umlauts

umlauts.sh

Description

This script searches for files matching a given pattern under a specified directory, repairs double-encoded UTF-8 text, and transliterates German umlauts into ASCII equivalents.

Each processed file is backed up before modification.

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Usage

./umlauts.sh '<pattern>' <path>

• pattern: Filename pattern (e.g. *.txt)
• path: Directory to search

Examples:

./umlauts.sh '*.txt' /var/data
./umlauts.sh '*.csv' ./exports

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Features

• Validates input arguments and path.
• Recursively finds matching files.
• Creates a .save backup of each file.
• Repairs double-encoded UTF-8 using iconv.
• Transliterates German umlauts:
  • ä → ae, Ä → Ae
  • ö → oe, Ö → Oe
  • ü → ue, Ü → Ue
  • ß → ss

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Output

• Modified files (with umlauts transliterated).
• Backup files named <filename>.save.
• Console output listing each file processed and a final summary.

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Requirements

• Bash
• Tools:
  • find
  • iconv
  • sed

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Notes

• Always verify the .save backups if the transliteration needs to be reversed.
• Only processes files that match the given pattern.
• Exits with an error if no files match.

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License

This script is covered under the repository’s main MIT License.