1SPLIT(1P) POSIX Programmer's Manual SPLIT(1P)
2
6 This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The Linux
7 implementation of this interface may differ (consult the corresponding
8 Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may
9 not be implemented on Linux.
10
12 split - split files into pieces
13
15 split [-l line_count][-a suffix_length][file[name]]
16 split -b n[k|m][-a suffix_length][file[name]]
18
21 The split utility shall read an input file and write one or more output
22 files. The default size of each output file shall be 1000 lines. The
23 size of the output files can be modified by specification of the -b or
24 -l options. Each output file shall be created with a unique suffix. The
25 suffix shall consist of exactly suffix_length lowercase letters from
26 the POSIX locale. The letters of the suffix shall be used as if they
27 were a base-26 digit system, with the first suffix to be created con‐
28 sisting of all 'a' characters, the second with a 'b' replacing the last
29 'a', and so on, until a name of all 'z' characters is created. By
30 default, the names of the output files shall be 'x', followed by a two-
31 character suffix from the character set as described above, starting
32 with "aa", "ab", "ac", and so on, and continuing until the suffix "zz",
33 for a maximum of 676 files.
34 If the number of files required exceeds the maximum allowed by the suf‐
36 fix length provided, such that the last allowable file would be larger
37 than the requested size, the split utility shall fail after creating
38 the last file with a valid suffix; split shall not delete the files it
39 created with valid suffixes. If the file limit is not exceeded, the
40 last file created shall contain the remainder of the input file, and
41 may be smaller than the requested size.
42
44 The split utility shall conform to the Base Definitions volume of
45 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 12.2, Utility Syntax Guidelines.
46 The following options shall be supported:
48 -a suffix_length
50 Use suffix_length letters to form the suffix portion of the
52 filenames of the split file. If -a is not specified, the default
53 suffix length shall be two. If the sum of the name operand and
54 the suffix_length option-argument would create a filename
55 exceeding {NAME_MAX} bytes, an error shall result; split shall
56 exit with a diagnostic message and no files shall be created.
57 -b n Split a file into pieces n bytes in size.
59 -b nk Split a file into pieces n*1024 bytes in size.
61 -b nm Split a file into pieces n*1048576 bytes in size.
63 -l line_count
65 Specify the number of lines in each resulting file piece. The
66 line_count argument is an unsigned decimal integer. The default
67 is 1000. If the input does not end with a <newline>, the partial
68 line shall be included in the last output file.
69
72 The following operands shall be supported:
73 file The pathname of the ordinary file to be split. If no input file
75 is given or file is '-', the standard input shall be used.
76 name The prefix to be used for each of the files resulting from the
78 split operation. If no name argument is given, 'x' shall be used
79 as the prefix of the output files. The combined length of the
80 basename of prefix and suffix_length cannot exceed {NAME_MAX}
81 bytes. See the OPTIONS section.
82
85 See the INPUT FILES section.
86
88 Any file can be used as input.
89
91 The following environment variables shall affect the execution of
92 split:
93 LANG Provide a default value for the internationalization variables
95 that are unset or null. (See the Base Definitions volume of
96 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 8.2, Internationalization Vari‐
97 ables for the precedence of internationalization variables used
98 to determine the values of locale categories.)
99 LC_ALL If set to a non-empty string value, override the values of all
101 the other internationalization variables.
102 LC_CTYPE
104 Determine the locale for the interpretation of sequences of
105 bytes of text data as characters (for example, single-byte as
106 opposed to multi-byte characters in arguments and input files).
107 LC_MESSAGES
109 Determine the locale that should be used to affect the format
110 and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error.
111 NLSPATH
113 Determine the location of message catalogs for the processing of
114 LC_MESSAGES .
115
118 Default.
119
121 Not used.
122
124 The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.
125
127 The output files contain portions of the original input file; other‐
128 wise, unchanged.
129
131 None.
132
134 The following exit values shall be returned:
135 0 Successful completion.
137 >0 An error occurred.
139
142 Default.
143 The following sections are informative.
145
147 None.
148
150 In the following examples foo is a text file that contains 5000 lines.
151 1. Create five files, xaa, xab, xac, xad, and xae:
153 split foo
156 2. Create five files, but the suffixed portion of the created files
158 consists of three letters, xaaa, xaab, xaac, xaad, and xaae:
159 split -a 3 foo
162 3. Create three files with four-letter suffixes and a supplied prefix,
164 bar_aaaa, bar_aaab, and bar_aaac:
165 split -a 4 -l 2000 foo bar_
168 4. Create as many files as are necessary to contain at most 20*1024
170 bytes, each with the default prefix of x and a five-letter suffix:
171 split -a 5 -b 20k foo
174
176 The -b option was added to provide a mechanism for splitting files
177 other than by lines. While most uses of the -b option are for transmit‐
178 ting files over networks, some believed it would have additional uses.
179 The -a option was added to overcome the limitation of being able to
181 create only 676 files.
182 Consideration was given to deleting this utility, using the rationale
184 that the functionality provided by this utility is available via the
185 csplit utility (see csplit ). Upon reconsideration of the purpose of
186 the User Portability Extension, it was decided to retain both this
187 utility and the csplit utility because users use both utilities and
188 have historical expectations of their behavior. Furthermore, the split‐
189 ting on byte boundaries in split cannot be duplicated with the histori‐
190 cal csplit.
191 The text " split shall not delete the files it created with valid suf‐
193 fixes" would normally be assumed, but since the related utility,
194 csplit, does delete files under some circumstances, the historical
195 behavior of split is made explicit to avoid misinterpretation.
196
198 None.
199
201 csplit
202
204 Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
205 from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
206 -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
207 Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of
208 Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the
209 event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
210 The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
211 is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online
212 at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
213IEEE/The Open Group 2003 SPLIT(1P)