UUDECODE(1L)

NAME
uudecode - reconstruct a binary file from printable encoding

SYNOPSIS
uudecode [ -v ] [ input ]

DESCRIPTION
Uudecode translates a text file created by uuencode(1L) into a replica of the original (binary) file. It reads the named file (or standard input if none is given), and skips any headers or trailers that might surround the data, and parses the data to create the file named in the message. No attempt is made to verify the file to be created, or the permission modes to be assigned to it, so it is wise to manually inspect the input before feeding it into uudecode. On UNIX , this can be done by the following command:
    prompt% grep '^begin' input

Several versions of the original uuencode and uudecode programs are available and have been widely distributed; luckily, all the changes seem to have been made in a compatible manner. This distribution does not provide all the features of other versions, just the basic format and the ``translation table.'' For more detailed information, see the uuencode manual page.

If more than one data file appears in the input, all others but the first one are ignored.

Note that the encoded file is about 35% bigger (three bytes become four, plus control information) than the original.

The ``-v'' option prints out the current version and exits.

SEE ALSO
uuencode(1L).