ICONV(1)                   POSIX Programmer's Manual                  ICONV(1)



PPRROOLLOOGG
       This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual.  The OS
       implementation of this interface may differ (consult the corresponding
       OS manual page for details of OS behavior), or the interface may not be
       implemented on OS.

NNAAMMEE
       iconv -- codeset conversion

SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
       iconv [[-cs]] -f _f_r_o_m_m_a_p -t _t_o_m_a_p [[_f_i_l_e...]]

       iconv -f _f_r_o_m_c_o_d_e [[-cs]] [[-t _t_o_c_o_d_e]] [[_f_i_l_e...]]

       iconv -t _t_o_c_o_d_e [[-cs]] [[-f _f_r_o_m_c_o_d_e]] [[_f_i_l_e...]]

       iconv -l

DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
       The _i_c_o_n_v utility shall convert the encoding of characters in _f_i_l_e from
       one codeset to another and write the results to standard output.

       When the options indicate that charmap files are used to specify the
       codesets (see OPTIONS), the codeset conversion shall be accomplished by
       performing a logical join on the symbolic character names in the two
       charmaps. The implementation need not support the use of charmap files
       for codeset conversion unless the POSIX2_LOCALEDEF symbol is defined on
       the system.

OOPPTTIIOONNSS
       The _i_c_o_n_v utility shall conform to the Base Definitions volume of
       POSIX.1-2017, _S_e_c_t_i_o_n _1_2_._2, _U_t_i_l_i_t_y _S_y_n_t_a_x _G_u_i_d_e_l_i_n_e_s.

       The following options shall be supported:

       --cc        Omit any characters that are invalid in the codeset of the
                 input file from the output. When --cc is not used, the results
                 of encountering invalid characters in the input stream
                 (either those that are not characters in the codeset of the
                 input file or that have no corresponding character in the
                 codeset of the output file) shall be specified in the system
                 documentation. The presence or absence of --cc shall not affect
                 the exit status of _i_c_o_n_v.

       --ff _f_r_o_m_c_o_d_e_s_e_t
                 Identify the codeset of the input file. The implementation
                 shall recognize the following two forms of the _f_r_o_m_c_o_d_e_s_e_t
                 option-argument:

                 _f_r_o_m_c_o_d_e  The _f_r_o_m_c_o_d_e option-argument must not contain a
                           <slash> character. It shall be interpreted as the
                           name of one of the codeset descriptions provided by
                           the implementation in an unspecified format. Valid
                           values of _f_r_o_m_c_o_d_e are implementation-defined.

                 _f_r_o_m_m_a_p   The _f_r_o_m_m_a_p option-argument must contain a <slash>
                           character. It shall be interpreted as the pathname
                           of a charmap file as defined in the Base
                           Definitions volume of POSIX.1-2017, _S_e_c_t_i_o_n _6_._4,
                           _C_h_a_r_a_c_t_e_r _S_e_t _D_e_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_o_n _F_i_l_e.  If the pathname
                           does not represent a valid, readable charmap file,
                           the results are undefined.

                 If this option is omitted, the codeset of the current locale
                 shall be used.

       --ll        Write all supported _f_r_o_m_c_o_d_e and _t_o_c_o_d_e values to standard
                 output in an unspecified format.

       --ss        Suppress any messages written to standard error concerning
                 invalid characters. When --ss is not used, the results of
                 encountering invalid characters in the input stream (either
                 those that are not valid characters in the codeset of the
                 input file or that have no corresponding character in the
                 codeset of the output file) shall be specified in the system
                 documentation. The presence or absence of --ss shall not affect
                 the exit status of _i_c_o_n_v.

       --tt _t_o_c_o_d_e_s_e_t
                 Identify the codeset to be used for the output file. The
                 implementation shall recognize the following two forms of the
                 _t_o_c_o_d_e_s_e_t option-argument:

                 _t_o_c_o_d_e    The semantics shall be equivalent to the --ff
                           _f_r_o_m_c_o_d_e option.

                 _t_o_m_a_p     The semantics shall be equivalent to the --ff _f_r_o_m_m_a_p
                           option.

                 If this option is omitted, the codeset of the current locale
                 shall be used.

       If either --ff or --tt represents a charmap file, but the other does not
       (or is omitted), or both --ff and --tt are omitted, the results are
       undefined.

OOPPEERRAANNDDSS
       The following operand shall be supported:

       _f_i_l_e      A pathname of an input file. If no _f_i_l_e operands are
                 specified, or if a _f_i_l_e operand is ''--'', the standard input
                 shall be used.

SSTTDDIINN
       The standard input shall be used only if no _f_i_l_e operands are
       specified, or if a _f_i_l_e operand is ''--''.

IINNPPUUTT FFIILLEESS
       The input file shall be a text file.

