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MSGFMT(1) User Commands MSGFMT(1) NAME msgfmt - compile message catalog to binary format SYNOPSIS msgfmt [OPTION] filename.po ... DESCRIPTION Generate binary message catalog from textual translation description. Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too. Similarly for optional arguments. Input file location: filename.po ... input files -D, --directory=DIRECTORY add DIRECTORY to list for input files search If input file is -, standard input is read. Operation mode: -j, --java Java mode: generate a Java ResourceBundle class --java2 like --java, and assume Java2 (JDK 1.2 or higher) --csharp C# mode: generate a .NET .dll file --csharp-resources C# resources mode: generate a .NET .resources file --tcl Tcl mode: generate a tcl/msgcat .msg file --qt Qt mode: generate a Qt .qm file --desktop Desktop Entry mode: generate a .desktop file --xml XML mode: generate XML file Output file location: -o, --output-file=FILE write output to specified file --strict enable strict Uniforum mode If output file is -, output is written to standard output. Output file location in Java mode: -r, --resource=RESOURCE resource name -l, --locale=LOCALE locale name, either language or language_COUNTRY --source produce a .java file, instead of a .class file -d DIRECTORY base directory of classes directory hierarchy The class name is determined by appending the locale name to the resource name, separated with an underscore. The -d option is mandatory. The class is written under the specified directory. Output file location in C# mode: -r, --resource=RESOURCE resource name -l, --locale=LOCALE locale name, either language or language_COUNTRY -d DIRECTORY base directory for locale dependent .dll files The -l and -d options are mandatory. The .dll file is written in a subdi- rectory of the specified directory whose name depends on the locale. Output file location in Tcl mode: -l, --locale=LOCALE locale name, either language or language_COUNTRY -d DIRECTORY base directory of .msg message catalogs The -l and -d options are mandatory. The .msg file is written in the spec- ified directory. Desktop Entry mode options: -l, --locale=LOCALE locale name, either language or language_COUNTRY -o, --output-file=FILE write output to specified file --template=TEMPLATE a .desktop file used as a template -d DIRECTORY base directory of .po files -kWORD, --keyword=WORD look for WORD as an additional keyword -k, --keyword do not to use default keywords The -l, -o, and --template options are mandatory. If -D is specified, in- put files are read from the directory instead of the command line argu- ments. XML mode options: -l, --locale=LOCALE locale name, either language or language_COUNTRY -L, --language=NAME recognise the specified XML language -o, --output-file=FILE write output to specified file --template=TEMPLATE an XML file used as a template -d DIRECTORY base directory of .po files --replace-text output XML with translated text replacing the original text, not augmenting the original text The -l, -o, and --template options are mandatory. If -D is specified, in- put files are read from the directory instead of the command line argu- ments. Input file syntax: -P, --properties-input input files are in Java .properties syntax --stringtable-input input files are in NeXTstep/GNUstep .strings syntax Input file interpretation: -c, --check perform all the checks implied by --check-format, --check-header, --check-domain --check-format check language dependent format strings --check-header verify presence and contents of the header entry --check-domain check for conflicts between domain directives and the --output-file option -C, --check-compatibility check that GNU msgfmt behaves like X/Open msgfmt --check-accelerators[=CHAR] check presence of keyboard accelerators for menu items -f, --use-fuzzy use fuzzy entries in output Output details: --no-convert don't convert the messages to UTF-8 encoding --no-redundancy don't pre-expand ISO C 99 <inttypes.h> format string directive macros -a, --alignment=NUMBER align strings to NUMBER bytes (default: 1) --endianness=BYTEORDER write out 32-bit numbers in the given byte order (big or little, de- fault depends on platform) --no-hash binary file will not include the hash table Informative output: -h, --help display this help and exit -V, --version output version information and exit --statistics print statistics about translations -v, --verbose increase verbosity level AUTHOR Written by Ulrich Drepper, Bruno Haible, and Daiki Ueno. REPORTING BUGS Report bugs in the bug tracker at <https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/get- text> or by email to <bug-gettext@gnu.org>. COPYRIGHT Copyright (C) 1995-2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://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 msgfmt is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and msgfmt programs are properly installed at your site, the com- mand info msgfmt should give you access to the complete manual. GNU gettext-tools 1.0 January 2026 MSGFMT(1)
NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | AUTHOR | REPORTING BUGS | COPYRIGHT | SEE ALSO
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