Converting files to UTF-8
Template:Moodle 1.6 Some files, like custom language packs or language files from third party modules need to be converted to UTF-8 before they may be used in Moodle 1.6 with UTF-8 database.
*nix like computers (including Mac OS X)
Generally, this may be done with the iconv command on Unix, Linux or a Mac.
iconv -f original_charset -t utf-8 originalfile > newfile
Windows computers
For Windows, there are two methods of performing the conversion.
The preferred method is to download the [Windows version] of the iconv program. Download the "Complete package, except source" and run the setup program. The executable is located in the bin folder. Run from the command prompt (Start -> Run -> cmd) and follow the instructions as above.
As an alternative, the conversion may also be done by using [Cygwin], a Linux-like environment for Windows, and excecuting the iconv command in that environment. Here is an example of a working solution on Windows with [Cygwin]:
- Create a text file, named ToUtf8.txt
- Fill it with the following code
#!/bin/bash FROM=iso-8859-1 TO=UTF-8 ICONV="iconv -f $FROM -t $TO" # Convert find ToUTF/ -type f -name "*" | while read fn; do cp ${fn} ${fn}.bak $ICONV < ${fn}.bak > ${fn} rm ${fn}.bak done
Two things should be changed for your local situation:
- FROM is the originating encoding (the one your original files are in)
- ToUTF is the foldername where the files that need to be converted are in. This folder may contain subfolders. Make sure you have a backup!
- Start Cygwin.
- With the cd foldername, cd.., ls commands, go to the folder on your windows machine where the ToUtf8.txt-script and the ToUTF8 folder are in.
- Execute the script by typing sh ToUtf8.txt and your files will be converted.