split

Purpose

Split a file into several smaller files.

Syntax

split [options] file [prefix]

Options

-l n (where n is a number) puts n lines in each file.

-n (where n is a number) puts n lines in each file.

-b nk (where n is a number) splits the file every n kilobytes.

-c nk (where n is a number) puts as many lines as possible in a split file without exceeding n kilobytes per file.

Description

The split command breaks up a large file into smaller files. By default, split puts 1,000 lines into each file. The files are named by groups of letters such as aa, ab, ac, and so on. You can specify a prefix for the filenames. For example, to split a large archive into smaller files that fit into several high-density, 3.5-inch diskettes, use split as follows:

split -C 1440k bigfile.tar disk.

This creates files named disk.aa, disk.ab, and so on.