---
name: "genbrk"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "icu"
version: "78.3-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/genbrk"
---

# genbrk(1)

Compiles ICU break iteration rules source files into binary data files

## NAME

**genbrk** - Compiles ICU break iteration rules source files into binary data files

## SYNOPSIS

**genbrk** \[ **-h, -?, --help** \] \[ **-V, --version** \] \[ **-c, --copyright** \] \[ **-v, --verbose** \] \[ **-d, --destdir** *destination* \] \[ **-i, --icudatadir** *directory* \] **-r, --rules** *rule-file* **-o, --out** *output-file*

## DESCRIPTION

**genbrk** reads the break (boundary) rule source code from *rule-file* and creates a break iteration data file. Normally this data file has the  **.brk** extension.

The details of the rule syntax can be found in ICU's User Guide.

## OPTIONS

- **-h, -?, --help**

  Print help about usage and exit.

- **-V, --version**

  Print the version of **genbrk** and exit.

- **-c, --copyright**

  Embeds the standard ICU copyright into the *output-file*.

- **-v, --verbose**

  Display extra informative messages during execution.

- **-d, --destdir** *destination*

  Set the destination directory of the *output-file* to *destination*.

- **-i, --icudatadir** *directory*

  Look for any necessary ICU data files in *directory*. For example, the file **pnames.icu** must be located when ICU's data is not built as a shared library. The default ICU data directory is specified by the environment variable **ICU\_DATA**. Most configurations of ICU do not require this argument.

- **-r, --rules** *rule-file*

  The source file to read.

- **-o, --out** *output-file*

  The output data file to write.

## CAVEATS

When the *rule-file* contains a byte order mark (BOM) at the beginning of the file, which is the Unicode character **U+FEFF,** then the *rule-file* is interpreted as Unicode. Without the BOM, the file is interpreted in the current operating system default codepage. In order to eliminate any ambiguity of the encoding for how the *rule-file* was written, it is recommended that you write this file in UTF-8 with the BOM.

## ENVIRONMENT

- **ICU\_DATA**

  Specifies the directory containing ICU data. Defaults to **${prefix}/share/icu/78.3/**. Some tools in ICU depend on the presence of the trailing slash. It is thus important to make sure that it is present if **ICU\_DATA** is set.

## AUTHORS

George Rhoten\
 Andy Heninger

## VERSION

1\.0

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 2005 International Business Machines Corporation and others

## SEE ALSO

**http://www.icu-project.org/userguide/boundaryAnalysis.html**