uuencode / uudecode

uuencode - encode a binary file

uudecode - decode a file created by uuencode

SYNTAX
       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 uude­
       code.   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,  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

"One of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire was that, lacking zero, they had no way to indicate successful termination of their C programs" - Robert Firth

Related commands:

compress(1) -
mail(1) -
uucp(1) -