UUENCODE(5)		      File Formats Manual		   UUENCODE(5)



NAME
       uuencode - format of an encoded uuencode file

DESCRIPTION
       Files  output  by  uuencode(1)  consist of a header line, followed by a
       number of body lines, and a trailer line.  The uudecode(1) command will
       ignore  any lines preceding the header or following the trailer.	 Lines
       preceding a header must not, of course, look like a header.

       The header line is distinguished	 by  having  the  first	 6  characters
       begin   The  word  begin is followed by a mode (in octal), and a string
       which names the remote file.  A space separates the three items in  the
       header line.

       The body consists of a number of lines, each at most 62 characters long
       (including the trailing newline).  These consist of a character	count,
       followed	 by  encoded characters, followed by a newline.	 The character
       count is a single printing character, and represents  an	 integer,  the
       number  of  bytes  the  rest of the line represents.  Such integers are
       always in the range from 0 to 63 and can be determined  by  subtracting
       the character space (octal 40) from the character.

       Groups  of  3  bytes  are stored in 4 characters, 6 bits per character.
       All are offset by a space to make the characters	 printing.   The  last
       line  may  be  shorter  than the normal 45 bytes.  If the size is not a
       multiple of 3, this fact can be determined by the value of the count on
       the  last  line.	  Extra garbage will be included to make the character
       count a multiple of 4.  The body is terminated by a line with  a	 count
       of zero.	 This line consists of one ASCII space.

       The trailer line consists of end on a line by itself.

SEE ALSO
       uuencode(1), uudecode(1), uusend(1), uucp(1), mail(1)

HISTORY
       The uuencode file format appeared in BSD 4.0 .



								   UUENCODE(5)