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

# genprops(8)

compile properties from the Unicode Character Database

## NAME

**genprops** - compile properties from the Unicode Character Database

## SYNOPSIS

**genprops** \[ **-h, -?, --help** \] \[ **-v, --verbose** \] \[ **-u, --unicode** *version* \] \[ **-c, --copyright** \] \[ **-s, --sourcedir** *source* \] \[ **-d, --destdir** *destination* \] \[ *suffix* \]

## DESCRIPTION

**genprops** reads some of the Unicode Character Database files and compiles their information information into a binary form. The resulting file, **icudata.dat**, can then be read directly by ICU, or used by [**pkgdata**(8)](/pkgdata/8.md) for incorporation into a larger archive or library.

The files read by **genprops** are described in the **FILES** section. If *suffix* is passed on the command line, the names of these files will actually be changed to include a dash followed by *suffix* in their basename. For example, the file **UnicodeData.txt** would be looked for under the name **UnicodeData-*suffix*.txt**.

## OPTIONS

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

  Print help about usage and exit.

- **-v, --verbose**

  Display extra informative messages during execution.

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

  Specify which *version* of Unicode the Unicode Character Database refers to. Defaults to **3.0.0**.

- **-c, --copyright**

  Include a copyright notice into the binary data.

- **-s, --sourcedir** *source*

  Set the source directory to *source*. The default source directory is specified by the environment variable **ICU\_DATA**.

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

  Set the destination directory to *destination*. The default destination directory is specified by the environment variable **ICU\_DATA**.

## 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.

## FILES

The following files are read by **genprops** and are looked for in the *source* directory.

- **UnicodeData.txt**

  The main file in the Unicode Character Database. Contains character properties, combining classes information, decompositions, names, etc....

- **BidiMirroring.txt**

  Properties for substituting characters in an implementation of bidirectional mirroring.

- **SpecialCasing.txt**

  List of properties required for full case mapping.

- **CaseFolding.txt**

  Mapping from characters to their case-folded forms. (Note: this file is derived from **UnicodeData.txt** and **SpecialCasing.txt** when generated by the Unicode Consortium.)

## VERSION

2\.1

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright (C) 2000-2002 IBM, Inc. and others.

## SEE ALSO

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