z/OS V1R9.0 UNIX System Services Command ... - Christian Grothoff

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Portability
Related Information
uuencode
POSIX.2 User Portability Extension, X/Open Portability Guide. Generally found on
most UNIX systems.
uuencode — Encode a file for safe transmission
Format
Description
Options
Examples
uuencode [-m] [infile] remotefile
When files are transmitted over a network or over phone lines, nonprintable
characters (for example, control characters) may be interpreted as commands,
telling the network to do something. In general, therefore, it is not safe to transmit a
file if it contains nonprintable characters.
uuencode translates a binary file into a special code that consists entirely of
printable characters from the POSIX portable character set. A file encoded in this
way is generally safe for transmission over networks and phone lines. uuencode is
often used to send binary files through electronic mail.
If an infile is specified on the uuencode command line, uuencode reads that file as
input. Otherwise, it reads the standard input. uuencode always writes the encoded
result to the standard output. The encoded version of the data is about 35% larger
than the original. If the size is a problem, you can shrink the file with compress
before encoding it. The recipient must decode it and then uncompress it.
The remotefile command-line argument is the name that the file should be given
after it has been transmitted to its destination. Specifying a remotefile operand of
/dev/stdout indicates that uudecode is to use standard output. When the file
reaches its destination, uudecode can be used to translate the encoded data into
its original form. The first line of the encoded file records the file’s access
permission bits and the remotefile argument.
Because the encoded file consists entirely of printable characters, you may use a
text editor to edit the file. Of course, the only things you are likely to edit are the
name of the original file or the name of the remote file.
For a summary of the UNIX03 changes to this command, see Appendix N, “UNIX
shell commands changed for UNIX03,” on page 943.
-m Encode the output using the MIME Base64 algorithm. If -m is not specified,
the historical algorithm is used.
This command encodes the file long_name.tar.Z so it decodes with the name
arc.trz and redirects the output to arc.uue:
uuencode long_name.tar.Z arc.trz > arc.uue
uudecode
Chapter 2. Shell command descriptions 743