BENCODE(1)               UNIX System V(9 January 1988)               BENCODE(1)


NAME
      bencode, bdecode - encode a binary file into printable ASCII; decode it
      back into binary.

SYNOPSIS
      bencode [source]
      bdecode [source]

DESCRIPTION
      Bencode is used to a encode a binary file into printable ASCII, and
      bdecode is used to decode an encoded file back into binary.  These
      functions are typically used to package a binary file for mailing.

      Bencode takes the named source file (the default is standard input) and
      produces an encoded version on the standard output.  The encoding uses
      only the ASCII characters ``A'' - ``Z'', ``a'' - ``z'', ``0'' - ``9'',
      ``+'', and ``-''.  The ASCII characters blank, newline, and ``/'' also
      appear in the encoded file, but do not represent encoded bits.  The
      encoded file is terminated with a byte count and cyclic redundancy check
      for detecting corrupted files.

      Bdecode reads a file encoded by bencode (the default is standard input),
      strips off any leading and trailing lines added by mailers, and writes
      the decoded version to standard output.

      These functions are similar to uuencode and uudecode, but are more robust
      because of the CRC check and because they don't send characters like
      ``^'' and ``\'', which are likely to get mangled if the file should
      happen to pass through a non-ASCII machine.

SEE ALSO
      uuencode(1)

AUTHORS
      Ken Lalonde and Reg Quinton

BUGS
      The file is expanded by 35% (3 bytes become 4 plus control information)
      causing it to take longer to transmit.















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