dirconv1

Usage

Overview

The dirconv utility recursively scans the specified path(s) and classifies files and directories according to whether their names are pure 7-bit ASCII, non-ASCII but valid UTF-8, double-UTF-8 (WTF-8), or neither.

Names in the latter category are assumed to be Latin-1, unless a different encoding is specified with the -f option.

By default, the dirconv utility then prints the names that are neither pure 7-bit ASCII nor valid UTF-8.

The following options are available:

-0

Print a NUL character rather than a newline after each path. This option has no effect if the -n option was also specified.

-7

Select names that are pure 7-bit ASCII.

-8

Select names that contain non-ASCII characters but are not valid UTF-8. This is the default unless the -7, -u and / or -w options are specified.

-d

Show debugging information. This option can be specified multiple times to increase the level of detail.

-F

In conjunction with the -r option, force renaming a file when the target already exists.

-f charset

Specify the assumed character set for non-ASCII, non-UTF-8 names. The default is “iso8859-1”.

-h

Print a usage message and exit.

-n

In conjunction with the -r option, show what would have happened, but do not actually rename any files.

-p

Print the selected names.

-r

Attempt to convert the selected names to UTF-8 and rename the files and directories.

-u

Select names which contain non-ASCII characters and are valid UTF-8 but not WTF-8.

-v

Print the source reversion number and exit.

-w

Select names which seem to be WTF-8-encoded.

-x regex

Do not inspect files and directories whose unconverted names match the specified POSIX extended regular expression.

Notes

The dirconv utility works by attempting to decode each name as if it were a sequence of UTF-8 characters. It is possible, but highly unlikely, that a random string of characters in a non-UTF single-byte encoding would look like a valid UTF-8 sequence.

Reliable detection of WTF-8 is only possible if the original 8-bit encoding is known.

The exclusion filter is applied before name conversion. Character classes are unlikely to work as expected on unconverted names.