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PROLOG
This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The Linux implementation of this interface
may differ (consult the corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface
may not be implemented on Linux.
NAME
split — split a file into pieces
SYNOPSIS
split [-l line_count] [-a suffix_length] [file [name]]
split -b n[k|m] [-a suffix_length] [file [name]]
DESCRIPTION
The split utility shall read an input file and write zero or more output files. The default size of each
output file shall be 1000 lines. The size of the output files can be modified by specification of the -b
or -l options. Each output file shall be created with a unique suffix. The suffix shall consist of
exactly suffix_length lowercase letters from the POSIX locale. The letters of the suffix shall be 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 a 'b' replacing the last 'a', and so on, until a name of all 'z' characters
is created. By default, the names of the output files shall be 'x', followed by a two-character suffix
from the character set as described above, starting with "aa", "ab", "ac", and so on, and continuing
until the suffix "zz", for a maximum of 676 files.
If the number of files required exceeds the maximum allowed by the suffix length provided, such that the
last allowable file would be larger than the requested size, the split utility shall fail after creating
the last file with a valid suffix; split shall not delete the files it created with valid suffixes. If
the file limit is not exceeded, the last file created shall contain the remainder of the input file, and
may be smaller than the requested size. If the input is an empty file, no output file shall be created
and this shall not be considered to be an error.
OPTIONS
The split utility shall conform to the Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, Section 12.2, Utility
Syntax Guidelines.
The following options shall be supported:
-a suffix_length
Use suffix_length letters to form the suffix portion of the filenames of the split file. If -a
is not specified, the default suffix length shall be two. If the sum of the name operand and
the suffix_length option-argument would create a filename exceeding {NAME_MAX} bytes, an error
shall result; split shall exit with a diagnostic message and no files shall be created.
-b n Split a file into pieces n bytes in size.
-b nk Split a file into pieces n*1024 bytes in size.
-b nm Split a file into pieces n*1048576 bytes in size.
-l line_count
Specify the number of lines in each resulting file piece. The line_count argument is an
unsigned decimal integer. The default is 1000. If the input does not end with a <newline>, the
partial line shall be included in the last output file.
OPERANDS
The following operands shall be supported:
file The pathname of the ordinary file to be split. If no input file is given or file is '-', the
standard input shall be used.
name The prefix to be used for each of the files resulting from the split operation. If no name
argument is given, 'x' shall be used as the prefix of the output files. The combined length of
the basename of prefix and suffix_length cannot exceed {NAME_MAX} bytes. See the OPTIONS
section.
STDIN
See the INPUT FILES section.
INPUT FILES
Any file can be used as input.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The following environment variables shall affect the execution of split:
LANG Provide a default value for the internationalization variables that are unset or null. (See the
Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, Section 8.2, Internationalization Variables for the
precedence of internationalization variables used to determine the values of locale
categories.)
LC_ALL If set to a non-empty string value, override the values of all the other internationalization
variables.
LC_CTYPE Determine the locale for the interpretation of sequences of bytes of text data as characters
(for example, single-byte as opposed to multi-byte characters in arguments and input files).
LC_MESSAGES
Determine the locale that should be used to affect the format and contents of diagnostic
messages written to standard error.
NLSPATH Determine the location of message catalogs for the processing of LC_MESSAGES.
ASYNCHRONOUS EVENTS
Default.
STDOUT
Not used.
STDERR
The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.
OUTPUT FILES
The output files contain portions of the original input file; otherwise, unchanged.
EXTENDED DESCRIPTION
None.
EXIT STATUS
The following exit values shall be returned:
0 Successful completion.
>0 An error occurred.
CONSEQUENCES OF ERRORS
Default.
The following sections are informative.
APPLICATION USAGE
None.
EXAMPLES
In the following examples foo is a text file that contains 5000 lines.
1. Create five files, xaa, xab, xac, xad, and xae:
split foo
2. Create five files, but the suffixed portion of the created files consists of three letters, xaaa,
xaab, xaac, xaad, and xaae:
split -a 3 foo
3. Create three files with four-letter suffixes and a supplied prefix, bar_aaaa, bar_aaab, and bar_aaac:
split -a 4 -l 2000 foo bar_
4. Create as many files as are necessary to contain at most 20*1024 bytes, each with the default prefix
of x and a five-letter suffix:
split -a 5 -b 20k foo
RATIONALE
The -b option was added to provide a mechanism for splitting files other than by lines. While most uses
of the -b option are for transmitting files over networks, some believed it would have additional uses.
The -a option was added to overcome the limitation of being able to create only 676 files.
Consideration was given to deleting this utility, using the rationale that the functionality provided by
this utility is available via the csplit utility (see csplit). Upon reconsideration of the purpose of
the User Portability Utilities option, it was decided to retain both this utility and the csplit utility
because users use both utilities and have historical expectations of their behavior. Furthermore, the
splitting on byte boundaries in split cannot be duplicated with the historical csplit.
The text ``split shall not delete the files it created with valid suffixes'' would normally be assumed,
but since the related utility, csplit, does delete files under some circumstances, the historical
behavior of split is made explicit to avoid misinterpretation.
Earlier versions of this standard allowed a -line_count option. This form is no longer specified by
POSIX.1‐2008 but may be present in some implementations.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
None.
SEE ALSO
csplit
The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, Chapter 8, Environment Variables, Section 12.2, Utility
Syntax Guidelines
COPYRIGHT
Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard
for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
Specifications Issue 7, 2018 Edition, Copyright (C) 2018 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the event of any discrepancy between this version and the original
IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee document.
The original Standard can be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .
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