UUENCODE

A set of algorithms for converting files into a series of 7-bit ASCII characters that can be transmitted over the Internet. Originally, uuencode stood for Unix-to-Unix encode, but it has since become a universal protocol used to transfer files between different platforms such as Unix, Windows, and Macintosh. Uuencoding is especially popular for sending e-mail attachments. Nearly all e-mail applications support uuencoding for sending attachments and uudecoding for receiving attachments.