* 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.