.TH "md_src_plugins_iconv_README" 3elektra "Sun May 29 2016" "Version 0.8.14" "Elektra" \" -*- nroff -*-
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.SH NAME
md_src_plugins_iconv_README \- README 

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infos = Information about iconv plugin is in keys below
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infos/author = Markus Raab elektra@libelektra.org
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infos/licence = BSD
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infos/needs =
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infos/provides = conv
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infos/placements = postgetstorage presetstorage
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infos/description = Converts values of keys between charsets
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This plugin is a filter plugin that converts between different character encodings\&.
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.SS "Purpose"
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Consider a user insisting on a \fClatin1\fP character encoding because of some old application\&. All other users already use, for example, \fCUTF-8\fP\&. For these users, the configuration files are encoded in \fCUTF-8\fP\&. So we need a solution for the user with \fClatin1\fP to access the key database with proper encoding\&.
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On the other hand, contemplate an XML file which requires a specific encoding\&. But the other key databases work well with the users encoding\&. So a quick fix for that backend is needed to feed that XML file with a different encoding\&.
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Iconv plugin provides a solution for both scenarios\&. It converts between many available character encodings\&. With the plugin’s configuration the user can change the from and to encoding\&. The default values of the plugin configuration are: \fCfrom\fP encoding will be determined at run time\&. \fCto\fP encoding is \fCUTF-8\fP\&.
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Parameters:
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\fCto\fP is per default UTF-8, to have unicode configuration files
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\fCfrom\fP is per default the users locale
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Note that for writing the configuration \fCfrom\fP and \fCto\fP is swapped\&. A key database that requires a specific encoding can make use of it\&. To sum up, every user can select a different encoding, but the key databases are still properly encoded for anyone\&.
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.SS "Example"
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For example ~/\&.config/iconv\&.ini should be latin1, but all users have UTF-8 settings: 
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.nf
    kdb mount iconv.ini /example/iconv ini iconv from=UTF-8,to=ISO-8859-1
    file ~/.config/iconv.ini             # iconv.ini: ISO-8859 text
    kdb get user/example/iconv/a     # converts ISO-8859 to UTF-8
    kdb set user/example/iconv/a öäß # converts UTF-8 to ISO-8859
.fi
.PP