NAME

       msgfmt - create a message object from a message file

SYNOPSIS

       msgfmt [ -v ] filename.po ...

DESCRIPTION

       msgfmt  creates  a  message  object  filename  .mo  file  from  the  portable message file
       filename.po.

       The .po file contains strings extracted from source code.  .po files can  be  edited,  and
       the messages in them can changed to accomodate any language supported by the system.

       The xgettext command (see xgettext(1)) can be used to create the default.po file.

       The msgfmt command does not modify the portable object files.

   Portable Object Files
       Each  .po  file  contains  one  or  more  lines.  Each line contains either a comment or a
       statement.  Comments start the line with  a  hash  mark  (#)  and  end  with  the  newline
       character and are ignored.

       Each  directive starts on a new line and is separated from <value> by white space (such as
       one or more space or tab characters).  <value> consists of  one  or  more  quoted  strings
       separated by white space or <CR>.  The following are valid directives:
              domain domainname
              msgid message_identifier
              msgstr message_string

       The domain directive identifies all following directives until another domain directive is
       encountered as applying to the domain domainname.   The  domainname  is  a  string  up  to
       MAXDOMAIN  bytes  long,  and can contain any characters allowed in legal filenames.  Until
       the first domain directive is encountered in the file, all target strings  belong  to  the
       default domain.  The default domain is called default.

       The  msgid  directive specifies the message identifier for the following msgstr directive.
       The message_identifier string  identifies  a  target  string  at  retrieval  time.   Every
       statement containing a msgid directive must be followed by a statement containing a msgstr
       directive.

       The msgstr directive specifies the target string associated  with  the  message_identifier
       string declared in the immediately preceding msgid directive.

OPTIONS

       -v        Verbose.    List   duplicate  message  identifiers.   Message  strings  are  not
                 redefined.

EXAMPLES

       The following command creates a named  .mo file for each  domain  named  in  the  portable
       message objects  filename1.po and filename2.po.

              msgfmt filename1.po filename2.po

       Running  msgfmt(1)  on the following sample .po file creates two .mo files, named first.mo
       and second.mo.
              domain "first.mo"
              msgid "aao"
              msgstr "first sample message"
              domain "second.mo"
              msgid "bbo"
              msgstr "second sample message"

SEE ALSO

       xgettext(1), gettext(3).

                                           25 July 1990                                 msgfmt(1)