Manual: msgcat

MSGCAT(1)						User Commands						   MSGCAT(1)

NAME
       msgcat - combines several message catalogs

SYNOPSIS
       msgcat [OPTION] [INPUTFILE]...

DESCRIPTION
       Concatenates  and  merges  the specified PO files.  Find messages which are common to two or more of the specified PO
       files.  By using the --more-than option, greater commonality may be requested  before  messages	are  printed.	Con‐
       versely,	 the  --less-than  option  may	be  used  to  specify  less  commonality  before  messages are printed (i.e.
       --less-than=2 will only print the unique messages).  Translations, comments, extracted comments, and  file  positions
       will be cumulated, except that if --use-first is specified, they will be taken from the first PO file to define them.

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

   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:
       -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 -.

   Message selection:
       -<, --less-than=NUMBER
	      print messages with less than this many definitions, defaults to infinite if not set

       ->, --more-than=NUMBER
	      print messages with more than this many definitions, defaults to 0 if not set

       -u, --unique
	      shorthand for --less-than=2, requests that only unique messages be printed

   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:
       -t, --to-code=NAME
	      encoding for output

       --use-first
	      use first available translation for each message, don't merge several translations

       --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
	      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

       -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

AUTHOR
       Written by Bruno Haible.

REPORTING BUGS
       Report bugs in the bug tracker at  or by email to .

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright © 2001-2024 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 msgcat is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If the info and msgcat  programs  are  properly
       installed at your site, the command

	      info msgcat

       should give you access to the complete manual.

GNU gettext-tools 0.23-bisect-1a			  June 2025						   MSGCAT(1)