iconv

ICONV(1)                       Linux User Manual                      ICONV(1)

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 sev-
              eral similar looking characters.  Characters that are outside of
              the  target  character  set and cannot be transliterated are re-
              placed 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  mod-
          ule  configuration  cache  file  created by iconvconfig(8) and then,
          based on the configuration, loads the gconv modules needed  to  per-
          form 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 search-
          ing 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 mod-
          ule 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.

CONFORMING TO
       POSIX.1-2001.

EXAMPLE
       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 <alpha> EUR ac | iconv -f UTF-8 -t ASCII//TRANSLIT
           abc ss ? EUR abc

SEE ALSO
       locale(1), uconv(1), iconv(3), nl_langinfo(3),  charsets(7),  iconvcon-
       fig(8)

COLOPHON
       This  page  is  part of release 5.05 of the Linux man-pages project.  A
       description of the project, information about reporting bugs,  and  the
       latest     version     of     this    page,    can    be    found    at
       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.

GNU                               2019-03-06                          ICONV(1)