* README file for `recode' allout -*- outline -*-
Here is version 3.6 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-3.6.tar.gz
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-3.6.tar.gz
.* Introduction
------------
. + Presentation
The `recode' library converts files between character sets and usages.
It recognises or produces more than 300 different character sets and
transliterates files between almost any pair. When exact transliteration
are not possible, it gets rid of offending characters or falls back
on approximations. The `recode' program is a handy front-end to
the library.
The `recode' program and library have been written by François Pinard,
yet it significantly reuses works from Keld Simonsen and Bruno Haible.
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.enst.fr/pub/unix/a2ps/autoconf-2.14a.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-1.020.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. Apply `PATCHES-AC' to Autoconf before installing it.
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 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, button `Browse'
gives access to a weekly mirror of the current unpackaged work files,
while button `Folders' gives access to 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.
. + 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.
