wilber@gauss.UUCP (Bob Wilber) (01/31/88)
Comp.sources.misc: Volume 2, Issue 27
Submitted-By: Bob Wilber <wilber@gauss.UUCP>
Archive-Name: bencode-man
Comp.sources.misc: Volume 2, Issue 27
Submitted-By: Bob Wilber <wilber@gauss.UUCP>
Archive-Name: bencode-man
I just snarfed bencode/bdecode off comp.sources.misc. Here's a man page
I wrote that you might want to add to the shar file. (Use nroff -man.)
Bob Wilber wilber@research.att.com or ihnp4!gauss!wilber or
wilber%btl@csnet
----------------- Cut Here ---------------------------------------------------
#! /bin/sh
# "sh" this file to produce the file "bencode.1"
sed 's/^X//' << \_END_ > bencode.1
X.TH BENCODE 1 "9 January 1988"
X.UC 4
X.SH NAME
Xbencode, bdecode \- encode a binary file into printable ASCII; decode it back
Xinto binary.
X.SH SYNOPSIS
X.B /usr/local/bin/bencode [source]
X.br
X.B /usr/local/bin/bdecode [source]
X.SH DESCRIPTION
X.I Bencode
Xis used to a encode a binary file into printable ASCII, and
X.I bdecode
Xis used to decode an encoded file back into binary.
XThese functions are typically used to package a binary file for mailing.
X.PP
X.I Bencode
Xtakes the named source file (the default is standard input) and
Xproduces an encoded version on the standard output.
XThe encoding uses only the ASCII characters ``A'' \- ``Z'', ``a'' \- ``z'', ``0''
X\- ``9'', ``+'', and ``-''.
XThe ASCII characters blank, newline, and ``/'' also appear in the
Xencoded file, but do not represent encoded bits.
XThe encoded file is terminated with
Xa byte count and cyclic redundancy check for detecting corrupted files.
X.PP
X.I Bdecode
Xreads a file encoded by bencode (the default is standard input), strips off
Xany leading and trailing lines added by mailers,
Xand writes the decoded version to standard output.
X.PP
XThese functions are similar to
X.I uuencode
Xand
X.I uudecode,
Xbut are more robust because of the CRC check and because
Xthey don't send characters like ``^'' and ``\\'', which are likely to get
Xmangled if the file should happen to pass through a
Xnon-ASCII machine.
X.PP
X.SH SEE\ ALSO
Xuuencode(1)
X.SH AUTHORS
XKen Lalonde and Reg Quinton
X.SH BUGS
XThe file is expanded by 35% (3 bytes become 4 plus control information)
Xcausing it to take longer to transmit.
_END_
exit 0