=====
a8cat
=====

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Convert Atari 8-bit text to UTF-8 encoded Unicode (and back).
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.. include:: manhdr.rst

SYNOPSIS
========

*a8cat* [**-r**] [**-i**] [**-u**] [**-t**] [*infile*] [*infile ...*]

DESCRIPTION
===========

Convert Atari 8-bit ATASCII or XL ICS (International Character
Set) text to UTF-8 encoded Unicode. Control graphics characters are
replaced with their nearest Unicode equivalents (mostly from the Box
Drawing block, or from the Basic Latin block with **-i** option).

If no *infile*\s are given, input is read from standard input. Output always
goes to standard output; to write to a file, use a command like::

  a8cat atari.txt > converted.txt

The output is UTF-8 Unicode, without BOM, but possibly with
ANSI/VT-100 control sequences. It will display correctly in modern
terminals that support Unicode and UTF-8. If you get lots of "empty
rectangle" characters, it means your font lacks the glyphs for the
codepoints; try using the Deja Vu Sans and/or Symbola fonts.

If you want to pipe the output to a pager, **less -MR** is
recommended. It will display the inverse characters correctly.

It's even possible to edit the converted text and turn it back into
ATASCII, if you're very careful. See the **-r** option, below.

Inverse video (characters codes above **$80**) are translated using
the ANSI/VT-100 reverse video escape sequences. Exception: **$9B**
(Atari EOL) is translated to **\\n** (newline).

OPTIONS
=======

-i
  Input uses Atari XL/XE International Character Set encoding, rather than
  ATASCII graphics.

-u
  Use "underlining" for inverse video. Each inverse character is followed by
  a backspace, then a *_* character. When viewed in a pager such as **less**\(1),
  this causes the characters to appear underlined. Output created with this
  option cannot be converted back to ATASCII with the **-r** option.

-t
  Text mode. Normally, everything but EOL (**$9B**) is converted to a
  Unicode graphics character. In text mode, ATASCII tabs, backspace,
  and bells are translated to the ASCII versions.

-r
  Reverse conversion: Input is plain text, or UTF-8 created by a previous
  run of **a8cat**; output is ATASCII (or XL ICS, with **-i**). ASCII
  tabs, backspaces, and newlines will be coverted to the ATASCII
  equivalent. ASCII carriage returns will be silently ignored.

  Only the UTF-8 codepoints that correspond to ATASCII characters will
  be converted. If the **-i** option was used to create the input, it
  must be used with **-r** also.

  **a8cat** will refuse to print ATASCII to a terminal. You must
  redirect or pipe the output.

-m
  Magazine listing mode. Rather than Unicode graphics characters,
  ATASCII characters are printed in symbolic form, e.g. *{clear}* or
  *{ctrl-A}*. The result is similar to type-in listings in magazines
  like Antic, Analog, or Compute! Output created with this option
  cannot be converted back to ATASCII with the **-r** option.

-s
  Strip the inverse video bit (bit 7) from all characters except the
  EOL (**$9B**). Output created with this option can be converted
  back to ATASCII with the **-r** option, but of course there won't
  be any inverse-video characters in the result.

-v
  Verbose operation.

**--**
  End of options; the rest of the arguments are filenames. Use this if you're
  trying to work with files whose names begin with *-*.

**-h**, **--help**
  Show built-in help and exit.

**--version**
  Show version number and exit.

.. include:: manftr.rst