---
name: "sfconv"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "teckit"
version: "2.5.12+ds1-1+b1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/sfconv"
---

# sfconv(1)

A tool for converting the encoding of Standard Format (SF) files

## NAME

sfconv - A tool for converting the encoding of Standard Format (SF) files

## SYNOPSIS

### 8-bit to Unicode:

- sfconv **-8u** \[-utf8\|-be\|-le\] \[-bom\] **-c** ControlFile \[-d MappingDirectory\] **-i** InFile **-o** OutFile

  ### Unicode to 8-bit:

- sfconv **-u8** \[-utf8\|-be\|-le\] **-c** ControlFile \[-d MappingDirectory\] **-i** InFile **-o** OutFile

  ## DESCRIPTION

A tool for converting Standard Format (SF) files is included in the current TECkit package. This is **sfconv** , a command-line tool that uses an XML “control file” to specify the mappings associated with the various markers in an SF file. Note that the current SFconv tool should be considered a prototype rather than a full solution to the issue of SF conversions. A more complete tool with an improved user interface would be desirable.

## OPTIONS

The SFconv utility uses command-line options to specify the conversion direction, control file, and input and output files. The required arguments are:

- **-8u**\|**-u8**

  conversion direction: 8-bit to Unicode or vice versa

- **-c**controlFile

  specifies XML control file

- **-i**inFile

  specifies filename of input SF file

- **-o**outFile

  specifies filename for converted output

  In addition, the following optional arguments may be used if appropriate:

- **-d**mappingDir

  directory where mapping files ( .tec files) are to be found

- **-utf8**\|**-be**\|**-le**

  Unicode encoding form: UTF-8, UTF-16BE, or UTF16-LE (default is UTF8 for output, or detected from input file if BOM is present)

- **-bom**

  (only when mapping to Unicode) write initial BOM to the output file

- **-nfc**\|**-nfd**

  (only when mapping to Unicode) normalize to NFC or NFD

## Further Information

For further information see the document TECkit\_Tools.pdf. On a Debian system, this can be found in /usr/share/doc/teckit.