mudecode(1) mudecode(1)
17 February 1997
NAME
mudecode - MIME / UU decoder
SYNOPSIS
mudecode [-v] [-o destdir] [file ...]
DESCRIPTION
mudecode decodes one or more files that were encoded by uuencode or
mimeencode. The uuencode file format is truly horrible. No checksum
or other error detection. Expands the file more than it needs to.
Multiple barely-compatible versions. But it's in widespread use, so
we may as well make the best uudecoder we can. The MIME base64 format
isn't actually that much better, since it also lacks error detection.
But at least there's only one version of it. So far. This decoder
will handle multiple input and output files, automatically ignoring
any intervening header and trailer lines. You can decode a whole
Usenet spool directory with a very simple command. For example:
cd /usr/spool/news/alt/binaries/pictures/spam
mudecode -v -o ~/tmp *
Only problem with this is is doesn't handle articles that arrived out
of order. To fix that you can use the date_order program:
mudecode -v -o ~/tmp `date_order *`
This is still not perfect, due to missing articles and parts that were
actually posted out of order, but it will correctly decode maybe 95%
of the pictures in the spool.
OPTIONS
-v Verbose mode.
-o Specifies an output directory.
SEE ALSO
uuencode(1), mimencode(1), munpack(1), date_order(1)
AUTHOR
Copyright (C) 1995,1997 by Jef Poskanzer <jef@acme.com>. All rights
reserved.
- 1 - Formatted: December 14, 2025
