split Command

Purpose

Splits a file into pieces.

Syntax

To Split a File Into Multiple Files Containing a Specified Number of Lines

split [ -l LineCount ] [ -a SuffixLength ] [ File [ Prefix ] ]

To Split a File Into Multiple Files Containing a Specified Number of Bytes

split -b Number [ k | m ] [ -a SuffixLength ] [ File [ Prefix ] ]

Description

The split command reads the specified file and writes it in 1000-line pieces to a set of output files. The name of the first output file is constructed by combining the specified prefix (x by default) with the aa suffix, the second by combining the prefix with the ab suffix, and so on lexicographically through zz (a maximum of 676 files). The number of letters in the suffix, and consequently the number of output name files, can be increased by using the -a flag.

You cannot specify a Prefix longer than PATH_MAX - 2 bytes (or PATH_MAX - SuffixLength bytes if the -a flag is specified). The PATH_MAX variable specifies the maximum path-name length for the system as defined in the /usr/include/sys/limits.h file.

If you do not specify an input file or if you specify a file name of - (minus sign), the split command reads standard input.

The split command can be used with any regular text or binary files. After a file has been split, it can be restored to its original form by using the cat command, and the file fragments will be listed in the appropriate order.

Flags

Note: The -b and -l flags are mutually exclusive.

Item	Description
-a SuffixLength	Specifies the number of letters to use in forming the suffix portion of the output name files. The number of letters determines the number of possible output filename combinations. The default is two letters.
-b Number	Splits the file into the number of bytes specified by the Number variable. Adding the k (kilobyte) or m (megabyte) multipliers to the end of the Number value causes the file to be split into Number1024 or Number**1,048,576 byte pieces, respectively.
-l LineCount	Specifies the number of lines in each output file. The default is 1000 lines.

Exit Status

This command returns the following exit values:

Item	Description
0	The command ran successfully.
>0	An error occurred.

Examples

To split a file into 1000-line segments, enter:
```
split book
```
This example splits book into 1000-line segments named xaa, xab, xac, and so forth.
To split a file into 50-line segments and specify the file-name prefix, enter:
```
split -l 50 book sect
```
This example splits book into 50-line segments named sectaa, sectab, sectac, and so forth.
To split a file into 2KB segments, enter:
```
split -b 2k book
```
This example splits the book into 2*1024-byte segments named xaa, xab, xac, and so forth.
To split a file into more than 676 segments, enter:
```
split -l 5 -a 3 book sect
```
This example splits a book into 5-line segments named sectaaa, sectaab, sectaac, and so forth, up to sectzzz (a maximum of 17,576 files).

Files

Item	Description
/usr/bin/split	Contains the split command.