GNU gettext utilities: GNU gettext utilities

1. Introduction
- 1.1 The Purpose of GNU gettext
- 1.2 I18n, L10n, and Such
- 1.3 Aspects in Native Language Support
- 1.4 Files Conveying Translations
- 1.5 Overview of GNU gettext
2. The User's View
- 2.1 Operating System Installation
- 2.2 Setting the Locale Used by GUI Programs
- 2.3 Setting the Locale through Environment Variables
- 2.4 Obtaining good output in a Windows console
- 2.5 Installing Translations for Particular Programs
3. The Format of PO Files
- 3.1 What an entry looks like
- 3.2 Workflow flags
- 3.3 Sticky flags
- 3.4 Entries with Context
- 3.5 Entries with Plural Forms
- 3.6 Further details on the PO file format
- 3.7 Evolution of the PO File Format
4. Preparing Program Sources
- 4.1 Importing the gettext declaration
- 4.2 Triggering gettext Operations
- 4.3 Preparing Translatable Strings
- 4.4 How Marks Appear in Sources
- 4.5 Marking Translatable Strings
- 4.6 Adding advice for translators
- 4.7 Special Comments preceding Keywords
- 4.8 Special Cases of Translatable Strings
- 4.9 Letting Users Report Translation Bugs
- 4.10 Marking Proper Names for Translation
- 4.11 Preparing Library Sources
5. Making the PO Template File
- 5.1 Invoking the xgettext Program
- 5.2 Combining PO Template Files
6. Creating or preparing for translating a PO file
- 6.1 Invoking the msginit Program
- 6.2 Filling in the Header Entry
7. Updating Existing PO Files
- 7.1 Invoking the msgmerge Program
8. Pretranslating PO Files
- 8.1 Installing a Large Language Model
- 8.2 Invoking the msgpre Program
- 8.3 Invoking the spit Program
9. Editing PO Files
- 9.1 Web-based PO editing
- 9.2 KDE's PO File Editor
- 9.3 GNOME's PO File Editor
- 9.4 Poedit
- 9.5 OmegaT
- 9.6 The Virtaal Translation Editor
- 9.7 Emacs's PO File Editor
- 9.8 Editing PO Files in vim
- 9.9 Using Translation Compendia
  - 9.9.1 Creating Compendia
    - 9.9.1.1 Concatenate PO Files
    - 9.9.1.2 Extract a Message Subset from a PO File
  - 9.9.2 Using Compendia
    - 9.9.2.1 Initialize a New Translation File
    - 9.9.2.2 Update an Existing Translation File
10. Manipulating PO Files
- 10.1 Invoking the msgcat Program
- 10.2 Invoking the msgconv Program
- 10.3 Invoking the msggrep Program
- 10.4 Invoking the msgfilter Program
- 10.5 Invoking the msguniq Program
- 10.6 Invoking the msgcomm Program
- 10.7 Invoking the msgcmp Program
- 10.8 Invoking the msgattrib Program
- 10.9 Invoking the msgen Program
- 10.10 Invoking the msgexec Program
- 10.11 Highlighting parts of PO files
- 10.12 Other tools for manipulating PO files
- 10.13 Writing your own programs that process PO files
11. Producing Binary MO Files
- 11.1 Invoking the msgfmt Program
- 11.2 Invoking the msgunfmt Program
- 11.3 The Format of GNU MO Files
- 11.4 Security considerations around MO Files
12. The Programmer's View
- 12.1 About catgets
  - 12.1.1 The Interface
  - 12.1.2 Problems with the catgets Interface?!
- 12.2 About gettext
- 12.3 Comparing the Two Interfaces
- 12.4 Using libintl.a in own programs
- 12.5 Being a gettext grok
- 12.6 Temporary Notes for the Programmers Chapter
13. The Translator's View
- 13.1 Organization
- 13.2 Responsibilities in the Translation Project
- 13.3 Language dialects
- 13.4 Translating plural forms
- 13.5 Prioritizing messages: How to determine which messages to translate first
14. The Maintainer's View
- 14.1 Flat or Non-Flat Directory Structures
- 14.2 Prerequisite Works
- 14.3 Invoking the gettextize Program
- 14.4 Files You Must Create or Alter
- 14.5 Autoconf macros for use in ‘configure.ac’
- 14.6 Interfacing with the Translators
- 14.7 Integrating with Version Control Systems
- 14.8 Creating a Distribution Tarball
15. The Installer's and Distributor's View
16. Other Programming Languages
- 16.1 The Language Implementor's View
- 16.2 The Programmer's View
- 16.3 The Translator's View
- 16.4 The Maintainer's View
- 16.5 Individual Programming Languages
17. Other Data Formats
- 17.1 Internationalizable Data Formats
- 17.2 Localized Data Formats
18. Concluding Remarks
- 18.1 History of GNU gettext
- 18.2 Notes on the Free Translation Project
- 18.3 Related Readings
A. Language Codes
- A.1 Usual Language Codes
- A.2 Rare Language Codes
B. Country Codes
C. Licenses
- C.1 GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
- C.2 GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
- C.3 GNU Free Documentation License
Program Index
Option Index
Variable Index
PO Mode Index
Autoconf Macro Index
General Index

This manual documents the GNU gettext tools and the GNU libintl library, version 2026.09.27.

This document was generated by Bruno Haible on September, 27 2026 using texi2html 1.78a.

GNU `gettext` utilities

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