git gui - can it be made to display UTF16?

Question

Is there any way to make git gui display and show diffs for UTF16 files somehow?

I found some information, but this is mostly referring to the command l

Answer 1

This method is for MSysGit 1.8.1, and is tested on Windows XP. I use Git Extensions 2.44, but since the changes are at the Git level, they should work for Git Gui as well. Steps:

1. Install Gnu Iconv.

2. Create the following script, name it astextutf16, and place it in the /bin directory of your Git installation (this is based on the existing astextplain script):

   #!/bin/sh -e
   # converts Windows Unicode (UTF-16 / UCS-2) to Git-friendly UTF-8
   # notes:
   # * requires Gnu iconv:
   #       http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/libiconv.htm
   # * this script must be placed in: ~/Git/bin
   # * modify global ~/Git/etc/gitconfig or local ~/.git/config:
   #       [diff "astextutf16"]
   #           textconv = astextutf16
   # * or, from command line:
   #       $ git config diff.astextutf16.textconv astextutf16
   # * modify global ~/Git/etc/gitattributes or local ~/.gitattributes:
   #       *.txt diff=astextutf16
   if test "$#" != 1 ; then
       echo "Usage: astextutf16 " 1>&2
       exit 1
   fi
   # -f(rom) utf-16 -t(o) utf-8
   "\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin\iconv.exe" -f utf-16 -t utf-8 "$1"
   exit 0
   

3. Modify the global ~/Git/etc/gitconfig or your local ~/.git/config file, and add these lines:

   [diff "astextutf16"]  
       textconv = astextutf16
   

4. Or, from command line:

   $ git config diff.astextutf16.textconv astextutf16

5. Modify the global ~/Git/etc/gitattributes or your local ~/.gitattributes file, and map your extensions to be converted:

   *.txt diff=astextutf16

6. Test. UTF-16 files should now be visible.