diff --git a/convertvec.c b/convertvec.c
index 9496684..91d953d 100644
--- a/convertvec.c
+++ b/convertvec.c
@@ -4,15 +4,28 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <math.h>
-#include <malloc.h>
+//#include <malloc.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
 const long long max_w = 2000;
 
 // Convert from text format to binary
 void txt2bin(char * input_path, char * output_path){
-	FILE * fi = fopen(input_path, "rb");
-	FILE * fo = fopen(output_path, "wb");
+	FILE * fi;
+	FILE * fo;
+
+	if (input_path == NULL || strlen(input_path) == 0
+			|| strcmp(input_path, "-") == 0) {
+		fi = freopen(NULL, "rb", stdin);
+	} else {
+		fi = fopen(input_path, "rb");
+	}
+	if (output_path == NULL || strlen(output_path) == 0
+			|| strcmp(output_path, "-") == 0) {
+		fo = freopen(NULL, "wb", stdout);
+	} else {
+		fo = fopen(output_path, "wb");
+	}
 
 	long long words, size;
 	fscanf(fi, "%lld", &words);
@@ -54,9 +67,22 @@ void txt2bin(char * input_path, char * output_path){
 
 // Convert from binary to text format
 void bin2txt(char * input_path, char * output_path){
-	FILE * fi = fopen(input_path, "rb");
-	FILE * fo = fopen(output_path, "wb");
-	
+	FILE * fi;
+	FILE * fo;
+
+	if (input_path == NULL || strlen(input_path) == 0
+			|| strcmp(input_path, "-") == 0) {
+		fi = freopen(NULL, "rb", stdin);
+	} else {
+		fi = fopen(input_path, "rb");
+	}
+	if (output_path == NULL || strlen(output_path) == 0
+			|| strcmp(output_path, "-") == 0) {
+		fo = freopen(NULL, "wb", stdout);
+	} else {
+		fo = fopen(output_path, "wb");
+	}
+
 	long long words, size;
 	fscanf(fi, "%lld", &words);
 	fscanf(fi, "%lld", &size);
@@ -96,6 +122,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
 		return 0;
 	}
 	
+	// TODO: it should be possible to sniff the input file to determine this
 	if(strcmp(argv[1], "bin2txt") == 0)
 		bin2txt(argv[2], argv[3]);
 	else if(strcmp(argv[1], "txt2bin") == 0)