Version 3.5c

[recode] / README

* README file for `recode'                      allout -*- outline -*-

  Here is version 3.5c for the Free `recode' program and library.  Glance
  through this `README' file before starting configuration.  Make sure
  you read files `ABOUT-NLS' and `INSTALL' if you are not familiar with
  them already.

  The canonical distribution point for this version is:

     http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/recode/recode-3.5c.tar.gz

  yet the second URL (the FTP one) might disappear one day.  GNU mirrors
  usually hold a copy of non-pretest releases, the canonical distribution
  point for the last such release is:

     ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/recode/recode-3.5.tar.gz

.* Introduction
   ------------

. + Presentation

    The `recode' library converts files between character sets and usages.
    The library recognises or produces nearly 150 different character sets
    and is able to transliterate files between almost any pair.  When exact
    transliteration are not possible, it may get rid of the offending
    characters or fall back on approximations.  Most RFC 1345 character sets
    are supported.  The `recode' program is a handy front-end to the library.

    The `recode' program and library have been written by François Pinard.
    It is an evolving package, and specifications might change in future
    releases.  Option `-f' is now fairly implemented, yet not fully.

. + See files

        ABOUT-NLS     how to customise this program to your language
        BACKLOG       summary of pending mail and articles
        COPYING       copying conditions for the program
        COPYING.LIB   copying conditions for the library
        INSTALL       compilation and installation instructions
        NEWS          major changes in the current release
        THANKS        partial list of contributors

. + Configure options

    Besides those configure options documented in files `INSTALL' and
    `ABOUT-NLS', a few extra options may be accepted after `./configure':

.  - `--disable-shared'
.  - `--disable-static'

     to inhibit the building of shared libraries or static libraries; the
     default is to always build static libraries, and to attempt building
     shared libraries if there is some known recipe for this.

.  - `--with-gnu-ld'

     to force the assomption that the C compiler uses GNU ld.

.  - `--with-dmalloc'

     to trigger a debugging feature for looking at memory management
     problems, it pre-requires Gray Watson's package, which is available as
     `ftp://ftp.letters.com/src/dmalloc/dmalloc.tar.gz'.

. + Maintenance tools

    For comprehensive modifications to `recode', you might need tools beyond
    those used in simple installations.  If not done already, get:

    autoconf    ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/autoconf/autoconf-2.13.tar.gz
    automake    ftp://sourceware.cygnus.com/pub/automake/automake-1.4.tar.gz
    flex        ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/flex/flex-2.5.4a.tar.gz
    gettext     ftp://ftp.cygnus.com/pub/home/drepper/gettext-0.10.35.tar.gz
    help2man    http://www.ozemail.com.au/~bod/help2man-1.019.tar.gz
    libtool     http://www.oranda.demon.co.uk/dist/libtool-1.3.4.tar.gz
    m4          ftp://ftp.seindal.dk/pub/rene/gnu/m4-1.4n.tar.gz
    perl        ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/perl/perl-5.005.03.tar.gz
    python      ftp://ftp.python.org/pub/python/src/py152.tgz
    tar         ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/tar/tar-1.12.tar.gz

    Make sure GNU `m4' is fully installed before you start installing
    Autoconf.  Have Perl installed before Automake and `help2man'.

    Python 1.5 and Flex 2.5, or better, are needed for remaking `merged.c',
    after you modify or add an `.l' source file.

. + Mailing lists and collaboration

    If you feel like receiving releases and pretest announcements for the
    `recode' package, send a message to mailto:majordomo@iro.umontreal.ca
    having, in its body, a line saying:

        subscribe recode-announce

    If you rather want to participate actively in discussions, pretesting
    and development for `recode', do just as above, but this time, use:

        subscribe recode-forum

    Look into `http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/contrib/recode' for various
    releases, pretests, and related files.  In particular, subdirectory
    `dist/' contains a weekly mirror of the current unpackaged work files,
    while subdirectory `rmail/' contains saved or pending correspondence.

    Please do _not_ widely redistribute releases having a letter after
    the version numbers, as these are meant for pretesting only, and might
    not be stable enough for other usages.

. + Report addresses

    Send bug reports to `mailto:recode-bugs@iro.umontreal.ca'.  A bug report
    is an adequate description of the problem: your input, what you expected,
    what you got, and why this is wrong.  Diffs are welcome, but they only
    describe a solution, from which the problem might be uneasy to infer.
    If needed, submit actual data files with your report.  Small data
    files are preferred.  Big files may sometimes be necessary, but do
    not send them on the mailing list; rather take special arrangement
    with the maintainer.

    Your feedback will help us to make a better and more portable
    package.  Consider documentation errors as bugs, and report them
    as such.  If you develop anything pertaining to `recode' or have
    suggestions, let us know and share your findings by writing at
    `mailto:recode-forum@iro.umontreal.ca'.

.* Installation hints
   ------------------

   Here are a few hints which might help installing `recode' on some systems.
   Many may be applied by temporary presetting environment variables while
   calling `./configure'.  File `INSTALL' explains this.

. + Default charset

    You may override the usual charset while configuring.  The usual
    charset is implied when a charset name is omitted or empty, and when
    `DEFAULT_CHARSET' is unset in the environment at run time.  For example,
    on an AtariST using `bash', one could do:

        DEFAULT_CHARSET=AtariST ./configure

    If you prefer to not have any usual charset at all, then use:

        DEFAULT_CHARSET= ./configure

    that is, define `DEFAULT_CHARSET' to the empty string before configuring.
    When installed this way, `recode' will not accept omitted charsets at
    run time, unless `DEFAULT_CHARSET' is set to some value in the environment.

. + Compilation time

    Some C compilers, like Apollo's, have a real hard time compiling
    `merged.c'.  If this is your case, avoid compiler optimisation.
    From within the Bourne shell, you may use:

        CFLAGS= ./configure

    But if you want to give a hard time to your C optimiser on `merged.c',
    for getting code that runs only a bit faster, just try:

        CPPFLAGS=-DINLINE_HARDER ./configure

. + Smallish systems

    For 80286 based systems, it has been reported that some compilers
    generate wrong code while optimising for *small* models.  So, from
    within the Bourne shell, do:

        CFLAGS=-Ml LDFLAGS=-Ml ./configure

    to force large memory model.  For 80286 Xenix compiler, the last time
    it was tried a while ago, one ought to use:

        CFLAGS='-Ml -F2000' LDFLAGS=-Ml ./configure

    Other systems have poor `pipe'/`popen' support or trash heavily when
    processes fork.  In this case, just before doing `make', edit `config.h'
    and ensure `HAVE_PIPE' is *not* defined.