NAME
xgettext - extract gettext strings from source
SYNOPSIS
xgettext [OPTION] [INPUTFILE]...
DESCRIPTION
Extract translatable strings from given input files.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options
too. Similarly for optional arguments.
Input file location:
INPUTFILE ...
input files
-f, files-from=FILE
get list of input files from FILE
-D, directory=DIRECTORY
add DIRECTORY to list for input files search
If input file is -, standard input is read.
Output file location:
-d, default-domain=NAME
use NAME.po for output (instead of messages.po)
-o, output=FILE
write output to specified file
-p, output-dir=DIR
output files will be placed in directory DIR
If output file is -, output is written to standard output.
Choice of input file language:
-L, language=NAME
recognise the specified language (C, C++, ObjectiveC, PO, Shell,
Python, Lisp, EmacsLisp, librep, Scheme, Smalltalk, Java,
JavaProperties, C#, awk, YCP, Tcl, Perl, PHP, GCC-source,
NXStringTable, RST, Glade, Lua, JavaScript, Vala, Desktop)
-C, c++
shorthand for language=C++
By default the language is guessed depending on the input file name
extension.
Input file interpretation:
from-code=NAME
encoding of input files (except for Python, Tcl, Glade)
By default the input files are assumed to be in ASCII.
Operation mode:
-j, join-existing
join messages with existing file
-x, exclude-file=FILE.po
entries from FILE.po are not extracted
-cTAG, add-comments=TAG
place comment blocks starting with TAG and preceding keyword
lines in output file
-c, add-comments
place all comment blocks preceding keyword lines in output file
check=NAME
perform syntax check on messages (ellipsis-unicode, space-ellip‐
sis,
quote-unicode, bullet-unicode)
sentence-end=TYPE
type describing the end of sentence (single-space, which is the
default,
or double-space)
Language specific options:
-a, extract-all
extract all strings (only languages C, C++, ObjectiveC, Shell,
Python, Lisp, EmacsLisp, librep, Scheme, Java, C#, awk, Tcl,
Perl, PHP, GCC-source, Glade, Lua, JavaScript, Vala)
-kWORD, keyword=WORD
look for WORD as an additional keyword
-k, keyword
do not to use default keywords (only languages C, C++, Objec‐
tiveC, Shell, Python, Lisp, EmacsLisp, librep, Scheme, Java, C#,
awk, Tcl, Perl, PHP, GCC-source, Glade, Lua, JavaScript, Vala,
Desktop)
flag=WORD:ARG:FLAG
additional flag for strings inside the argument number ARG of
keyword WORD
(only languages C, C++, ObjectiveC, Shell, Python, Lisp, Emac‐
sLisp, librep, Scheme, Java, C#, awk, YCP, Tcl, Perl, PHP, GCC-
source, Lua, JavaScript, Vala)
-T, trigraphs
understand ANSI C trigraphs for input (only languages C, C++,
ObjectiveC)
its=FILE
apply ITS rules from FILE (only XML based languages)
qt recognize Qt format strings (only language C++)
kde recognize KDE 4 format strings (only language C++)
boost
recognize Boost format strings (only language C++)
debug
more detailed formatstring recognition result
Output details:
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
write the .po file using indented style
no-location
do not write '#: filename:line' lines
-n, add-location
generate '#: filename:line' lines (default)
strict
write out strict Uniforum conforming .po file
properties-output
write out a Java .properties file
stringtable-output
write out a NeXTstep/GNUstep .strings file
itstool
write out itstool comments
-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
omit-header
don't write header with 'msgid ""' entry
copyright-holder=STRING
set copyright holder in output
foreign-user
omit FSF copyright in output for foreign user
package-name=PACKAGE
set package name in output
package-version=VERSION
set package version in output
msgid-bugs-address=EMAIL@ADDRESS
set report address for msgid bugs
-m[STRING], msgstr-prefix[=STRING]
use STRING or "" as prefix for msgstr values
-M[STRING], msgstr-suffix[=STRING]
use STRING or "" as suffix for msgstr values
Informative output:
-h, help
display this help and exit
-V, version
output version information and exit
AUTHOR
Written by Ulrich Drepper.
REPORTING BUGS
Report bugs to .
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 1995-1998, 2000-2016 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later
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 xgettext is maintained as a Texinfo manual.
If the info and xgettext programs are properly installed at your site,
the command
info xgettext
should give you access to the complete manual.
GNU gettext-tools 0.19.8.1 June 2016 XGETTEXT(1)