#top uuencode-uudecode¶

uuencode [-m] [ file ] name
uudecode [-o outfile] [ file ]...

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.

Note: uuencode uses buffered input and assumes that it is not hand typed from a tty. The consequence is that at a tty, you may need to hit Ctl-D several times to terminate input.

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 orig- inal 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.