Adding numerical suffixes to split

[Jesse Kornblum]

My apologies for taking so long to write back. I'm in the middle of switching 
locations.

Paul, you mentioned using csplit, which already has the ability to create 
numerical suffixes. This is good, and I must sheepishly admit I hadn't looked 
at csplit, but it does not meet my needs. csplit can't split a file based on 
the size, only the number of lines. I need a tool that can split files at the 
2GB limit in order to fit into a FAT32 filesystem.

Next, several people have asked why we don't use a script to automate this 
task. The problem is two-fold:

1. The majority of our users are not *nix-saavy enough to write scripts.

2. The files we are working with will become evidence to be used in criminal 
proscecutions. As a result, we need to ensure that we handle the evidence as 
little as possible. (Think of a detective taking a murder weapon from the crime 
scene. We're doing the same thing) The more commands that need to be executed, 
the greater the possibility that a mistake will be made and then the truth will 
never be known. By 'mistake', I don't mean the erasure of data. If the data has 
been handled in an inappropriate maner, even if only for a short time, it may 
be inadmissible in federal court. 


As I see it, there are two happy solutions to this problem:

1. Add support for size-based splitting to csplit

2. Add numerical suffixes to split

Given that the functionality for numerical suffixies already exists in csplit, 
why can't that be added to regular split? Wouldn't this be a trivial operation?


-- 
Jesse Kornblum, Captain, USAF
United States Naval Academy
address@hidden