piconv

piconv [-c] [-f FROM_CHARSET] [-t TO_CHARSET] [INPUT_FILE...]

-f FROM_CHARSET
    Specifies the input character encoding. If omitted, it often defaults to the current locale's encoding.

-t TO_CHARSET
    Specifies the output character encoding. If omitted, it often defaults to the current locale's encoding.

-c
    Discards characters that cannot be converted from the input character set to the output character set, without printing a warning.

INPUT_FILE...
    One or more input files to convert. If no files are specified, piconv reads from standard input.

piconv is a lightweight utility designed for converting text from one character encoding to another. It serves as a simplified version of the more comprehensive iconv command, often found in resource-constrained environments like BusyBox.

The primary function of piconv is to read input text in a specified source character set and output it in a designated target character set. This is crucial for handling international characters, ensuring proper display of text files, or compatibility between systems using different encodings. It reads from standard input if no files are provided and writes the converted output to standard output.

piconv is typically a stripped-down version of iconv, meaning it may not support all the advanced options or extensive character set listings that the full iconv utility provides. Its availability and exact behavior can vary depending on the specific Linux distribution or embedded system (e.g., BusyBox) where it is found.

Character set names can be specified as canonical names (e.g., UTF-8, ISO-8859-1) or common aliases. The list of supported character sets depends on the specific piconv implementation.

When no INPUT_FILE is provided, piconv reads data from standard input (stdin) and writes the converted output to standard output (stdout). This allows it to be used effectively in shell pipelines.

The concept of piconv emerged as a simplified or placeholder implementation of the standard iconv utility, particularly within embedded systems and lightweight Linux environments like BusyBox. Its development focuses on providing essential character set conversion functionality while minimizing binary size and resource consumption.

iconv(1), locale(7), charset(7)