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.TH "REGCONVERT" "1" "14 March 2023" "" "The Regina Handbook"

.SH NAME
regconvert \- Convert between different Regina file formats
.SH SYNOPSIS

\fBregconvert\fR [ \fB-2\fR | \fB-3\fR ] [ \fB-x\fR | \fB-u\fR ] \fB\fIold-file\fB\fR [ \fB\fInew-file\fB\fR ]


\fBregconvert\fR { \fB-v, --version\fR | \fB-?, --help\fR }

.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.PP
This utility converts back and forth between different Regina
file formats.
.PP
Regina's file formats include:
.TP
\fBThird-generation XML\fR
This is the modern XML format introduced in Regina\~7.0.
Older versions of Regina (6.0.1 and below) cannot read it at all.
.TP
\fBSecond-generation XML\fR
This is the original XML format that was used in
Regina\~3.0-6.0.1 (from 2002-2021).
Current versions of Regina can still read and write this format
if required.
.TP
\fBFirst-generation binary format\fR
This is the ancient binary format that was used in Regina\~2.x
(from 2000-2002).
Support for this format was dropped completely in September\~2013,
and modern versions of Regina cannot read or write it.

If you still have ancient files that use this format, you will need to
find a copy of Regina\~3.0-4.93 (from 2002-2012),
which can convert these old binary files to the second-generation
XML format.
.PP
The argument \fIold-file\fR should be the file to
read and convert; the argument \fInew-file\fR should
be the name of the new converted file to write.  These two filenames
may be the same, in which case the old file will be replaced with the new.
.PP
If the argument \fInew-file\fR is missing then the
new file will be written to standard output, which forces the output to be
uncompressed XML (see option \fB-u\fR).
.SH "OPTIONS"
.TP
\fB-2\fR
Convert to the older second-generation XML format,
as used in Regina\~3.0-6.0.1.
.TP
\fB-3 (default)\fR
Convert to the modern third-generation XML format,
introduced in Regina\~7.0.
.TP
\fB-x (default)\fR
Write the output as compressed XML\&.
.TP
\fB-u\fR
Write the output as uncompressed (plain text) XML\&.
.TP
\fB-v, --version\fR
Show which version of Regina is being used, and exit
immediately.
.TP
\fB-?, --help\fR
Display brief usage information, and exit immediately.
.SH "MACOS USERS"
.PP
If you downloaded a drag-and-drop app bundle, this utility is
shipped inside it.  If you dragged Regina to the main
Applications folder, you can run it as
/Applications/Regina.app/Contents/MacOS/regconvert\&.
.SH "WINDOWS USERS"
.PP
The command-line utilities are installed beneath the
\fIProgram\~Files\fR directory; on some
machines this directory is called
\fIProgram\~Files\~(x86)\fR\&.
You can start this utility by running
c:\\Program\~Files\\Regina\\Regina\~7.3\\bin\\regconvert.exe\&.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.PP
regfiletype,
regina-gui\&.
.SH "AUTHOR"
.PP
This utility was written by Benjamin Burton
<bab@maths.uq.edu.au>\&.
Many people have been involved in the development
of Regina; see the users' handbook for a full list of credits.