1SPLIT(P) POSIX Programmer's Manual SPLIT(P)
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6 split - split files into pieces
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9 split [-l line_count][-a suffix_length][file[name]]
10 split -b n[k|m][-a suffix_length][file[name]]
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15 The split utility shall read an input file and write one or more output
16 files. The default size of each output file shall be 1000 lines. The
17 size of the output files can be modified by specification of the -b or
18 -l options. Each output file shall be created with a unique suffix. The
19 suffix shall consist of exactly suffix_length lowercase letters from
20 the POSIX locale. The letters of the suffix shall be used as if they
21 were a base-26 digit system, with the first suffix to be created con‐
22 sisting of all 'a' characters, the second with a 'b' replacing the last
23 'a' , and so on, until a name of all 'z' characters is created. By
24 default, the names of the output files shall be 'x' , followed by a
25 two-character suffix from the character set as described above, start‐
26 ing with "aa" , "ab" , "ac" , and so on, and continuing until the suf‐
27 fix "zz" , for a maximum of 676 files.
28 If the number of files required exceeds the maximum allowed by the suf‐
30 fix length provided, such that the last allowable file would be larger
31 than the requested size, the split utility shall fail after creating
32 the last file with a valid suffix; split shall not delete the files it
33 created with valid suffixes. If the file limit is not exceeded, the
34 last file created shall contain the remainder of the input file, and
35 may be smaller than the requested size.
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38 The split utility shall conform to the Base Definitions volume of
39 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 12.2, Utility Syntax Guidelines.
40 The following options shall be supported:
42 -a suffix_length
44 Use suffix_length letters to form the suffix portion of the
46 filenames of the split file. If -a is not specified, the default
47 suffix length shall be two. If the sum of the name operand and
48 the suffix_length option-argument would create a filename
49 exceeding {NAME_MAX} bytes, an error shall result; split shall
50 exit with a diagnostic message and no files shall be created.
51 -b n Split a file into pieces n bytes in size.
53 -b nk Split a file into pieces n*1024 bytes in size.
55 -b nm Split a file into pieces n*1048576 bytes in size.
57 -l line_count
59 Specify the number of lines in each resulting file piece. The
60 line_count argument is an unsigned decimal integer. The default
61 is 1000. If the input does not end with a <newline>, the partial
62 line shall be included in the last output file.
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66 The following operands shall be supported:
67 file The pathname of the ordinary file to be split. If no input file
69 is given or file is '-' , the standard input shall be used.
70 name The prefix to be used for each of the files resulting from the
72 split operation. If no name argument is given, 'x' shall be used
73 as the prefix of the output files. The combined length of the
74 basename of prefix and suffix_length cannot exceed {NAME_MAX}
75 bytes. See the OPTIONS section.
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79 See the INPUT FILES section.
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82 Any file can be used as input.
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85 The following environment variables shall affect the execution of
86 split:
87 LANG Provide a default value for the internationalization variables
89 that are unset or null. (See the Base Definitions volume of
90 IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, Section 8.2, Internationalization Vari‐
91 ables for the precedence of internationalization variables used
92 to determine the values of locale categories.)
93 LC_ALL If set to a non-empty string value, override the values of all
95 the other internationalization variables.
96 LC_CTYPE
98 Determine the locale for the interpretation of sequences of
99 bytes of text data as characters (for example, single-byte as
100 opposed to multi-byte characters in arguments and input files).
101 LC_MESSAGES
103 Determine the locale that should be used to affect the format
104 and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error.
105 NLSPATH
107 Determine the location of message catalogs for the processing of
108 LC_MESSAGES .
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112 Default.
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115 Not used.
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118 The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.
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121 The output files contain portions of the original input file; other‐
122 wise, unchanged.
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125 None.
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128 The following exit values shall be returned:
129 0 Successful completion.
131 >0 An error occurred.
133
136 Default.
137 The following sections are informative.
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141 None.
142
144 In the following examples foo is a text file that contains 5000 lines.
145 1. Create five files, xaa, xab, xac, xad, and xae:
147 split foo
150 2. Create five files, but the suffixed portion of the created files
152 consists of three letters, xaaa, xaab, xaac, xaad, and xaae:
153 split -a 3 foo
156 3. Create three files with four-letter suffixes and a supplied prefix,
158 bar_aaaa, bar_aaab, and bar_aaac:
159 split -a 4 -l 2000 foo bar_
162 4. Create as many files as are necessary to contain at most 20*1024
164 bytes, each with the default prefix of x and a five-letter suffix:
165 split -a 5 -b 20k foo
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170 The -b option was added to provide a mechanism for splitting files
171 other than by lines. While most uses of the -b option are for transmit‐
172 ting files over networks, some believed it would have additional uses.
173 The -a option was added to overcome the limitation of being able to
175 create only 676 files.
176 Consideration was given to deleting this utility, using the rationale
178 that the functionality provided by this utility is available via the
179 csplit utility (see csplit ). Upon reconsideration of the purpose of
180 the User Portability Extension, it was decided to retain both this
181 utility and the csplit utility because users use both utilities and
182 have historical expectations of their behavior. Furthermore, the split‐
183 ting on byte boundaries in split cannot be duplicated with the histori‐
184 cal csplit.
185 The text " split shall not delete the files it created with valid suf‐
187 fixes" would normally be assumed, but since the related utility,
188 csplit, does delete files under some circumstances, the historical
189 behavior of split is made explicit to avoid misinterpretation.
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192 None.
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195 csplit
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198 Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
199 from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
200 -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
201 Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of
202 Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the
203 event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
204 The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
205 is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online
206 at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
207IEEE/The Open Group 2003 SPLIT(P)