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<h4 class="subsection">5.2.1 Updating old input files</h4>
<p>The LilyPond input syntax occasionally changes. As LilyPond itself
improves, the syntax (input language) is modified accordingly. Sometimes
these changes are made to make the input easier to read and write or
sometimes the changes are made to accommodate new features of LilyPond.
<p>LilyPond comes with a file that makes this updating easier:
<code>convert-ly</code>. For details about how to run this program, see
<a name="index-Updating-files-with-convert_002dly-444"></a><a href="../lilypond-program/Updating-files-with-convert_002dly.html#Updating-files-with-convert_002dly">Updating files with convert-ly</a>.
<p>Unfortunately, <code>convert-ly</code> cannot handle all input changes. It
takes care of simple search-and-replace changes (such as <code>raggedright</code>
becoming <code>ragged-right</code>), but some changes are too
complicated. The syntax changes that <code>convert-ly</code> cannot handle
are listed in <a name="index-Updating-files-with-convert_002dly-445"></a><a href="../lilypond-program/Updating-files-with-convert_002dly.html#Updating-files-with-convert_002dly">Updating files with convert-ly</a>.
<p>For example, in LilyPond 2.4 and earlier, accents and non-English
letters were entered using LaTeX – for example,
<code>No\"el</code> (this would print the French word for
‘Christmas’). In LilyPond 2.6 and above, the special
<code>ë</code> must be entered directly into the LilyPond file as an
UTF-8 character. <code>convert-ly</code> cannot change all the LaTeX
special characters into UTF-8 characters; you must manually update
your old LilyPond input files.
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