NAME

split - split a file



SYNOPSIS

split -n | +from [-to] file [name]  



DESCRIPTION 

Split splits a file into a number of small files.   
Depending on the arguments, "file" is split into n-line pieces  
or according to specified patterns.  If "file" is omitted or
is "-", split reads the standard input. 

Normally, split outputs the pieces of "file" into files 
named "xaa", "xab", "xac", ..., "xzz".  This convention 
permits upto 676 files.  If "file" requires more than   
676 files to be split, the rest of "file" is placed in "xzz".   
If the "name" argument is given, it is used as the prefix   
for the output file names.  For each output file,   
the 2-character sequence (e.g. "aa", "ab", etc.) is appended
to "name" and the result is used as the output file.
Note that "file" must be given in order to specify "name".  

To split "file" into n-line pieces, use 



split -n file [name]



If n is omitted, 100 is assumed.

The command 



split +from file [name] 



splits "file" into pieces that begin with the pattern "from".   
The command 



split +from -to file [name] 



splits "file" into pieces that begin with the pattern "from"
and end with the "to".  Note that in this case, portions
of "file" may not appear in the output files.   
For example, the command



split +subroutine -end foo  



might be used to extract the subroutines from foo.  

The "from" and "to" patterns may be any regular expression  
pattern as described in edit.   




SEE ALSO

change, edit, find, lam 




DIAGNOSTICS 

bad argument


The value of "n" is invalid.


illegal from pattern

illegal to pattern  


The specification for the indicated pattern is invalid. 



AUTHORS 

David Hanson and friends (U. of Arizona)