* 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.
