BSPLIT(1) Version 2.02 BSPLIT(1)
28 January 2004
NAME
bsplit - split a binary file into nnn-byte pieces
SYNOPSIS
bsplit [ -? ] [ -nnn[K|M|G|T|P|E] ]
[ -b nnn[K|M|G|T|P|E] ] [ -h ] [ -v ] file(s)
DESCRIPTION
bsplit splits its argument file(s) into nnn-byte pieces. The size of
the pieces is determined by the most-recently encountered size option.
Splitting of large files is useful for electronic mail transmission
(32KB is the recommended maximum size), to facilitate FTP file
transfers over connections that experience fatal timeouts for large
files, and for transferring files on personal computer floppy disks.
The split size is always forced internally to be a multiple of 512,
which is the minimum block size on most current systems. By ensuring
that the parts are multiples of file system blocksizes, corruption of
the pieces through addition of padding garbage on some record-oriented
file systems can be avoided.
For text files, where it is desirable to split at line boundaries, use
split(1) instead.
The split pieces go into parts named like the argument file, but with
the suffix -mmm (-001, -002, etc.).
If no files are specified, then stdin is read and split, and the
output pieces are named stdin-001, stdin-002, etc.
On IBM PC DOS and DEC VMS systems, where only a single period is
allowed in a filename, the suffix is changed to .mmm and it replaces
any file extension present in the filename.
IBM PC systems running Microsoft Windows (95, 98, and NT) are treated
like DOS systems, even though those systems support long filenames
with multiple periods; that way, the bsplit executable will still work
correctly on an IBM PC DOS system.
OPTIONS
On IBM PC and DEC VMS systems, the option hyphen prefix, `-', may be
replaced by a slash, '/'; both are recognized on those systems. The
documentation below uses only the hyphen prefix.
Letter case is ignored in option names: -H and -h are equivalent.
-? Give a brief usage display on stderr and exit with a success
status code.
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BSPLIT(1) Version 2.02 BSPLIT(1)
28 January 2004
-b nnn[K|M|G|T|P|E] or
Define the size, in bytes, of the output pieces; the last one
may, of course, be shorter than this. Any size smaller than 1024
will be reset to 1024, and the size will always be rounded up to
a multiple of 512 bytes.
The integer value nnn may be optionally followed by a multiplier
suffix: K(kilo), M(mega), G(giga), T(tera), P(peta), or E(exa).
These correspond to powers of the computer unit 1024, rather than
the usual 1000 of the metric system.
If this size option is omitted, then 1423K is assumed; this
peculiar number is the size of an IBM PC 3.5in high-density
floppy disk, which is a common file transfer medium.
-h Give a brief usage display on stderr and exit with a success
status code.
-v Display the program version number and date on stderr and exit
with a success status code.
SEE ALSO
mail(1), split(1), uucp(1C), uue(1), uuencode(1), uuencode(5),
uusend(1C), uux(1C), xxencode(1).
STATUS
This program and its manual page are placed in the public domain.
AUTHOR
Nelson H. F. Beebe
Center for Scientific Computing
University of Utah
Department of Mathematics, 110 LCB
155 S 1400 E RM 233
Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0090
USA
Email: beebe@math.utah.edu, beebe@acm.org, beebe@computer.org (Internet)
WWW URL: http://www.math.utah.edu/~beebe
FAX: +1 801 581 4148
Tel: +1 801 581 5254
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