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unidesc(1)		     General Commands Manual		      unidesc(1)

NAME
     unidesc - Describe the contents of a Unicode text file

SYNOPSIS
     unidesc ([option flags]) (<file name>)

     If no input file name is supplied, unidesc reads from the standard input.

DESCRIPTION
     unidesc describes the content of a Unicode text file by reporting the char-
     acter  ranges  to	which different portions of the text belong.  The ranges
     reported include both official Unicode ranges and the constructed	language
     ranges  within  the Private Use Areas registered with the Conscript Unicode
     Registry  (http://www.evertype.com/standards/csur/).   For  each  range  of
     characters, unidesc prints the character or byte offset of the beginning of
     the  range,  the  character or byte offset of the end of the range, and the
     name of the range. Offsets start from 0.

     Since the ASCII digits, punctuation, and  whitespace  characters  are  fre-
     quently  used  by	other  writing	systems, by default these characters are
     treated as neutral, that is, as not belonging exclusively to any particular
     character range.  These characters are treated as belonging to the range of
     whatever characters precede them.

     If the input begins with neutral characters, they are treated as  belonging
     to  the  range of whatever characters follow them. If the file consists en-
     tirely of neutral characters, the range is identified as  Neutral	followed
     by Basic Latin in square brackets.

     A	magic number identifying the Unicode encoding is not part of the Unicode
     standard, so pure Unicode files do not contain a  magic  number.	However,
     informal  conventions  have  arisen  for this purpose.  If the command line
     flag -m is given, unidesc will attempt to identify the Unicode  subtype  by
     examining	the  first few bytes of the input. If the input is identified as
     one of the two acceptable types, UTF-8 or native order UTF-32, it will then
     proceed to describe the contents of the input. Otherwise,	it  will  report
     what  it  has  learned and exit. Note that if the file does contain a magic
     number, you must use the -m flag. Without this flag  unidesc  assumes  that
     the  input consists of pure Unicode with the character data beginning imme-
     diately.  It will therefore be thrown off by the magic number.

     By default, input is expected to be UTF-8. Native order UTF-32 is also  ac-
     ceptable.	 UTF-32 may be specified via the command line flag -u or, if the
     command line flag -m is given, via the magic number.

COMMAND LINE FLAGS
     -b     Give file offsets in bytes rather than characters.

     -d     Treat the ASCII digits as belonging exclusively to the  Basic  Latin
	    range.

     -h     Print usage information.

     -L     List the Unicode ranges alphabetically.

     -l     List the Unicode ranges by codepoint.

     -m     Check the file's magic number to determine the Unicode subtype.

     -p     Treat  ASCII punctuation as belonging exclusively to the Basic Latin
	    range.

     -r     Instead of listing ranges as they are  encountered,  just  list  the
	    ranges detected after all input has been read.

     -u     Input is native order UTF-32.

     -v     Print version information.

     -w     Treat  ASCII  whitespace as belonging exclusively to the Basic Latin
	    range.

SEE ALSO
     uniname

REFERENCES
     Unicode Standard, version 5.0

AUTHOR
     Bill Poser
     billposer@alum.mit.edu

LICENSE
     GNU General Public License

				   June, 2007			      unidesc(1)

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