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SPLIT(1)		FreeBSD	General	Commands Manual		      SPLIT(1)

NAME
     split -- split a file into	pieces

SYNOPSIS
     split -d [-l line_count] [-a suffix_length] [file [prefix]]
     split -d -b byte_count[K|k|M|m|G|g] [-a suffix_length] [file [prefix]]
     split -d -n chunk_count [-a suffix_length]	[file [prefix]]
     split -d -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 un-
     changed.  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
	     number, the file is split into byte_count gigabyte	pieces.

     -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	incompatible 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
     specified,	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 characters in the range "a-z".  If -a is not	specified, two
     letters are used as the suffix.

     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.

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	13.0		       October 25, 2022			  FreeBSD 13.0

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | ENVIRONMENT | EXIT STATUS | EXAMPLES | SEE ALSO | STANDARDS | HISTORY

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