Go to the first, previous, next, last section, table of contents. -
- - -
xgettext Program-xgettext [option] inputfile ... -- -
xgettext program decided, the format form is used if
-the programmer prescribed it.
-
-By default only the c-format form is used. The translator should
-not have to care about these details.
-
-gettext, dgettext, dcgettext and
-gettext_noop.
-
-.gmo files. We can ship some of
-these files in the GNU gettext package, and the result of
-regenerating them through msgfmt should yield the same values.
-
--Search path for supplementary PO files is: -`/usr/local/share/nls/src/'. - -
--If inputfile is `-', standard input is read. - -
-
-This implementation of xgettext is able to process a few awkward
-cases, like strings in preprocessor macros, ANSI concatenation of
-adjacent strings, and escaped end of lines for continued strings.
-
-
-PO mode is particularly powerful when used with PO files
-created through GNU gettext utilities, as those utilities
-insert special comments in the PO files they generate.
-Some of these special comments relate the PO file entry to
-exactly where the untranslated string appears in the program sources.
-
-
-When the translator gets to an untranslated entry, she is fairly -often faced with an original string which is not as informative as -it normally should be, being succinct, cryptic, or otherwise ambiguous. -Before choosing how to translate the string, she needs to understand -better what the string really means and how tight the translation has -to be. Most of the time, when problems arise, the only way left to make -her judgment is looking at the true program sources from where this -string originated, searching for surrounding comments the programmer -might have put in there, and looking around for helping clues of -any kind. - -
--Surely, when looking at program sources, the translator will receive -more help if she is a fluent programmer. However, even if she is -not versed in programming and feels a little lost in C code, the -translator should not be shy at taking a look, once in a while. -It is most probable that she will still be able to find some of the -hints she needs. She will learn quickly to not feel uncomfortable -in program code, paying more attention to programmer's comments, -variable and function names (if he dared choosing them well), and -overall organization, than to the program code itself. - -
--The following commands are meant to help the translator at getting -program source context for a PO file entry. - -
-
-The commands s (po-cycle-reference) and M-s
-(po-select-source-reference) both open another window displaying
-some source program file, and already positioned in such a way that
-it shows an actual use of the string to be translated. By doing
-so, the command gives source program context for the string. But if
-the entry has no source context references, or if all references
-are unresolved along the search path for program sources, then the
-command diagnoses this as an error.
-
-
-Even if s (or M-s) opens a new window, the cursor stays -in the PO file window. If the translator really wants to -get into the program source window, she ought to do it explicitly, -maybe by using command O. - -
--When s is typed for the first time, or for a PO file entry which -is different of the last one used for getting source context, then the -command reacts by giving the first context available for this entry, -if any. If some context has already been recently displayed for the -current PO file entry, and the translator wandered off to do other -things, typing s again will merely resume, in another window, -the context last displayed. In particular, if the translator moved -the cursor away from the context in the source file, the command will -bring the cursor back to the context. By using s many times -in a row, with no other commands intervening, PO mode will cycle to -the next available contexts for this particular entry, getting back -to the first context once the last has been shown. - -
--The command M-s behaves differently. Instead of cycling through -references, it lets the translator choose of particular reference among -many, and displays that reference. It is best used with completion, -if the translator types TAB immediately after M-s, in -response to the question, she will be offered a menu of all possible -references, as a reminder of which are the acceptable answers. -This command is useful only where there are really many contexts -available for a single string to translate. - -
-
-Program source files are usually found relative to where the PO
-file stands. As a special provision, when this fails, the file is
-also looked for, but relative to the directory immediately above it.
-Those two cases take proper care of most PO files. However, it might
-happen that a PO file has been moved, or is edited in a different
-place than its normal location. When this happens, the translator
-should tell PO mode in which directory normally sits the genuine PO
-file. Many such directories may be specified, and all together, they
-constitute what is called the search path for program sources.
-The command S (po-consider-source-path) is used to interactively
-enter a new directory at the front of the search path, and the command
-M-S (po-ignore-source-path) is used to select, with completion,
-one of the directories she does not want anymore on the search path.
-
-
-Compendiums are yet to be implemented. - -
--An incoming PO mode feature will let the translator maintain a -compendium of already achieved translations. A compendium -is a special PO file containing a set of translations recurring in -many different packages. The translator will be given commands for -adding entries to her compendium, and later initializing untranslated -entries, or updating already translated entries, from translations -kept in the compendium. For this to work, however, the compendium -would have to be normalized. See section Normalizing Strings in Entries. - -
- --
Go to the first, previous, next, last section, table of contents. - -