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637 lines
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<HEAD>
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<!-- This HTML file has been created by texi2html 1.54
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from gettext.texi on 25 January 1999 -->
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<TITLE>GNU gettext utilities - Introduction</TITLE>
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<link href="gettext_2.html" rel=Next>
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<link href="gettext_toc.html" rel=ToC>
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</HEAD>
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<BODY>
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<p>Go to the first, previous, <A HREF="gettext_2.html">next</A>, <A HREF="gettext_12.html">last</A> section, <A HREF="gettext_toc.html">table of contents</A>.
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<P><HR><P>
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<H1><A NAME="SEC1" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC1">Introduction</A></H1>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>
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This manual is still in <EM>DRAFT</EM> state. Some sections are still
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empty, or almost. We keep merging material from other sources
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(essentially e-mail folders) while the proper integration of this
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material is delayed.
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<P>
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In this manual, we use <EM>he</EM> when speaking of the programmer or
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maintainer, <EM>she</EM> when speaking of the translator, and <EM>they</EM>
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when speaking of the installers or end users of the translated program.
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This is only a convenience for clarifying the documentation. It is
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<EM>absolutely</EM> not meant to imply that some roles are more appropriate
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to males or females. Besides, as you might guess, GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>
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is meant to be useful for people using computers, whatever their sex,
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race, religion or nationality!
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</P>
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<P>
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This chapter explains the goals sought in the creation
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of GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> and the free Translation Project.
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Then, it explains a few broad concepts around
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Native Language Support, and positions message translation with regard
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to other aspects of national and cultural variance, as they apply to
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to programs. It also surveys those files used to convey the
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translations. It explains how the various tools interact in the
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initial generation of these files, and later, how the maintenance
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cycle should usually operate.
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</P>
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<P>
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Please send suggestions and corrections to:
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</P>
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<PRE>
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Internet address:
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bug-gnu-utils@prep.ai.mit.edu
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</PRE>
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<P>
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Please include the manual's edition number and update date in your messages.
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</P>
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<H2><A NAME="SEC2" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC2">The Purpose of GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE></A></H2>
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<P>
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Usually, programs are written and documented in English, and use
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English at execution time to interact with users. This is true
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not only of GNU software, but also of a great deal of commercial
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and free software. Using a common language is quite handy for
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communication between developers, maintainers and users from all
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countries. On the other hand, most people are less comfortable with
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English than with their own native language, and would prefer to
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use their mother tongue for day to day's work, as far as possible.
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Many would simply <EM>love</EM> to see their computer screen showing
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a lot less of English, and far more of their own language.
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</P>
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<P>
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However, to many people, this dream might appear so far fetched that
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they may believe it is not even worth spending time thinking about
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it. They have no confidence at all that the dream might ever
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become true. Yet some have not lost hope, and have organized themselves.
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The Translation Project is a formalization of this hope into a
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workable structure, which has a good chance to get all of us nearer
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the achievement of a truly multi-lingual set of programs.
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</P>
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<P>
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GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> is an important step for the Translation Project,
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as it is an asset on which we may build many other steps. This package
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offers to programmers, translators and even users, a well integrated
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set of tools and documentation. Specifically, the GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>
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utilities are a set of tools that provides a framework within which
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other free packages may produce multi-lingual messages. These tools
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include a set of conventions about how programs should be written to
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support message catalogs, a directory and file naming organization for the
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message catalogs themselves, a runtime library supporting the retrieval of
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translated messages, and a few stand-alone programs to massage in various
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ways the sets of translatable strings, or already translated strings.
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A special mode for GNU Emacs also helps ease interested parties into
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preparing these sets, or bringing them up to date.
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</P>
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<P>
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GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> is designed to minimize the impact of
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internationalization on program sources, keeping this impact as small
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and hardly noticeable as possible. Internationalization has better
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chances of succeeding if it is very light weighted, or at least,
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appear to be so, when looking at program sources.
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</P>
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<P>
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The Translation Project also uses the GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>
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distribution as a vehicle for documenting its structure and methods.
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This goes beyond the strict technicalities of documenting the GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>
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proper. By so doing, translators will find in a single place, as
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far as possible, all they need to know for properly doing their
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translating work. Also, this supplemental documentation might also
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help programmers, and even curious users, in understanding how GNU
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<CODE>gettext</CODE> is related to the remainder of the Translation
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Project, and consequently, have a glimpse at the <EM>big picture</EM>.
