split - Splits a file into pieces
Current syntax
split [-l line_count] [-a suffix_length] [file | -] [prefix]
split -b n [k|m] [-a suffix_length] [file | -] [prefix]
Obsolescent syntax [Toc] [Back]
split [-number] [-a suffix_length] [file | -] [prefix]
Interfaces documented on this reference page conform to
industry standards as follows:
split: XCU5.0
Refer to the standards(5) reference page for more information
about industry standards and associated tags.
Uses suffix_length letters to form the suffix portion of
the file names of the split file. If -a is not specified,
the default suffix length is two letters. If the sum of
the prefix and the suffix arguments would create a file
name exceeding NAME_MAX bytes, an error occurs. In this
case, split exits with a diagnostic message and no files
are created. Split a file into pieces n bytes in size.
Split a file into pieces n kilobytes (1024 bytes) in size.
Split a file into pieces n megabytes (1048576 bytes) in
size. Specifies the number of lines in each output file.
The line_count argument is an unsigned decimal integer.
The default value is 1000. If the input does not end with
a newline character, the partial line is included in the
last output file. Specifies the number of lines in each
output file. The default is 1000 lines per output file.
If the input does not end with a newline character, the
partial line is included in the last output file. (Obsolescent)
The pathname of the file to be split.
If you do not specify an input file, or if you
specify -, the standard input is used.
The split command reads file and writes it in number-line
pieces (default 1000 lines) to a set of output files.
The size of the output files can be modified by using the
-b or -l options. Each output file is created with a
unique suffix consisting of exactly suffix lowercase letters
from the POSIX locale. The letters of the suffix are
used as if they were a base-26 digit system, with the
first suffix to be created consisting of all a characters,
the second with b replacing the last a etc., until a name
of all zs is created. By default, the names of the output
files are x, followed by a two-character suffix from the
character set as described above, starting with aa, ab,
ac, etc., and continuing until the suffix zz, for a maximum
of 676 files.
The value of prefix cannot be longer than the value of
NAME_MAX from <limits.h> minus two.
If the number of files required is greater than the maximum
allowed by the effective suffix length (such that the
last allowable file would be larger than the requested
size), split fails after creating the last possible file
with a valid suffix. The split command will not delete
the files it created with valid suffixes. If the file
limit is not exceeded, the last file created contains the
remainder of the input file and thus might be smaller than
the requested size.
The following exit values are returned: Successful completion.
An error occurred.
To split a file into 1000-line segments, enter: split book
This splits book into 1000-line segments named xaa,
xab, xac, and so forth. To split a file into
50-line segments and specify the file name prefix,
enter: split -l50 book sect
This splits book into 50-line segments named sectaa,
sectab, sectac, and so forth.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES [Toc] [Back] The following environment variables affect the execution
of split: Provides a default value for the internationalization
variables that are unset or null. If LANG is unset
or null, the corresponding value from the default locale
is used. If any of the internationalization variables
contain an invalid setting, the utility behaves as if none
of the variables had been defined. If set to a non-empty
string value, overrides the values of all the other internationalization
variables. Determines the locale for the
interpretation of sequences of bytes of text data as characters
(for example, single-byte as opposed to multibyte
characters in arguments and input files). Determines the
locale for the format and contents of diagnostic messages
written to standard error. Determines the location of
message catalogues for the processing of LC_MESSAGES.
Commands: bfs(1), csplit(1)
Standards: standards(5)
split(1)
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