LOU_TRANSLATE(1)                 User Commands                LOU_TRANSLATE(1)

NAME
       lou_translate - A Braille translator for large scale testing of
       liblouis Braille translation tables

SYNOPSIS
       lou_translate [OPTIONS] TABLE

DESCRIPTION
       Translate whatever is on standard input and print it on standard
       output. It is intended for large-scale testing of the accuracy of
       braille translation and back-translation.

   TABLE is either:
       - a query
              KEY[:VALUE] [KEY[:VALUE] ...]

       - a file list
              FILE[,FILE,...]

OPTIONS
       -h, --help
              display this help and exit

       -v, --version
              display version information and exit

       -f, --forward
              forward translation using the given table

       -b, --backward
              backward translation using the given table If neither -f nor -b
              are specified forward translation is assumed

       -d, --display-table
              use the given display table for the translation. The display
              table determines how braille dot patterns are encoded as text
              (decoded in case of backward translation). Without a display
              table, the braille encoding is determined by the translation
              table, when it is specified as a file list, or Unicode braille
              when the table is specified as a query. For clarity and
              reliability, it is recommended to always make the display table
              explicit.

EXAMPLES
              lou_translate language:en grade:2 region:en-US < input.txt

              Do a forward translation of English text to grade 2 contracted
              braille according to the U.S. braille standard.

              lou_translate -d en-us-brf.dis language:en grade:2 region:en-US
              < input.txt

              Here we do the same forward translation but with a specific
              ASCII braille encoding instead of Unicode braille.

              lou_translate -d unicode.dis en-us-g2.ctb < input.txt

              Do a forward translation with table en-us-g2.ctb and Unicode
              braille encoding.

              echo ",! qk br{n fox" | lou_translate -b -d text_nabcc.dis
              language:en grade:2 region:en-US

              Do a backward translation with the English grade 2 table. Note
              that the ASCII braille input (as shown here) must match the
              specified display table (North American Braille Computer Code in
              this case).

AUTHOR
       Written by John J. Boyer.

REPORTING BUGS
       Report bugs to liblouis-liblouisxml@freelists.org.
       Liblouis home page: <http://www.liblouis.io>

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright (C) 2024 ViewPlus Technologies, Inc. and JJB Software, Inc.
       License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later
       <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
       This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
       There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO
       The full documentation for lou_translate is maintained as a Texinfo
       manual.  If the info and lou_translate programs are properly installed
       at your site, the command

              info liblouis

       should give you access to the complete manual.

Liblouis 3.39.0                 September 2026                LOU_TRANSLATE(1)