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</P>
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<H2><A NAME="SEC3" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC3">I18n, L10n, and Such</A></H2>
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<P>
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Two long words appear all the time when we discuss support of native
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language in programs, and these words have a precise meaning, worth
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being explained here, once and for all in this document. The words are
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<EM>internationalization</EM> and <EM>localization</EM>. Many people,
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tired of writing these long words over and over again, took the
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habit of writing <STRONG>i18n</STRONG> and <STRONG>l10n</STRONG> instead, quoting the first
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and last letter of each word, and replacing the run of intermediate
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letters by a number merely telling how many such letters there are.
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But in this manual, in the sake of clarity, we will patiently write
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the names in full, each time...
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</P>
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<P>
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By <STRONG>internationalization</STRONG>, one refers to the operation by which a
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program, or a set of programs turned into a package, is made aware of and
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able to support multiple languages. This is a generalization process,
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by which the programs are untied from calling only English strings or
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other English specific habits, and connected to generic ways of doing
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the same, instead. Program developers may use various techniques to
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internationalize their programs. Some of these have been standardized.
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GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> offers one of these standards. See section <A HREF="gettext_8.html#SEC39">The Programmer's View</A>.
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</P>
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<P>
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By <STRONG>localization</STRONG>, one means the operation by which, in a set
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of programs already internationalized, one gives the program all
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needed information so that it can adapt itself to handle its input
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and output in a fashion which is correct for some native language and
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cultural habits. This is a particularisation process, by which generic
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methods already implemented in an internationalized program are used
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in specific ways. The programming environment puts several functions
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to the programmers disposal which allow this runtime configuration.
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The formal description of specific set of cultural habits for some
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country, together with all associated translations targeted to the
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same native language, is called the <STRONG>locale</STRONG> for this language
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or country. Users achieve localization of programs by setting proper
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values to special environment variables, prior to executing those
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programs, identifying which locale should be used.
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</P>
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<P>
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In fact, locale message support is only one component of the cultural
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data that makes up a particular locale. There are a whole host of
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routines and functions provided to aid programmers in developing
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internationalized software and which allow them to access the data
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stored in a particular locale. When someone presently refers to a
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particular locale, they are obviously referring to the data stored
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within that particular locale. Similarly, if a programmer is referring
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to "accessing the locale routines", they are referring to the
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complete suite of routines that access all of the locale's information.
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</P>
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<P>
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One uses the expression <STRONG>Native Language Support</STRONG>, or merely NLS,
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for speaking of the overall activity or feature encompassing both
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internationalization and localization, allowing for multi-lingual
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interactions in a program. In a nutshell, one could say that
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internationalization is the operation by which further localizations
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are made possible.
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</P>
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<P>
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Also, very roughly said, when it comes to multi-lingual messages,
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internationalization is usually taken care of by programmers, and
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localization is usually taken care of by translators.
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</P>
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<H2><A NAME="SEC4" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC4">Aspects in Native Language Support</A></H2>
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<P>
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For a totally multi-lingual distribution, there are many things to
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translate beyond output messages.
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</P>
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<UL>
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<LI>
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As of today, GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> offers a complete toolset for
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translating messages output by C programs. Perl scripts and shell
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scripts will also need to be translated. Even if there are today some hooks
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by which this can be done, these hooks are not integrated as well as they
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should be.
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<LI>
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Some programs, like <CODE>autoconf</CODE> or <CODE>bison</CODE>, are able
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to produce other programs (or scripts). Even if the generating
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programs themselves are internationalized, the generated programs they
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produce may need internationalization on their own, and this indirect
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internationalization could be automated right from the generating
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program. In fact, quite usually, generating and generated programs
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could be internationalized independently, as the effort needed is
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fairly orthogonal.
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<LI>
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A few programs include textual tables which might need translation
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themselves, independently of the strings contained in the program
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itself. For example, RFC 1345 gives an English description for each
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character which GNU <CODE>recode</CODE> is able to reconstruct at execution.
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Since these descriptions are extracted from the RFC by mechanical means,
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translating them properly would require a prior translation of the RFC
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itself.
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<LI>
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Almost all programs accept options, which are often worded out so to
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be descriptive for the English readers; one might want to consider
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offering translated versions for program options as well.
