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7. Updating Existing PO Files

7.1 Invoking the msgmerge Program

 
msgmerge [option] def.po ref.pot

The msgmerge program merges two Uniforum style .po files together. The def.po file is an existing PO file with translations which will be taken over to the newly created file as long as they still match; comments will be preserved, but extracted comments and file positions will be discarded. The ref.pot file is the last created PO file with up-to-date source references but old translations, or a PO Template file (generally created by xgettext); any translations or comments in the file will be discarded, however dot comments and file positions will be preserved. Where an exact match cannot be found, fuzzy matching is used to produce better results.

7.1.1 Input file location

def.po

Translations referring to old sources.

ref.pot

References to the new sources.

-D directory
--directory=directory

Add directory to the list of directories. Source files are searched relative to this list of directories. The resulting ‘.po’ file will be written relative to the current directory, though.

-C file
--compendium=file

Specify an additional library of message translations. See section Using Translation Compendia. This option may be specified more than once.

7.1.2 Operation mode

-U
--update

Update def.po. Do nothing if def.po is already up to date.

7.1.3 Output file location

-o file
--output-file=file

Write output to specified file.

The results are written to standard output if no output file is specified or if it is ‘-’.

7.1.4 Output file location in update mode

The result is written back to def.po.

--backup=control

Make a backup of def.po

--suffix=suffix

Override the usual backup suffix.

The version control method may be selected via the --backup option or through the VERSION_CONTROL environment variable. Here are the values:

none
off

Never make backups (even if --backup is given).

numbered
t

Make numbered backups.

existing
nil

Make numbered backups if numbered backups for this file already exist, otherwise make simple backups.

simple
never

Always make simple backups.

The backup suffix is ‘~’, unless set with --suffix or the SIMPLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX environment variable.

7.1.5 Operation modifiers

-m
--multi-domain

Apply ref.pot to each of the domains in def.po.

--for-msgfmt

Produce a PO file meant for msgfmt only, not for a translator. This option omits untranslated messages, fuzzy messages (except the header entry), and obsolete messages from the output. Also, it omits translator comments and ‘#: filename:line’ lines from the output. In particular, this option implies ‘--no-fuzzy-matching’.

-N
--no-fuzzy-matching

Do not use fuzzy matching when an exact match is not found. This may speed up the operation considerably.

--previous

Keep the previous msgids of translated messages, marked with ‘#|’, when adding the fuzzy marker to such messages.

7.1.6 Input file syntax

-P
--properties-input

Assume the input files are Java ResourceBundles in Java .properties syntax, not in PO file syntax.

--stringtable-input

Assume the input files are NeXTstep/GNUstep localized resource files in .strings syntax, not in PO file syntax.

7.1.7 Output details

--lang=catalogname

Specify the ‘Language’ field to be used in the header entry. See Filling in the Header Entry for the meaning of this field. Note: The ‘Language-Team’ and ‘Plural-Forms’ fields are left unchanged. If this option is not specified, the ‘Language’ field is inferred, as best as possible, from the ‘Language-Team’ field.

--color
--color=when

Specify whether or when to use colors and other text attributes. See The --color option for details.

--style=style_file

Specify the CSS style rule file to use for --color. See The --style option for details.

--force-po

Always write an output file even if it contains no message.

-i
--indent

Write the .po file using indented style.

--no-location

Do not write ‘#: filename:line’ lines.

-n
--add-location=type

Generate ‘#: filename:line’ lines (default).

The optional type can be either ‘full’, ‘file’, or ‘never’. If it is not given or ‘full’, it generates the lines with both file name and line number. If it is ‘file’, the line number part is omitted. If it is ‘never’, it completely suppresses the lines (same as --no-location).

--strict

Write out a strict Uniforum conforming PO file. Note that this Uniforum format should be avoided because it doesn't support the GNU extensions.

-p
--properties-output

Write out a Java ResourceBundle in Java .properties syntax. Note that this file format doesn't support plural forms and silently drops obsolete messages.

--stringtable-output

Write out a NeXTstep/GNUstep localized resource file in .strings syntax. Note that this file format doesn't support plural forms.

-w number
--width=number

Set the output page width. Long strings in the output files will be split across multiple lines in order to ensure that each line's width (= number of screen columns) is less or equal to the given number.

--no-wrap

Do not break long message lines. Message lines whose width exceeds the output page width will not be split into several lines. Only file reference lines which are wider than the output page width will be split.

-s
--sort-output

Generate sorted output. Note that using this option makes it much harder for the translator to understand each message's context.

-F
--sort-by-file

Sort output by file location.

7.1.8 Informative output

-h
--help

Display this help and exit.

-V
--version

Output version information and exit.

-v
--verbose

Increase verbosity level.

-q
--quiet
--silent

Suppress progress indicators.

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