This module provides a replacement for the normal (unicode unaware) IO functions of haskell. By using implicit parameters, it can be used almost as a drop-in replacement. For example, consider the following simple echo program:

main = do
  str <- getContents
  putStr str

To make this program process UTF-8 data, change the program to:

import Prelude hiding (getContents,putStr)
import System.IO.Encoding
import Data.Encoding.UTF8

main = do
  let ?enc = UTF8
  str <- getContents
  putStr str

Or, if you want to use the standard system encoding:

import Prelude hiding (getContents,putStr)
import System.IO.Encoding

main = do
  e <- getSystemEncoding
  let ?enc = e
  str <- getContents
  putStr str