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<LI>
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Many programs read, interpret, compile, or are somewhat driven by
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input files which are texts containing keywords, identifiers, or
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replies which are inherently translatable. For example, one may want
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<CODE>gcc</CODE> to allow diacriticized characters in identifiers or use
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translated keywords; <SAMP>`rm -i'</SAMP> might accept something else than
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<SAMP>`y'</SAMP> or <SAMP>`n'</SAMP> for replies, etc. Even if the program will
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eventually make most of its output in the foreign languages, one has
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to decide whether the input syntax, option values, etc., are to be
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localized or not.
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<LI>
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The manual accompanying a package, as well as all documentation files
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in the distribution, could surely be translated, too. Translating a
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manual, with the intent of later keeping up with updates, is a major
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undertaking in itself, generally.
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</UL>
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<P>
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As we already stressed, translation is only one aspect of locales.
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Other internationalization aspects are not currently handled by GNU
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<CODE>gettext</CODE>, but perhaps may be handled in future versions. There
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are many attributes that are needed to define a country's cultural
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conventions. These attributes include beside the country's native
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language, the formatting of the date and time, the representation of
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numbers, the symbols for currency, etc. These local <STRONG>rules</STRONG> are
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termed the country's locale. The locale represents the knowledge
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needed to support the country's native attributes.
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</P>
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<P>
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There are a few major areas which may vary between countries and
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hence, define what a locale must describe. The following list helps
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putting multi-lingual messages into the proper context of other tasks
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related to locales, and also presents some other areas which GNU
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<CODE>gettext</CODE> might eventually tackle, maybe, one of these days.
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</P>
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<DL COMPACT>
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<DT><EM>Characters and Codesets</EM>
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<DD>
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The codeset most commonly used through out the USA and most English
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speaking parts of the world is the ASCII codeset. However, there are
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many characters needed by various locales that are not found within
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this codeset. The 8-bit ISO 8859-1 code set has most of the special
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characters needed to handle the major European languages. However, in
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many cases, the ISO 8859-1 font is not adequate. Hence each locale
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will need to specify which codeset they need to use and will need
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to have the appropriate character handling routines to cope with
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the codeset.
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<DT><EM>Currency</EM>
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<DD>
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The symbols used vary from country to country as does the position
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used by the symbol. Software needs to be able to transparently
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display currency figures in the native mode for each locale.
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<DT><EM>Dates</EM>
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<DD>
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The format of date varies between locales. For example, Christmas day
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in 1994 is written as 12/25/94 in the USA and as 25/12/94 in Australia.
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Other countries might use ISO 8061 dates, etc.
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Time of the day may be noted as <VAR>hh</VAR>:<VAR>mm</VAR>, <VAR>hh</VAR>.<VAR>mm</VAR>,
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or otherwise. Some locales require time to be specified in 24-hour
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mode rather than as AM or PM. Further, the nature and yearly extent
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of the Daylight Saving correction vary widely between countries.
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<DT><EM>Numbers</EM>
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<DD>
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Numbers can be represented differently in different locales.
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For example, the following numbers are all written correctly for
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their respective locales:
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<PRE>
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12,345.67 English
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12.345,67 French
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1,2345.67 Asia
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</PRE>
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Some programs could go further and use different unit systems, like
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English units or Metric units, or even take into account variants
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about how numbers are spelled in full.
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<DT><EM>Messages</EM>
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<DD>
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The most obvious area is the language support within a locale. This is
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where GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> provides the means for developers and users to
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easily change the language that the software uses to communicate to
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the user.
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</DL>
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<P>
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In the near future we see no chance that components of locale outside of
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message handling will be made available for use in other
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packages. The reason for this is that most modern systems provide
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a more or less reasonable support for at least some of the missing
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components. Another point is that the GNU <CODE>libc</CODE> and Linux will get
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a new and complete implementation of the whole locale functionality
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which could be adopted by system lacking a reasonable locale support.
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</P>
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<H2><A NAME="SEC5" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC5">Files Conveying Translations</A></H2>
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<P>
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The letters PO in <TT>`.po'</TT> files means Portable Object, to
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distinguish it from <TT>`.mo'</TT> files, where MO stands for Machine
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Object. This paradigm, as well as the PO file format, is inspired
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by the NLS standard developed by Uniforum, and implemented by Sun
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in their Solaris system.
