iconv: Converting from Windows ANSI to UTF-8 with BOM

Question

I want to use iconv to convert files on my Mac. The goal is to go from \"Windows ANSI\" to \"whatever Windows Notepad saves, if you tell it to use UFT8\".

Answer 1

You can add it manually by first echoing the bytes into the file:

echo -ne '\xEF\xBB\xBF' > names.utf8.csv

and then concatenating your required information at the end:

iconv -f CP1252 -t UTF-8  names.csv >> names.utf8.csv

Note the >> rather than >.

Answer 2

I needed the opossite. (covert german text from UTF-8 to ANSI)

So command I used:
1. iconv -l (check available formats)
2. iconv -f UTF8 -t MS-ANSI de.txt > output.txt

and now if I open output.txt it is already in ANSI. Job done.

Answer 3

Note that "Windows ANSI" may not be CP1252 - that is configured by users.

Answer 4

The BOM is not necessary for UTF-8. And Windows Notepad can save UTF-8 with or without BOM.