NAME
localedef - compile locale definition files SYNOPSIS localedef [options] outputpath
localedef list-archive [options]
localedef delete-from-archive [options] localename ...
localedef add-to-archive [options] compiledpath localedef version localedef help localedef usage DESCRIPTION The localedef program reads the indicated charmap and input files, com‐ piles them to a binary form quickly usable by the locale functions in the C library (setlocale(3), localeconv(3), etc.), and places the out‐ put in outputpath. The outputpath argument is interpreted as follows: * If outputpath contains a slash character ('/'), it is interpreted as the name of the directory where the output definitions are to be stored. In this case, there is a separate output file for each lo‐ cale category (LCTIME, LCNUMERIC, and so on).
* If the no-archive option is used, outputpath is the name of a sub‐
directory in /usr/lib/locale where per-category compiled files are placed. * Otherwise, outputpath is the name of a locale and the compiled lo‐
cale data is added to the archive file /usr/lib/locale/locale-ar‐
chive. A locale archive is a memory-mapped file which contains all
the system-provided locales; it is used by all localized programs when the environment variable LOCPATH is not set. In any case, localedef aborts if the directory in which it tries to write locale files has not already been created.
If no charmapfile is given, the value ANSIX3.4-1968 (for ASCII) is used by default. If no inputfile is given, or if it is given as a dash
(-), localedef reads from standard input. OPTIONS
Operation-selection options A few options direct localedef to do something other than compile lo‐ cale definitions. Only one of these options should be used at a time.
delete-from-archive Delete the named locales from the locale archive file.
list-archive List the locales contained in the locale archive file.
add-to-archive Add the compiledpath directories to the locale archive file. The directories should have been created by previous runs of lo‐
caledef, using no-archive. Other options Some of the following options are only sensible for certain operations;
generally, it should be self-evident which ones.
-f charmapfile, charmap=charmapfile Specify the file that defines the character set that is used by the input file. If charmapfile contains a slash character ('/'), it is interpreted as the name of the character map. Oth‐ erwise, the file is sought in the current directory and the de‐ fault directory for character maps. If the environment variable
I18NPATH is set, $I18NPATH/charmaps/ and $I18NPATH/ are also searched after the current directory. The default directory for character maps is printed by localedef help.
-i inputfile, inputfile=inputfile Specify the locale definition file to compile. The file is sought in the current directory and the default directory for locale definition files. If the environment variable I18NPATH
is set, $I18NPATH/locales/ and $I18NPATH are also searched after the current directory. The default directory for locale defini‐ tion files is printed by localedef help.
-u repertoirefile, repertoire-map=repertoirefile Read mappings from symbolic names to Unicode code points from repertoirefile. If repertoirefile contains a slash character ('/'), it is interpreted as the pathname of the repertoire map. Otherwise, the file is sought in the current directory and the default directory for repertoire maps. If the environment vari‐
able I18NPATH is set, $I18NPATH/repertoiremaps/ and $I18NPATH are also searched after the current directory. The default di‐ rectory for repertoire maps is printed by localedef help.
-A aliasfile, alias-file=aliasfile Use aliasfile to look up aliases for locale names. There is no default aliases file. prefix=pathname Set the prefix to be prepended to the full archive pathname. By default, the prefix is empty. Setting the prefix to foo, the
archive would be placed in foo/usr/lib/locale/locale-archive.
-c, force Write the output files even if warnings were generated about the input file.
old-style
This option is a no-op and preserved only for backward compati‐ bility.
-v, verbose Generate extra warnings about errors that are normally ignored. quiet Suppress all notifications and warnings, and report only fatal errors. posix Conform strictly to POSIX. Implies verbose. This option cur‐ rently has no other effect. POSIX conformance is assumed if the environment variable POSIXLYCORRECT is set. replace Replace a locale in the locale archive file. Without this op‐ tion, if the locale is in the archive file already, an error oc‐ curs.
no-archive Do not use the locale archive file, instead create outputpath as a subdirectory in the same directory as the locale archive file, and create separate output files for locale categories in it. This is helpful to prevent system locale archive updates from overwriting custom locales created with localedef.
-?, help Print a usage summary and exit. Also prints the default paths used by localedef. usage Print a short usage summary and exit.
-V, version Print the version number, license, and disclaimer of warranty for localedef. EXIT STATUS One of the following exit values can be returned by localedef: 0 Command completed successfully. 1 Warnings or errors occurred, output files were written. 4 Errors encountered, no output created. ENVIRONMENT POSIXLYCORRECT The posix flag is assumed if this environment variable is set. I18NPATH
A colon-separated list of search directories for files. FILES /usr/share/i18n/charmaps Usual default character map path. /usr/share/i18n/locales Usual default path for locale definition files. /usr/share/i18n/repertoiremaps Usual default repertoire map path.
/usr/lib/locale/locale-archive Usual default locale archive location. /usr/lib/locale Usual default path for compiled individual locale data files. outputpath/LCADDRESS An output file that contains information about formatting of ad‐
dresses and geography-related items. outputpath/LCCOLLATE An output file that contains information about the rules for comparing strings. outputpath/LCCTYPE An output file that contains information about character class‐ es. outputpath/LCIDENTIFICATION An output file that contains metadata about the locale. outputpath/LCMEASUREMENT An output file that contains information about locale measure‐ ments (metric versus US customary). outputpath/LCMESSAGES/SYSLCMESSAGES An output file that contains information about the language mes‐ sages should be printed in, and what an affirmative or negative answer looks like. outputpath/LCMONETARY An output file that contains information about formatting of monetary values. outputpath/LCNAME An output file that contains information about salutations for persons. outputpath/LCNUMERIC An output file that contains information about formatting of nonmonetary numeric values. outputpath/LCPAPER An output file that contains information about settings related to standard paper size. outputpath/LCTELEPHONE An output file that contains information about formats to be used with telephone services. outputpath/LCTIME An output file that contains information about formatting of da‐ ta and time values. CONFORMING TO
POSIX.1-2008. EXAMPLE
Compile the locale files for Finnish in the UTF-8 character set and add
it to the default locale archive with the name fiFI.UTF-8:
localedef -f UTF-8 -i fiFI fiFI.UTF-8 The next example does the same thing, but generates files into the
fiFI.UTF-8 directory which can then be used by programs when the envi‐ ronment variable LOCPATH is set to the current directory (note that the last argument must contain a slash):
localedef -f UTF-8 -i fiFI ./fiFI.UTF-8 SEE ALSO locale(1), charmap(5), locale(5), repertoiremap(5), locale(7)
Linux 2016-03-15 LOCALEDEF(1)