EENNVVIIRROONNMMEENNTT VVAARRIIAABBLLEESS
       The following environment variables shall affect the execution of
       _i_c_o_n_v:

       _L_A_N_G      Provide a default value for the internationalization
                 variables that are unset or null. (See the Base Definitions
                 volume of POSIX.1-2017, _S_e_c_t_i_o_n _8_._2, _I_n_t_e_r_n_a_t_i_o_n_a_l_i_z_a_t_i_o_n
                 _V_a_r_i_a_b_l_e_s for the precedence of internationalization
                 variables used to determine the values of locale categories.)

       _L_C___A_L_L    If set to a non-empty string value, override the values of
                 all the other internationalization variables.

       _L_C___C_T_Y_P_E  Determine the locale for the interpretation of sequences of
                 bytes of text data as characters (for example, single-byte as
                 opposed to multi-byte characters in arguments). During
                 translation of the file, this variable is superseded by the
                 use of the _f_r_o_m_c_o_d_e option-argument.

       _L_C___M_E_S_S_A_G_E_S
                 Determine the locale that should be used to affect the format
                 and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard
                 error.

       _N_L_S_P_A_T_H   Determine the location of message catalogs for the processing
                 of _L_C___M_E_S_S_A_G_E_S.

AASSYYNNCCHHRROONNOOUUSS EEVVEENNTTSS
       Default.

SSTTDDOOUUTT
       When the --ll option is used, the standard output shall contain all
       supported _f_r_o_m_c_o_d_e and _t_o_c_o_d_e values, written in an unspecified format.

       When the --ll option is not used, the standard output shall contain the
       sequence of characters read from the input files, translated to the
       specified codeset. Nothing else shall be written to the standard
       output.

SSTTDDEERRRR
       The standard error shall be used only for diagnostic messages.

OOUUTTPPUUTT FFIILLEESS
       None.

EEXXTTEENNDDEEDD DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
       None.

EEXXIITT SSTTAATTUUSS
       The following exit values shall be returned:

        0    Successful completion.

       >0    An error occurred.

CCOONNSSEEQQUUEENNCCEESS OOFF EERRRROORRSS
       Default.

       _T_h_e _f_o_l_l_o_w_i_n_g _s_e_c_t_i_o_n_s _a_r_e _i_n_f_o_r_m_a_t_i_v_e_.

AAPPPPLLIICCAATTIIOONN UUSSAAGGEE
       The user must ensure that both charmap files use the same symbolic
       names for characters the two codesets have in common.

EEXXAAMMPPLLEESS
       The following example converts the contents of file mmaaiill..xx440000 from the
       ISO/IEC 6937:2001 standard codeset to the ISO/IEC 8859-1:1998 standard
       codeset, and stores the results in file mmaaiill..llooccaall:


           iconv -f IS6937 -t IS8859 mail.x400 > mail.local

RRAATTIIOONNAALLEE
       The _i_c_o_n_v utility can be used portably only when the user provides two
       charmap files as option-arguments. This is because a single charmap
       provided by the user cannot reliably be joined with the names in a
       system-provided character set description. The valid values for
       _f_r_o_m_c_o_d_e and _t_o_c_o_d_e are implementation-defined and do not have to have
       any relation to the charmap mechanisms. As an aid to interactive users,
       the --ll option was adopted from the Plan 9 operating system. It writes
       information concerning these implementation-defined values. The format
       is unspecified because there are many possible useful formats that
       could be chosen, such as a matrix of valid combinations of _f_r_o_m_c_o_d_e and
       _t_o_c_o_d_e.  The --ll option is not intended for shell script usage;
       conforming applications will have to use charmaps.

       The _i_c_o_n_v utility may support the conversion between ASCII and EBCDIC-
       based encodings, but is not required to do so. In an XSI-compliant
       implementation, the _d_d utility is the only method guaranteed to support
       conversion between these two character sets.

FFUUTTUURREE DDIIRREECCTTIIOONNSS
       None.

SSEEEE AALLSSOO
       _d_d, _g_e_n_c_a_t

       The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1-2017, _S_e_c_t_i_o_n _6_._4, _C_h_a_r_a_c_t_e_r _S_e_t
       _D_e_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_o_n _F_i_l_e, _C_h_a_p_t_e_r _8, _E_n_v_i_r_o_n_m_e_n_t _V_a_r_i_a_b_l_e_s, _S_e_c_t_i_o_n _1_2_._2,
       _U_t_i_l_i_t_y _S_y_n_t_a_x _G_u_i_d_e_l_i_n_e_s

CCOOPPYYRRIIGGHHTT
       Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
       from IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard for Information Technology --
       Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
       Specifications Issue 7, 2018 Edition, Copyright (C) 2018 by the
       Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open
       Group.  In the event of any discrepancy between this version and the
       original IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The
       Open Group Standard is the referee document. The original Standard can
       be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .

       Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page are
       most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of the source
       files to man page format. To report such errors, see
       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .



IEEE/The Open Group                  2017                             ICONV(1)
