Commands Reference, Volume 5

uuencode Command

Purpose

Encodes a binary file for transmission using electronic mail.

Syntax

Description

The uuencode command converts a binary file to ASCII data before using BNU (or uucp) mail to send the file to a remote system. The uudecode command converts ASCII data created by the uuencode command back into its original binary form.

The uuencode command takes the named SourceFile (default standard input) and produces an encoded version on the standard output. The encoding uses only printable ASCII characters, and includes the mode of the file and the RemoteFile filename used for recreation of the binary image on the remote system.

Use the uudecode command to decode the file.

Parameters

RemoteFile	Specifies the name the decoded file will have.
SourceFile	Specifies the name of the binary file to convert. Default is standard input.

Examples

To encode the file unix on the local system and mail it to the user jsmith on another system called mysys, enter:
```
uuencode unix unix | mail jsmith@mysys
```
To encode the file /usr/lib/boot/unix on your local system with the name pigmy.goat in the file /tmp/con , enter:
```
uuencode /usr/lib/boot/unix pigmy.goat > /tmp/con
```

Files

/usr/bin/uuencode

Contains the uuencode command.

Related Information

The mail command, rmail command, sendmail command, uucp command, uudecode command, uusend command, uux command.