Ubuntu Manpage: iconv - convert text from one character encoding to another

NAME

       iconv - convert text from one character encoding to another

SYNOPSIS

       iconv [options] [-f from-encoding] [-t to-encoding] [inputfile]...

DESCRIPTION

       The  iconv program reads in text in one encoding and outputs the text in another encoding.
       If no input files are given, or if it is given as a dash (-), iconv  reads  from  standard
       input.  If no output file is given, iconv writes to standard output.

       If  no  from-encoding is given, the default is derived from the current locale's character
       encoding.  If no to-encoding is given, the default is derived from  the  current  locale's
       character encoding.

OPTIONS

-f from-encoding, --from-code=from-encoding
Use from-encoding for input characters.

-t to-encoding, --to-code=to-encoding
Use to-encoding for output characters.

If the string //IGNORE is appended to to-encoding, characters that cannot be
converted are discarded and an error is printed after conversion.

If the string //TRANSLIT is appended to to-encoding, characters being converted are
transliterated when needed and possible. This means that when a character cannot
be represented in the target character set, it can be approximated through one or
several similar looking characters. Characters that are outside of the target
character set and cannot be transliterated are replaced with a question mark (?) in
the output.

-l, --list
List all known character set encodings.

-c Silently discard characters that cannot be converted instead of terminating when
encountering such characters.

-o outputfile, --output=outputfile
Use outputfile for output.

-s, --silent
This option is ignored; it is provided only for compatibility.

--verbose
Print progress information on standard error when processing multiple files.

-?, --help
Print a usage summary and exit.

--usage
Print a short usage summary and exit.

-V, --version
Print the version number, license, and disclaimer of warranty for iconv.

EXIT STATUS

       Zero on success, nonzero on errors.

ENVIRONMENT

       Internally, the iconv program uses the iconv(3) function which in turn uses gconv  modules
       (dynamically  loaded  shared  libraries)  to  convert to and from a character set.  Before
       calling iconv(3), the iconv program must first  allocate  a  conversion  descriptor  using
       iconv_open(3).   The  operation of the latter function is influenced by the setting of the
       GCONV_PATH environment variable:

       •  If GCONV_PATH is not set, iconv_open(3) loads the  system  gconv  module  configuration
          cache  file  created  by iconvconfig(8) and then, based on the configuration, loads the
          gconv  modules  needed  to  perform  the  conversion.   If  the  system  gconv   module
          configuration  cache  file  is not available then the system gconv module configuration
          file is used.

       •  If GCONV_PATH is defined (as a colon-separated list of  pathnames),  the  system  gconv
          module configuration cache is not used.  Instead, iconv_open(3) first tries to load the
          configuration files by searching the directories in GCONV_PATH in  order,  followed  by
          the  system default gconv module configuration file.  If a directory does not contain a
          gconv module configuration file, any gconv modules that it may contain are ignored.  If
          a  directory  contains  a  gconv  module configuration file and it is determined that a
          module needed for this conversion is available in the directory, then the needed module
          is  loaded  from  that  directory,  the order being such that the first suitable module
          found in GCONV_PATH is used.  This allows users to use custom modules and even  replace
          system-provided modules by providing such modules in GCONV_PATH directories.

FILES

       /usr/lib/gconv
              Usual default gconv module path.

       /usr/lib/gconv/gconv-modules
              Usual system default gconv module configuration file.

       /usr/lib/gconv/gconv-modules.cache
              Usual system gconv module configuration cache.

       Depending  on the architecture, the above files may instead be located at directories with
       the path prefix /usr/lib64.

STANDARDS

       POSIX.1-2001.

EXAMPLES

       Convert text from the ISO 8859-15 character encoding to UTF-8:

           $ iconv -f ISO-8859-15 -t UTF-8 < input.txt > output.txt

       The next example converts from UTF-8 to ASCII, transliterating when possible:

           $ echo abc ß α € àḃç | iconv -f UTF-8 -t ASCII//TRANSLIT
           abc ss ? EUR abc