table of contents
| MSGFMT(1) | User Commands | 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 in the bug tracker at <https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/gettext> or by email to <bug-gettext@gnu.org>.
COPYRIGHT¶
Copyright © 1995-2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
    License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later
    <https://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.
SEE ALSO¶
The full documentation for msgfmt is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and msgfmt programs are properly installed at your site, the command
- info msgfmt
 
should give you access to the complete manual.
| February 2021 | GNU gettext-tools 0.21 |