Manual: msgmerge

MSGMERGE(1)						User Commands						 MSGMERGE(1)

NAME
       msgmerge - merge message catalog and template

SYNOPSIS
       msgmerge [OPTION] def.po ref.pot

DESCRIPTION
       Merges two Uniforum style .po files together.  The def.po file is an existing PO file with translations which will be
       taken  over to the newly created file as long as they still match; comments will be preserved, but extracted comments
       and file positions will be discarded.  The ref.pot file is the last created PO file with up-to-date source references
       but old translations, or a PO Template file (generally created by xgettext); any translations or comments in the file
       will be discarded, however dot comments and file positions will be preserved.  Where an exact match cannot be  found,
       fuzzy matching is used to produce better results.

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

   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 vari‐
       able.  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 (deprecated)

       -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

AUTHOR
       Written by Peter Miller.

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

COPYRIGHT
       Copyright © 1995-2024 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 msgmerge is maintained as a Texinfo manual.	 If the info and msgmerge programs are prop‐
       erly installed at your site, the command

	      info msgmerge

       should give you access to the complete manual.

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