# Install uni2ascii with Homebrew, apt, MacPorts, Nix Bi-directional conversion between UTF-8 and various ASCII flavors. Version 4.20 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-19. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:uni2ascii ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install uni2ascii ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install uni2ascii ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: textproc/uni2ascii/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install uni2ascii ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: uni2ascii from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#uni2ascii ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/un/uni2ascii/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:uni2ascii - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 4.20 - **Source summary:** Bi-directional conversion between UTF-8 and various ASCII flavors - **Homepage:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** GPL-3.0-only - **Source archive:** - **Last updated:** 2026-06-19T12:33:03-07:00 - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - ascii2uni (cli) - u2a (cli) - uni2ascii (cli) - ascii2uni (alias) - u2a (alias) - uni2ascii (alias) ## Dependencies - gettext ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_monterey, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, monterey, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 4.20 - Package-manager updated: 2026-06-19 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://billposer.org/Software/uni2ascii.html - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage uni2ascii is a pair of Unix-style conversion programs, `uni2ascii` and `ascii2uni`, for translating between UTF-8 Unicode and many 7-bit ASCII representations. The official page lists more than thirty supported representations, including HTML, SGML, XML, OOXML, Unicode-standard U+ notation, URI escapes, quoted-printable, POSIX charmap formats, programming-language escapes, and related formats. ### Project history The project originated as a Unicode escape conversion utility and, by version 2.0, replaced the original Python implementation with a C program. The author's changelog says that rewrite added more output forms, improved speed and error reporting, and handled the entire Unicode range rather than only the BMP. Version 2.1 added `ascii2uni`, the inverse program that converts ASCII escape forms back to UTF-8 Unicode. Later releases expanded the set of recognized notations and moved from many separate format flags to the single `-a` format selector in version 4.0. The official homepage lists version 4.20 as current and last modified on 2019-06-28, while the published changelog on the page highlights 2010-2011 maintenance around Debian and NetBSD bug fixes, POSIX portability, and conversion semantics. ### Adoption history The official homepage explicitly lists package links for Arch Linux, Debian stable/testing/unstable, FreeBSD, MacPorts, Fink, OpenPackage, Red Hat/Fedora RPMs, SUSE, and Ubuntu. The supplied package facts show continuing package-manager presence in Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, MacPorts, and Nix. This is a classic small Unix utility adoption story: the upstream site provides tarballs and manpages, while operating-system distributions make the commands available for scripts, build systems, documentation tooling, and text-cleanup workflows. ### How it is used `uni2ascii` reads UTF-8 text and writes an ASCII representation such as HTML numeric references, URI escapes, quoted-printable, U+ notation, programming-language escapes, or approximate ASCII replacements. The official page gives pipeline examples where `ascii2uni` and `uni2ascii` are chained to convert one escape syntax to another through Unicode. The manpage documents stdin/stdout behavior and many format choices, so the tool fits shell pipelines. The homepage also calls out practical use cases: embedding Unicode in program source, debugging, and entering Unicode into systems that can process Unicode but are not 8-bit clean. ### Why package nerds care uni2ascii matters to package and shell users because it solves a narrow but persistent portability problem: moving Unicode text through tools, source files, logs, markup, and legacy systems that expect ASCII-safe representations. Its niche is older and lower-level than modern Unicode pickers. Where `uni` helps identify and search characters, uni2ascii is about conversion formats and reversible or approximate transformations, which makes it valuable in scripts and regression tests. ### Timeline - Version 2.0: Original Python program replaced by a faster C implementation. - Version 2.1: `ascii2uni` added as the inverse of `uni2ascii`. - Version 4.0: Format selection consolidated under the `-a` option. - 2011: Version 4.18 changelog records Debian and NetBSD-related fixes. - 2019: Homepage lists version 4.20 and last modification date 2019-06-28. ### Related projects - The official page names enca, iconv, recode, and uniconv for conversion between UTF-8 and other encodings. - The same page points to Bill Poser's ascii2binary/binary2ascii and Unicode Utilities suite for adjacent text and Unicode inspection tasks. ### Sources - - - - input.source_facts.package-manager ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** uni2ascii - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - uni2ascii - 4.20-1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: uni2ascii from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | UTF-8 to 7-bit ASCII and vice versa converter | https://billposer.org/Software/uni2ascii.html - Nix - uni2ascii: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/un/uni2ascii/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - uni2ascii - 4.18-6: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: uni2ascii from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | UTF-8 to 7-bit ASCII and vice versa converter | https://billposer.org/Software/uni2ascii.html - MacPorts - uni2ascii: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: textproc/uni2ascii/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Related links - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata. - [Developer build packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/developer-build-tools/) - Matched build, compiler, generator, or developer workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [gettext](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gettext/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew. - [bsdconv](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/bsdconv/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, conversion, developer-tools, text-processing. - [cconv](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cconv/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, text-processing, unicode. - [libunicode](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/libunicode/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, text-processing, unicode. - [unac](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/unac/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, text-processing, unicode. - [uni](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/uni/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, text-processing, unicode. - [align](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/align/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, text-processing. - [cmigemo](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cmigemo/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, text-processing. - [decasify](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/decasify/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, developer-tools, text-processing. - [ascii2binary](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ascii2binary/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: ascii, cli, conversion, developer, developer-tools. - [wdiff](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/wdiff/) - Local package facts share a topical domain. Shared terms: between, cli, developer, developer-tools, gettext. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/uni2ascii.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/uni2ascii.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph