casesplit

casesplit is a command-line utility designed for splitting large text files into smaller, more manageable chunks. It is particularly useful for processing log files, data dumps, or any other extensive text-based data that may exceed memory limitations or be difficult to analyze in its entirety. The tool operates by reading an input file and writing sections of it to multiple output files.

Users can specify the size of each output file, either by a fixed number of lines or by a byte count. This allows for precise control over the granularity of the split. For instance, one might choose to split a gigabyte log file into smaller files of 100 megabytes each, or into files containing exactly 10,000 lines. The output files are typically named sequentially, often with a numerical suffix, making it easy to reassemble or process them in order.

casesplit offers various options to customize the splitting process. These can include specifying prefixes for the output filenames, controlling whether to include or exclude the header lines of the original file in each chunk, and handling different character encodings. The utility is known for its efficiency, even with very large files, as it processes data in a streaming fashion, minimizing memory overhead. It is often used in scripting and automated data processing workflows where large files are a common occurrence.