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</P>
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<P>
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PO files are meant to be read and edited by humans, and associate each
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original, translatable string of a given package with its translation
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in a particular target language. A single PO file is dedicated to
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a single target language. If a package supports many languages,
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there is one such PO file per language supported, and each package
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has its own set of PO files. These PO files are best created by
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the <CODE>xgettext</CODE> program, and later updated or refreshed through
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the <CODE>msgmerge</CODE> program. Program <CODE>xgettext</CODE> extracts all
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marked messages from a set of C files and initializes a PO file with
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empty translations. Program <CODE>msgmerge</CODE> takes care of adjusting
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PO files between releases of the corresponding sources, commenting
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obsolete entries, initializing new ones, and updating all source
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line references. Files ending with <TT>`.pot'</TT> are kind of base
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translation files found in distributions, in PO file format, and
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<TT>`.pox'</TT> files are often temporary PO files.
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</P>
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<P>
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MO files are meant to be read by programs, and are binary in nature.
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A few systems already offer tools for creating and handling MO files
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as part of the Native Language Support coming with the system, but the
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format of these MO files is often different from system to system,
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and non-portable. They do not necessary use <TT>`.mo'</TT> for file
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extensions, but since system libraries are also used for accessing
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these files, it works as long as the system is self-consistent about
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it. If GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> is able to interface with the tools already
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provided with systems, it will consequently let these provided tools
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take care of generating the MO files. Or else, if such tools are not
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found or do not seem usable, GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> will use its own ways
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and its own format for MO files. Files ending with <TT>`.gmo'</TT> are
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really MO files, when it is known that these files use the GNU format.
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</P>
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<H2><A NAME="SEC6" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC6">Overview of GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE></A></H2>
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<P>
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The following diagram summarizes the relation between the files
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handled by GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> and the tools acting on these files.
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It is followed by a somewhat detailed explanations, which you should
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read while keeping an eye on the diagram. Having a clear understanding
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of these interrelations would surely help programmers, translators
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and maintainers.
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</P>
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<PRE>
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Original C Sources ---> PO mode ---> Marked C Sources ---.
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.---------<--- GNU gettext Library |
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.--- make <---+ |
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| `---------<--------------------+-----------'
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| |
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| .-----<--- PACKAGE.pot <--- xgettext <---' .---<--- PO Compendium
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| | | ^
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| | `---. |
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| `---. +---> PO mode ---.
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| +----> msgmerge ------> LANG.pox --->--------' |
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| .---' |
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| | |
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| `-------------<---------------. |
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| +--- LANG.po <--- New LANG.pox <----'
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| .--- LANG.gmo <--- msgfmt <---'
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| |
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| `---> install ---> /.../LANG/PACKAGE.mo ---.
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| +---> "Hello world!"
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`-------> install ---> /.../bin/PROGRAM -------'
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</PRE>
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<P>
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The indication <SAMP>`PO mode'</SAMP> appears in two places in this picture,
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and you may safely read it as merely meaning "hand editing", using
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any editor of your choice, really. However, for those of you being
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the lucky users of GNU Emacs, PO mode has been specifically created
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for providing a cozy environment for editing or modifying PO files.
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While editing a PO file, PO mode allows for the easy browsing of
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auxiliary and compendium PO files, as well as for following references into
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the set of C program sources from which PO files have been derived.
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It has a few special features, among which are the interactive marking
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of program strings as translatable, and the validatation of PO files
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with easy repositioning to PO file lines showing errors.
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</P>
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<P>
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As a programmer, the first step to bringing GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>
|
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into your package is identifying, right in the C sources, those strings
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which are meant to be translatable, and those which are untranslatable.
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This tedious job can be done a little more comfortably using emacs PO
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mode, but you can use any means familiar to you for modifying your
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C sources. Beside this some other simple, standard changes are needed to
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properly initialize the translation library. See section <A HREF="gettext_3.html#SEC13">Preparing Program Sources</A>, for
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more information about all this.
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</P>
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<P>
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For newly written software the strings of course can and should be
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marked while writing the it. The <CODE>gettext</CODE> approach makes this
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very easy. Simply put the following lines at the beginning of each file
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or in a central header file:
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|
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</P>
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|
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<PRE>
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|
#define _(String) (String)
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#define N_(String) (String)
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#define textdomain(Domain)
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|
#define bindtextdomain(Package, Directory)
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</PRE>
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|
|
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<P>
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|
Doing this allows you to prepare the sources for internationalization.
