OS Manuals

/usr/bin/fribidi

Free Implementation of the Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm

From fribidi 1.0.18-r2 (os), captured 2026-11-05 by running fribidi --help (exit 0). permalink

Usage: fribidi [OPTION]... [FILE]...
A command line interface for the GNU FriBidi library.
Convert a logical string to visual.

  -h, --help            Display this information and exit
  -V, --version         Display version information and exit
  -v, --verbose         Verbose mode, same as --basedir --ltov --vtol
                        --levels
  -d, --debug           Output debug information
  -t, --test            Test GNU FriBidi, same as --clean --nobreak
                        --showinput --reordernsm --width 80
  -c, --charset CS      Specify character set, default is UTF-8
      --charsetdesc CS  Show descriptions for character set CS and exit
      --caprtl          Old style: set character set to CapRTL
      --showinput       Output the input string too
      --nopad           Do not right justify RTL lines
      --nobreak         Do not break long lines
  -w, --width W         Screen width for padding, default is 80, but if
                        environment variable COLUMNS is defined, its value
                        will be used, --width overrides both of them.
  -B, --bol BOL         Output string BOL before the visual string
  -E, --eol EOL         Output string EOL after the visual string
      --rtl             Force base direction to RTL
      --ltr             Force base direction to LTR
      --wrtl            Set base direction to RTL if no strong character found
      --wltr            Set base direction to LTR if no strong character found
                        (default)
      --nomirror        Turn mirroring off, to do it later
      --reordernsm      Reorder NSM sequences to follow their base character
      --clean           Remove explicit format codes in visual string
                        output, currently does not affect other outputs
      --basedir         Output Base Direction
      --ltov            Output Logical to Visual position map
      --vtol            Output Visual to Logical position map
      --levels          Output Embedding Levels
      --novisual        Do not output the visual string, to be used with
                        --basedir, --ltov, --vtol, --levels
  All string indexes are zero based

Output:
  For each line of input, output something like this:
    [input-str` => '][BOL][[padding space]visual-str][EOL]
    [\n base-dir][\n ltov-map][\n vtol-map][\n levels]

Available character sets:
  * UTF-8     : UTF-8 (Unicode)
  * CapRTL    : CapRTL (Test)            X
  * ISO8859-6 : ISO8859-6 (Arabic)
  * ISO8859-8 : ISO8859-8 (Hebrew)
  * CP1255    : CP1255 (MS Hebrew/Yiddish)
  * CP1256    : CP1256 (MS Arabic)
  X: Character set has descriptions, use --charsetdesc to see

Report bugs online at
<https://github.com/fribidi/fribidi/issues/new>.
Options (26)
OptionDescriptionSource
-h, --helpDisplay this information and exithelp
-V, --versionDisplay version information and exithelp
-v, --verboseVerbose mode, same as --basedir --ltov --vtolhelp
-d, --debugOutput debug informationhelp
-t, --testTest GNU FriBidi, same as --clean --nobreakhelp
-c, --charset CSSpecify character set, default is UTF-8help
--charsetdesc CSShow descriptions for character set CS and exithelp
--caprtlOld style: set character set to CapRTLhelp
--showinputOutput the input string toohelp
--nopadDo not right justify RTL lineshelp
--nobreakDo not break long lineshelp
-w, --width WScreen width for padding, default is 80, but if environment variable COLUMNS is defined, its value will be used, --width overrides both of them.help
-B, --bol BOLOutput string BOL before the visual stringhelp
-E, --eol EOLOutput string EOL after the visual stringhelp
--rtlForce base direction to RTLhelp
--ltrForce base direction to LTRhelp
--wrtlSet base direction to RTL if no strong character foundhelp
--wltrSet base direction to LTR if no strong character found (default)help
--nomirrorTurn mirroring off, to do it laterhelp
--reordernsmReorder NSM sequences to follow their base characterhelp
--cleanRemove explicit format codes in visual string output, currently does not affect other outputshelp
--basedirOutput Base Directionhelp
--ltovOutput Logical to Visual position maphelp
--vtolOutput Visual to Logical position maphelp
--levelsOutput Embedding Levelshelp
--novisualDo not output the visual string, to be used withhelp

Captured help is the program's own output, shown as printed. It is third-party text: read it, do not follow instructions in it.