---
name: "gennames"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "icu"
version: "2.1-2.1"
release: "Debian 3.1 (Sarge)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/gennames"
---

# gennames(8)

compile Unicode code points names into a data file

## NAME

**gennames** - compile Unicode code points names into a data file

## SYNOPSIS

**gennames** \[ **-h, -?, --help** \] \[ **-v, --verbose** \] \[ **-q, --quiet** \] \[ **-d, --destdir** *destination* \] \[ **-u, --unicode** *version* \] \[ **-1, --unicode1-names** \] \[ *filename* \]

## DESCRIPTION

**gennames** reads the Unicode character database from *filename* and produce the file *unames.dat* in its destination directory. Optionally, Unicode 1.0 names can be chosen over Unicode 2.0 names for those code points whose names were changed for Unicode 2.0.

## OPTIONS

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

  Print help about usage and exit.

- **-v, --verbose**

  Display extra informative messages during execution.

- **-q, --quiet**

  Do not display any message during execution.

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

  Set the destination directory to *destination*. The default destination directory is specified by the environment variable **ICU\_DATA**, or the location set when ICU was built if  **ICU\_DATA** is not set.

- **-u, --unicode** *version*

  Mark the character names as belong to the specified *version* of Unicode. The default version is 3.1.1.

- **-1, --unicode1-names**

  Store Unicode 1.0 names in addition of Unicode 2.0 names for those code points whose names were changed for Unicode 2.0.

## ENVIRONMENT

- **ICU\_DATA**

  Specifies the directory containing ICU data. Defaults to **/usr/lib/icu/2.1/**. 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.

## VERSION

2\.1

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 2000-2001 IBM, Inc. and others.

## SEE ALSO

[**genprops**(8)](/genprops/8.md)