od and UTF-8

[Peng Yu]

Hi,

I am wondering whether there is a way to do something similar to od,
but respect UTF-8 characters.

For example, instead of print this,

$ od -c -t x1 -Ax <<< α
000000   �   �  \n
        ce  b1  0a
000003

I want to print this. Basically, if it is a printable UTF that does
not require escape, just print it as is.

$ od -c -t x1 -Ax <<< α
000000           α
        ce  b1  0a
000003

But if it needs some transform to be seen clearly, it should be done.
For example, a space character should be printed as ' ' (with single
quote printed). Other space characters in UTF-8 should also be printed
with single quotes enclosing the space.

Is there a tool to do so?

-- 
Regards,
Peng