msgfmt(1)

NAME

msgfmt – compile message catalog to binary format

SYNOPSIS

msgfmt [OPTION] filename.po …

DESCRIPTION

Generate binary message catalog from textual translation description.

Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too. Similarly for optional arguments.

Input file location:

filename.po …: input files
-D, –directory=DIRECTORY: add DIRECTORY to list for input files search

If input file is -, standard input is read.

Operation mode:

-j, –java: Java mode: generate a Java ResourceBundle class
–java2: like –java, and assume Java2 (JDK 1.2 or higher)
–csharp: C# mode: generate a .NET .dll file
–csharp-resources: C# resources mode: generate a .NET .resources file
–tcl: Tcl mode: generate a tcl/msgcat .msg file
–qt: Qt mode: generate a Qt .qm file
–desktop: Desktop Entry mode: generate a .desktop file
–xml: XML mode: generate XML file

Output file location:

-o, –output-file=FILE: write output to specified file
–strict: enable strict Uniforum mode

If output file is -, output is written to standard output.

Output file location in Java mode:

-r, –resource=RESOURCE: resource name
-l, –locale=LOCALE: locale name, either language or language_COUNTRY
–source: produce a .java file, instead of a .class file
-d DIRECTORY: base directory of classes directory hierarchy

The class name is determined by appending the locale name to the resource name, separated with an underscore. The -d option is mandatory. The class is written under the specified directory.

Output file location in C# mode:

-r, –resource=RESOURCE: resource name
-l, –locale=LOCALE: locale name, either language or language_COUNTRY
-d DIRECTORY: base directory for locale dependent .dll files

The -l and -d options are mandatory. The .dll file is written in a subdirectory of the specified directory whose name depends on the locale.

Output file location in Tcl mode:

-l, –locale=LOCALE: locale name, either language or language_COUNTRY
-d DIRECTORY: base directory of .msg message catalogs

The -l and -d options are mandatory. The .msg file is written in the specified directory.

Desktop Entry mode options:

-l, –locale=LOCALE: locale name, either language or language_COUNTRY
-o, –output-file=FILE: write output to specified file
–template=TEMPLATE: a .desktop file used as a template
-d DIRECTORY: base directory of .po files
-kWORD, –keyword=WORD: look for WORD as an additional keyword
-k, –keyword: do not to use default keywords

The -l, -o, and –template options are mandatory. If -D is specified, input files are read from the directory instead of the command line arguments.

XML mode options:

-l, –locale=LOCALE: locale name, either language or language_COUNTRY
-L, –language=NAME: recognise the specified XML language
-o, –output-file=FILE: write output to specified file
–template=TEMPLATE: an XML file used as a template
-d DIRECTORY: base directory of .po files

The -l, -o, and –template options are mandatory. If -D is specified, input files are read from the directory instead of the command line arguments.

Input file syntax:

-P, –properties-input: input files are in Java .properties syntax
–stringtable-input: input files are in NeXTstep/GNUstep .strings syntax

Input file interpretation:

-c, –check: perform all the checks implied by –check-format, –check-header, –check-domain
–check-format: check language dependent format strings
–check-header: verify presence and contents of the header entry
–check-domain: check for conflicts between domain directives and the –output-file option
-C, –check-compatibility: check that GNU msgfmt behaves like X/Open msgfmt
–check-accelerators[=CHAR]: check presence of keyboard accelerators for menu items
-f, –use-fuzzy: use fuzzy entries in output

Output details:

-a, –alignment=NUMBER: align strings to NUMBER bytes (default: 1)
–endianness=BYTEORDER: write out 32-bit numbers in the given byte order (big or little, default depends on platform)
–no-hash: binary file will not include the hash table

Informative output:

-h, –help: display this help and exit
-V, –version: output version information and exit
–statistics: print statistics about translations
-v, –verbose: increase verbosity level

AUTHOR

Written by Ulrich Drepper.

REPORTING BUGS

Report bugs to <bug-gnu-gettext [at] gnu.org>.

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 1995-1998, 2000-2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.