Manual: xgettext

XGETTEXT(1)						User Commands						 XGETTEXT(1)

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,
	      Guile, Smalltalk, Java, JavaProperties, C#, awk, YCP, Tcl, Perl, PHP, Ruby,  GCC-source,	NXStringTable,	RST,
	      RSJ, 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-ellipsis,

	      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++, ObjectiveC, 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,  EmacsLisp,  librep,  Scheme,  Java, C#, awk, YCP, Tcl, Perl, PHP, GCC-source, Lua, JavaScript,
	      Vala)

       --tag=WORD:FORMAT
	      defines the behaviour of tagged template literals with tag WORD

	      (only language JavaScript)

       -T, --trigraphs
	      understand ANSI C trigraphs for input (deprecated; 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 (deprecated)

       -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

       -v, --verbose
	      increase verbosity level

AUTHOR
       Written by Ulrich Drepper.

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 xgettext is maintained as a Texinfo manual.	 If the info and xgettext programs are prop‐
       erly installed at your site, the command

	      info xgettext

       should give you access to the complete manual.

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