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SPLIT(1)		     General Commands Manual			SPLIT(1)

NAME
     split -- split a file into pieces

SYNOPSIS
     split [-cd] [-l line_count] [-a suffix_length] [file [prefix]]
     split [-cd] -b byte_count[K|k|M|m|G|g] [-a suffix_length] [file [prefix]]
     split [-cd] -n chunk_count [-a suffix_length] [file [prefix]]
     split [-cd] -p pattern [-a suffix_length] [file [prefix]]

DESCRIPTION
     The  split utility reads the given file and breaks it up into files of 1000
     lines each (if no options are specified), leaving the file  unchanged.   If
     file is a single dash (`-') or absent, split reads from the standard input.

     The options are as follows:

     -a suffix_length
	     Use suffix_length letters to form the suffix of the file name.

     -b byte_count[K|k|M|m|G|g]
	     Create  split  files  byte_count bytes in length.	If k or K is ap-
	     pended to the number, the file is split  into  byte_count	kilobyte
	     pieces.   If  m  or  M is appended to the number, the file is split
	     into byte_count megabyte pieces.  If g or G is appended to the num-
	     ber, the file is split into byte_count gigabyte pieces.

     -c      Continue creating files and do not overwrite existing output files.

     -d      Use a numeric suffix instead of a alphabetic suffix.

     -l line_count
	     Create split files line_count lines in length.

     -n chunk_count
	     Split file into chunk_count smaller files.  The first n -	1  files
	     will  be  of  size  (size of file / chunk_count ) and the last file
	     will contain the remaining bytes.

     -p pattern
	     The file is split whenever an input line matches pattern, which  is
	     interpreted  as  an extended regular expression.  The matching line
	     will be the first line of the next output file.  This option is in-
	     compatible with the -b and -l options.

     If additional arguments are specified, the first is used as the name of the
     input file which is to be split.  If a second additional argument is speci-
     fied, it is used as a prefix for the names of the files into which the file
     is split.	In this case, each file into which the file is split is named by
     the prefix followed by a lexically ordered suffix using suffix_length char-
     acters in the range "a-z".  If -a is not specified, two letters are used as
     the initial suffix.  If the output does not fit into the  resulting  number
     of  files and the -d flag is not specified, then the suffix length is auto-
     matically extended as needed such that all output files continue to sort in
     lexical order.

     If the prefix argument is not specified, the file is split  into  lexically
     ordered files named with the prefix "x" and with suffixes as above.

     By default, split will overwrite any existing output files.  If the -c flag
     is  specified,  split  will instead create files with names that do not al-
     ready exist.

ENVIRONMENT
     The LANG, LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE and LC_COLLATE environment variables affect  the
     execution of split as described in environ(7).

EXIT STATUS
     The split utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

EXAMPLES
     Split  input  into  as  many files as needed, so that each file contains at
     most 2 lines:

	   $ echo -e "first line\nsecond line\nthird line\nforth line" | split -l2

     Split input in chunks of 10 bytes using numeric prefixes  for  file  names.
     This  generates  two files of 10 bytes (x00 and x01) and a third file (x02)
     with the remaining 2 bytes:

	   $ echo -e "This is 22 bytes long" | split -d -b10

     Split input generating 6 files:

	   $ echo -e "This is 22 bytes long" | split -n 6

     Split input creating a new file every time a line matches the  regular  ex-
     pression for a "t" followed by either "a" or "u" thus creating two files:

	   $ echo -e "stack\nstock\nstuck\nanother line" | split -p 't[au]'

SEE ALSO
     csplit(1), re_format(7)

STANDARDS
     The split utility conforms to IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 ("POSIX.1").

HISTORY
     A split command appeared in Version 3 AT&T UNIX.

     Before FreeBSD 14, pattern and line matching only operated on lines shorter
     than 65,536 bytes.

FreeBSD ports 15.quarterly	  May 26, 2023				SPLIT(1)

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