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

--for-msgfmt

produce output for 'msgfmt', not for a translator

-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