UUENCODE(5) UNIX System V UUENCODE(5)
NAME
uuencode - format of an encoded uuencode file
DESCRIPTION
Files output by uuencode(1) consist of a header line,
followed by a number of body lines, and a trailer line. The
uudecode(1) command will ignore any lines preceding the
header or following the trailer. Lines preceding a header
must not, of course, look like a header.
The header line is distinguished by having the first 6
characters begin The word begin is followed by a mode (in
octal), and a string which names the remote file. A space
separates the three items in the header line.
The body consists of a number of lines, each at most 62
characters long (including the trailing newline). These
consist of a character count, followed by encoded
characters, followed by a newline. The character count is a
single printing character, and represents an integer, the
number of bytes the rest of the line represents. Such
integers are always in the range from 0 to 63 and can be
determined by subtracting the character space (octal 40)
from the character.
Groups of 3 bytes are stored in 4 characters, 6 bits per
character. All are offset by a space to make the characters
printing. The last line may be shorter than the normal 45
bytes. If the size is not a multiple of 3, this fact can be
determined by the value of the count on the last line.
Extra garbage will be included to make the character count a
multiple of 4. The body is terminated by a line with a
count of zero. This line consists of one ASCII space.
The trailer line consists of end on a line by itself.
SEE ALSO
uuencode(1), uudecode(1), uusend(1), uucp(1), mail(1)
HISTORY
The uuencode file format appeared in BSD 4.0 .
Page 1 (printed 4/6/00)
