Index: util/bxl2txt/Makefile.in
===================================================================
--- util/bxl2txt/Makefile.in	(revision 30723)
+++ util/bxl2txt/Makefile.in	(revision 30724)
@@ -10,18 +10,23 @@
 
 include $(LIBRND)/core/librnd.mak
 
-all: bxl2txt$(LIBRND_EXE)
+all: bxl2txt$(LIBRND_EXE) txt2bxl$(LIBRND_EXE)
 
 include ../../Makefile.conf
 
 bxl2txt$(LIBRND_EXE): bxl2txt.o bxl_decode.o
 
-bxl_decode.o: $(PLUG)/bxl_decode.c $(PLUG)/bxl_decode.h
-	$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $(PLUG)/bxl_decode.c -o bxl_decode.o
+txt2bxl$(LIBRND_EXE): txt2bxl.o bxl_decode.o
 
+txt2bxl.o: txt2bxl.c $(PLUG)/bxl_decode.h
+	$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) txt2bxl.c -o txt2bxl.o
+
 bxl2txt.o: bxl2txt.c $(PLUG)/bxl_decode.h
 	$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) bxl2txt.c -o bxl2txt.o
 
+bxl_decode.o: $(PLUG)/bxl_decode.c $(PLUG)/bxl_decode.h
+	$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $(PLUG)/bxl_decode.c -o bxl_decode.o
+
 install_all:
 	$(SCCBOX) mkdir -p "$(BINDIR)"
 	$(SCCBOX) $(HOW) "bxl2txt$(LIBRND_EXE)" "$(BINDIR)/bxl2txt$(LIBRND_EXE)"
Index: util/bxl2txt/txt2bxl.c
===================================================================
--- util/bxl2txt/txt2bxl.c	(nonexistent)
+++ util/bxl2txt/txt2bxl.c	(revision 30724)
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+/*
+ *                            COPYRIGHT
+ *
+ *  pcb-rnd, interactive printed circuit board design
+ *
+ *  BXL IO plugin - file format write, encoder
+ *  pcb-rnd Copyright (C) 2020 Tibor 'Igor2' Palinkas
+ *  (Supported by NLnet NGI0 PET Fund in 2020)
+ *
+ *  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ *  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+ *  (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ *  GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ *  along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ *  Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *
+ *  Contact:
+ *    Project page: http://repo.hu/projects/pcb-rnd
+ *    lead developer: http://repo.hu/projects/pcb-rnd/contact.html
+ *    mailing list: pcb-rnd (at) list.repo.hu (send "subscribe")
+ */
+
+/* test program: read plain text on stdin, encode to bxl on stdout (without the length header) */
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include "bxl_decode.h"
+
+int main()
+{
+	hdecode_t ctx;
+	int inch;
+
+	pcb_bxl_encode_init(&ctx);
+
+	while((inch = fgetc(stdin)) != EOF) {
+		int n, len;
+		len = pcb_bxl_encode_char(&ctx, inch);
+		for(n = 0; n < len; n++)
+			printf("%c", ctx.out[n]);
+	}
+	return 0;
+}