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UNIX:  Encoding and decoding files with uuencode/uudecode


Q:  I'm having trouble determining the correct syntax for invoking uuencode.
    I would like to encode a file and leave the result in the same directory.

A:  uuencode is a classic UNIX tool, and therefore uses a typical UNIX syntax:

         uuencode [infile] remotefile

    That means that it generally takes standard input from some other program
    (unless you supply "infile") and sends it's output to standard output
    (the terminal, unless you specify a filename and redirect standard output
    to it:

         halcyon # uuencode .login .login
         begin 744 .login
         M(PE *",I+FQO9VEN"3<N,0E53%1225@)-R\R,B\Y,@IT<V5T("U)("U1"G-E
         M="!M86EL/2]U<W(O<W!O;VPO;6%I;"]R;V]T"G-E="!P<F]M<'0](F!H;W-T
         *;F%M96 @(R B"G(O

         end
         halcyon #

    So, a more practical version of the above is:

         halcyon> uuencode .login Login > login.UU

    This takes the file .login in your current directory, encodes it and puts
    the result in a file named login.UU.  When you decode the file with
    uudecode, the resulting file will be named "Login":

         halcyon # uudecode login.UU
         halcyon # ls -lax Login
         -rwxr--r--  1 root          100 Jul 24 03:06 Login
         halcyon #

                                                                                                                                      (11-Apr-96/unieadfw/WRD)
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