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|
Later when you feel ready for the step to use the <CODE>gettext</CODE> library
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|
simply remove these definitions, include <TT>`libintl.h'</TT> and link
|
|
against <TT>`libintl.a'</TT>. That is all you have to change.
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
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|
Once the C sources have been modified, the <CODE>xgettext</CODE> program
|
|
is used to find and extract all translatable strings, and create an
|
|
initial PO file out of all these. This <TT>`<VAR>package</VAR>.pot'</TT> file
|
|
contains all original program strings. It has sets of pointers to
|
|
exactly where in C sources each string is used. All translations
|
|
are set to empty. The letter <KBD>t</KBD> in <TT>`.pot'</TT> marks this as
|
|
a Template PO file, not yet oriented towards any particular language.
|
|
See section <A HREF="gettext_4.html#SEC20">Invoking the <CODE>xgettext</CODE> Program</A>, for more details about how one calls the
|
|
<CODE>xgettext</CODE> program. If you are <EM>really</EM> lazy, you might
|
|
be interested at working a lot more right away, and preparing the
|
|
whole distribution setup (see section <A HREF="gettext_10.html#SEC67">The Maintainer's View</A>). By doing so, you
|
|
spare yourself typing the <CODE>xgettext</CODE> command, as <CODE>make</CODE>
|
|
should now generate the proper things automatically for you!
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
The first time through, there is no <TT>`<VAR>lang</VAR>.po'</TT> yet, so the
|
|
<CODE>msgmerge</CODE> step may be skipped and replaced by a mere copy of
|
|
<TT>`<VAR>package</VAR>.pot'</TT> to <TT>`<VAR>lang</VAR>.pox'</TT>, where <VAR>lang</VAR>
|
|
represents the target language.
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Then comes the initial translation of messages. Translation in
|
|
itself is a whole matter, still exclusively meant for humans,
|
|
and whose complexity far overwhelms the level of this manual.
|
|
Nevertheless, a few hints are given in some other chapter of this
|
|
manual (see section <A HREF="gettext_9.html#SEC56">The Translator's View</A>). You will also find there indications
|
|
about how to contact translating teams, or becoming part of them,
|
|
for sharing your translating concerns with others who target the same
|
|
native language.
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
While adding the translated messages into the <TT>`<VAR>lang</VAR>.pox'</TT>
|
|
PO file, if you do not have GNU Emacs handy, you are on your own
|
|
for ensuring that your efforts fully respect the PO file format, and quoting
|
|
conventions (see section <A HREF="gettext_2.html#SEC9">The Format of PO Files</A>). This is surely not an impossible task,
|
|
as this is the way many people have handled PO files already for Uniforum or
|
|
Solaris. On the other hand, by using PO mode in GNU Emacs, most details
|
|
of PO file format are taken care of for you, but you have to acquire
|
|
some familiarity with PO mode itself. Besides main PO mode commands
|
|
(see section <A HREF="gettext_2.html#SEC10">Main PO mode Commands</A>), you should know how to move between entries
|
|
(see section <A HREF="gettext_2.html#SEC11">Entry Positioning</A>), and how to handle untranslated entries
|
|
(see section <A HREF="gettext_5.html#SEC27">Untranslated Entries</A>).
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
If some common translations have already been saved into a compendium
|
|
PO file, translators may use PO mode for initializing untranslated
|
|
entries from the compendium, and also save selected translations into
|
|
the compendium, updating it (see section <A HREF="gettext_4.html#SEC22">Using Translation Compendiums</A>). Compendium files
|
|
are meant to be exchanged between members of a given translation team.
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Programs, or packages of programs, are dynamic in nature: users write
|
|
bug reports and suggestion for improvements, maintainers react by
|
|
modifying programs in various ways. The fact that a package has
|
|
already been internationalized should not make maintainers shy
|
|
of adding new strings, or modifying strings already translated.
|
|
They just do their job the best they can. For the Translation
|
|
Project to work smoothly, it is important that maintainers do not
|
|
carry translation concerns on their already loaded shoulders, and that
|
|
translators be kept as free as possible of programmatic concerns.
