using
.I sendmail
or by making
.I rmail
be a link to
.I Mail
instead of
.IR mail .
In each case, an alias must be created in a master file to get
the automatic invocation of
.IR uudecode .
.PP
If these facilities are not available, the file can be sent to a
user on the remote machine who can uudecode it manually.
.PP
The encode file has an ordinary text form and can be edited
by any text editor to change the mode or remote name.
.SH SEE ALSO
atob(n), uusend(1C), uucp(1C), uux(1C), mail(1), uuencode(5)
.SH BUGS
The file is expanded by 35% (3 bytes become 4 plus control information)
causing it to take longer to transmit.
.PP
The user on the remote system who is invoking
.I uudecode
(often
.IR uucp )
must have write permission on the specified file.
Commit	Line	Data
e0107ca5 KM	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	.\"
92db425a	5	.\" @(#)uuencode.1 6.2 (Berkeley) %G%
e0107ca5	6	.\"
07717c3a	7	.TH UUENCODE 1C ""
e0107ca5 KM	8	.UC 4
e0107ca5 KM	9	.SH NAME
92db425a	10	uuencode, uudecode \- encode/decode a binary file for transmission via mail
e0107ca5 KM	11	.SH SYNOPSIS
	12	.B uuencode
	13	[ source ] remotedest \|
	14	.B mail
	15	sys1!sys2!..!decode
	16	.br
	17	.B uudecode
	18	[ file ]
	19	.SH DESCRIPTION
	20	.I Uuencode
	21	and
	22	.I uudecode
	23	are used to send a binary file via uucp (or other) mail.
	24	This combination can be used over indirect mail links
	25	even when
8edddc75	26	.IR uusend (1C)
e0107ca5 KM	27	is not available.
	28	.PP
	29	.I Uuencode
	30	takes the named source file (default standard input) and
	31	produces an encoded version on the standard output.
	32	The encoding uses only printing ASCII characters,
	33	and includes the mode of the file and the
	34	.I remotedest
	35	for recreation on the remote system.
	36	.PP
	37	.I Uudecode
	38	reads an encoded file,
	39	strips off any leading and trailing lines added by mailers,
	40	and recreates the original file with the specified mode and name.
	41	.PP
	42	The intent is that all mail to the user ``decode'' should be filtered
92db425a KM	43	through the
	44	.I uudecode
	45	program. This way the file is created automatically
e0107ca5 KM	46	without human intervention.
e0107ca5 KM	47	This is possible on the uucp network by either using
8edddc75	48	.I sendmail
e0107ca5 KM	49	or by making
	50	.I rmail
	51	be a link to
	52	.I Mail
	53	instead of
92db425a	54	.IR mail .
e0107ca5	55	In each case, an alias must be created in a master file to get
92db425a KM	56	the automatic invocation of
92db425a KM	57	.IR uudecode .
e0107ca5 KM	58	.PP
	59	If these facilities are not available, the file can be sent to a
	60	user on the remote machine who can uudecode it manually.
	61	.PP
	62	The encode file has an ordinary text form and can be edited
	63	by any text editor to change the mode or remote name.
92db425a KM	64	.SH SEE ALSO
92db425a KM	65	atob(n), uusend(1C), uucp(1C), uux(1C), mail(1), uuencode(5)
e0107ca5 KM	66	.SH BUGS
	67	The file is expanded by 35% (3 bytes become 4 plus control information)
	68	causing it to take longer to transmit.
	69	.PP
	70	The user on the remote system who is invoking
	71	.I uudecode
	72	(often
92db425a	73	.IR uucp )
e0107ca5	74	must have write permission on the specified file.