File: coreutils.info, Node: base64 invocation, Prev: od invocation, Up: Output of entire files
3.5 'base64': Transform data into printable data
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'base64' transforms data read from a file, or standard input, into (or
from) base64 encoded form. The base64 encoded form uses printable ASCII
characters to represent binary data. Synopses:
base64 [OPTION]... [FILE]
base64 --decode [OPTION]... [FILE]
The base64 encoding expands data to roughly 133% of the original.
The format conforms to RFC 4648
(ftp://ftp.rfc-editor.org/in-notes/rfc4648.txt).
The program accepts the following options. Also see *note Common
options::.
'-w COLS'
'--wrap=COLS'
During encoding, wrap lines after COLS characters. This must be a
positive number.
The default is to wrap after 76 characters. Use the value 0 to
disable line wrapping altogether.
'-d'
'--decode'
Change the mode of operation, from the default of encoding data, to
decoding data. Input is expected to be base64 encoded data, and
the output will be the original data.
'-i'
'--ignore-garbage'
When decoding, newlines are always accepted. During decoding,
ignore unrecognized bytes, to permit distorted data to be decoded.
An exit status of zero indicates success, and a nonzero value
indicates failure.