uuencode

NAME

       uuencode - encode a binary file

       uudecode - decode a file created by uuencode

SYNOPSIS

       uuencode [ file ] name

       uudecode [ 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 uude-
       code .

       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  up  a source tree, com-
       presses 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)

BUGS

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

HISTORY

       The uuencode command appeared in BSD 4.0.