Re: coreutils Digest, Vol 16, Issue 11

[Bjartur Thorlacius]

On 6/17/11, e-letter <address@hidden> wrote:
> On 17/06/2011, address@hidden <address@hidden> wrote:
>> Which part of
>>
>> base64 [OPTION]... [FILE]
>>
>> is not clear?
>>
> isn't option '-d' not correct?
>
Yes, it is.

> Therefore the syntax seems
>
> base64 -d ...
>
> If no file is to be specified then it seems logical to add the base64
> encoded text where the ellipsis are shown above.
>
But base64 thinks you've specified a file, namely '...'. You probably*
want to do something along the lines of base64 -d <<<'==hsgd....etc';
that is the command name, the -d flag for decoding, followed by three
less than signs to mark the following word as input for the command,
as opposed to a positional argument, i.e. a FILE and at last the input
(preferably enclosed in apostrophes to tell your shell (bash) not to
parse the input but pass it on as-is).
Also try typing base64 -d, a newline (by pressing return/enter) and
then typing your input. You may have to terminate your input with a ^D
(Control-D) after the last newline.
So:
$ base64 -d
...base64 coded input here...

* assuming you're using GNU bash.