NAME

       split - split files 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 one 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.

OPTIONS

       The  split  utility  shall conform to the Base Definitions volume of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001,
       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  IEEE Std 1003.1-2001, 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 Extension, 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.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

       None.

SEE ALSO

       csplit

COPYRIGHT

       Portions of this text are reprinted and  reproduced  in  electronic  form  from  IEEE  Std
       1003.1,  2003  Edition,  Standard  for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System
       Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003  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 .