NAME

       msgmerge - merge message catalog and template

SYNOPSIS

       msgmerge [OPTION] def.po ref.pot

DESCRIPTION

       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.

       Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.

   Input file location:
       def.po translations referring to old sources

       ref.pot
              references to new sources

       -D, --directory=DIRECTORY
              add DIRECTORY to list for input files search

       -C, --compendium=FILE
              additional library of message translations, may be specified more than once

   Operation mode:
       -U, --update
              update def.po, do nothing if def.po already up to date

   Output file location:
       -o, --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 -.

       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
              numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise

       simple, never
              always make simple backups

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

   Operation modifiers:
       -m, --multi-domain
              apply ref.pot to each of the domains in def.po

       -N, --no-fuzzy-matching
              do not use fuzzy matching

       --previous
              keep previous msgids of translated messages

   Input file syntax:
       -P, --properties-input
              input files are in Java .properties syntax

       --stringtable-input
              input files are in NeXTstep/GNUstep .strings syntax

   Output details:
       --lang=CATALOGNAME
              set 'Language' field in the header entry

       --color
              use colors and other text attributes always

       --color=WHEN
              use colors and other text attributes if  WHEN.   WHEN  may  be  'always',  'never',
              'auto', or 'html'.

       --style=STYLEFILE
              specify CSS style rule file for --color

       -e, --no-escape
              do not use C escapes in output (default)

       -E, --escape
              use C escapes in output, no extended chars

       --force-po
              write PO file even if empty

       -i, --indent
              indented output style

       --no-location
              suppress '#: filename:line' lines

       -n, --add-location
              preserve '#: filename:line' lines (default)

       --strict
              strict Uniforum output style

       -p, --properties-output
              write out a Java .properties file

       --stringtable-output
              write out a NeXTstep/GNUstep .strings file

       -w, --width=NUMBER
              set output page width

       --no-wrap
              do  not  break  long message lines, longer than the output page width, into several
              lines

       -s, --sort-output
              generate sorted output

       -F, --sort-by-file
              sort output by file location

   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

AUTHOR

       Written by Peter Miller.

REPORTING BUGS

       Report bugs to <bug-gnu-gettext@gnu.org>.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright © 1995-1998, 2000-2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+:  GNU  GPL
       version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
       This  is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.  There is NO WARRANTY,
       to the extent permitted by law.

SEE ALSO

       The full documentation for msgmerge is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If  the  info  and
       msgmerge programs are properly installed at your site, the command

              info msgmerge

       should give you access to the complete manual.