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
The only concern maintainers should have is carefully marking new
|
|
strings as translatable, when they should be, and do not otherwise
|
|
worry about them being translated, as this will come in proper time.
|
|
Consequently, when programs and their strings are adjusted in various
|
|
ways by maintainers, and for matters usually unrelated to translation,
|
|
<CODE>xgettext</CODE> would construct <TT>`<VAR>package</VAR>.pot'</TT> files which are
|
|
evolving over time, so the translations carried by <TT>`<VAR>lang</VAR>.po'</TT>
|
|
are slowly fading out of date.
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
It is important for translators (and even maintainers) to understand
|
|
that package translation is a continuous process in the lifetime of a
|
|
package, and not something which is done once and for all at the start.
|
|
After an initial burst of translation activity for a given package,
|
|
interventions are needed once in a while, because here and there,
|
|
translated entries become obsolete, and new untranslated entries
|
|
appear, needing translation.
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
The <CODE>msgmerge</CODE> program has the purpose of refreshing an already
|
|
existing <TT>`<VAR>lang</VAR>.po'</TT> file, by comparing it with a newer
|
|
<TT>`<VAR>package</VAR>.pot'</TT> template file, extracted by <CODE>xgettext</CODE>
|
|
out of recent C sources. The refreshing operation adjusts all
|
|
references to C source locations for strings, since these strings
|
|
move as programs are modified. Also, <CODE>msgmerge</CODE> comments out as
|
|
obsolete, in <TT>`<VAR>lang</VAR>.pox'</TT>, those already translated entries
|
|
which are no longer used in the program sources (see section <A HREF="gettext_5.html#SEC28">Obsolete Entries</A>). It finally discovers new strings and inserts them in
|
|
the resulting PO file as untranslated entries (see section <A HREF="gettext_5.html#SEC27">Untranslated Entries</A>). See section <A HREF="gettext_5.html#SEC24">Invoking the <CODE>msgmerge</CODE> Program</A>, for more information about what
|
|
<CODE>msgmerge</CODE> really does.
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Whatever route or means taken, the goal is to obtain an updated
|
|
<TT>`<VAR>lang</VAR>.pox'</TT> file offering translations for all strings.
|
|
When this is properly achieved, this file <TT>`<VAR>lang</VAR>.pox'</TT> may
|
|
take the place of the previous official <TT>`<VAR>lang</VAR>.po'</TT> file.
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
The temporal mobility, or fluidity of PO files, is an integral part of
|
|
the translation game, and should be well understood, and accepted.
|
|
People resisting it will have a hard time participating in the
|
|
Translation Project, or will give a hard time to other participants! In
|
|
particular, maintainers should relax and include all available official
|
|
PO files in their distributions, even if these have not recently been
|
|
updated, without banging or otherwise trying to exert pressure on the
|
|
translator teams to get the job done. The pressure should rather come
|
|
from the community of users speaking a particular language, and
|
|
maintainers should consider themselves fairly relieved of any concern
|
|
about the adequacy of translation files. On the other hand, translators
|
|
should reasonably try updating the PO files they are responsible for,
|
|
while the package is undergoing pretest, prior to an official
|
|
distribution.
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Once the PO file is complete and dependable, the <CODE>msgfmt</CODE> program
|
|
is used for turning the PO file into a machine-oriented format, which
|
|
may yield efficient retrieval of translations by the programs of the
|
|
package, whenever needed at runtime (see section <A HREF="gettext_6.html#SEC34">The Format of GNU MO Files</A>). See section <A HREF="gettext_6.html#SEC33">Invoking the <CODE>msgfmt</CODE> Program</A>, for more information about all modalities of execution
|
|
for the <CODE>msgfmt</CODE> program.
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
Finally, the modified and marked C sources are compiled and linked
|
|
with the GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> library, usually through the operation of
|
|
<CODE>make</CODE>, given a suitable <TT>`Makefile'</TT> exists for the project,
|
|
and the resulting executable is installed somewhere users will find it.
|
|
The MO files themselves should also be properly installed. Given the
|
|
appropriate environment variables are set (see section <A HREF="gettext_7.html#SEC38">Magic for End Users</A>), the
|
|
program should localize itself automatically, whenever it executes.
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P>
|
|
The remainder of this manual has the purpose of explaining in depth the various
|
|
steps outlined above.
|
|
|
|
</P>
|
|
<P><HR><P>
|
|
<p>Go to the first, previous, <A HREF="gettext_2.html">next</A>, <A HREF="gettext_12.html">last</A> section, <A HREF="gettext_toc.html">table of contents</A>.
|
|
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|
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