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14 <H1><A NAME="SEC211" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC211">13 The Maintainer's View</A></H1>
16 <A NAME="IDX1121"></A>
20 The maintainer of a package has many responsibilities. One of them
21 is ensuring that the package will install easily on many platforms,
22 and that the magic we described earlier (see section <A HREF="gettext_2.html#SEC7">2 The User's View</A>) will work
23 for installers and end users.
27 Of course, there are many possible ways by which GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>
28 might be integrated in a distribution, and this chapter does not cover
29 them in all generality. Instead, it details one possible approach which
30 is especially adequate for many free software distributions following GNU
31 standards, or even better, Gnits standards, because GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>
32 is purposely for helping the internationalization of the whole GNU
33 project, and as many other good free packages as possible. So, the
34 maintainer's view presented here presumes that the package already has
35 a <TT>‘configure.ac’</TT> file and uses GNU Autoconf.
39 Nevertheless, GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> may surely be useful for free packages
40 not following GNU standards and conventions, but the maintainers of such
41 packages might have to show imagination and initiative in organizing
42 their distributions so <CODE>gettext</CODE> work for them in all situations.
43 There are surely many, out there.
47 Even if <CODE>gettext</CODE> methods are now stabilizing, slight adjustments
48 might be needed between successive <CODE>gettext</CODE> versions, so you
49 should ideally revise this chapter in subsequent releases, looking
56 <H2><A NAME="SEC212" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC212">13.1 Flat or Non-Flat Directory Structures</A></H2>
59 Some free software packages are distributed as <CODE>tar</CODE> files which unpack
60 in a single directory, these are said to be <EM>flat</EM> distributions.
61 Other free software packages have a one level hierarchy of subdirectories, using
62 for example a subdirectory named <TT>‘doc/’</TT> for the Texinfo manual and
63 man pages, another called <TT>‘lib/’</TT> for holding functions meant to
64 replace or complement C libraries, and a subdirectory <TT>‘src/’</TT> for
65 holding the proper sources for the package. These other distributions
66 are said to be <EM>non-flat</EM>.
70 We cannot say much about flat distributions. A flat
71 directory structure has the disadvantage of increasing the difficulty
72 of updating to a new version of GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>. Also, if you have
73 many PO files, this could somewhat pollute your single directory.
74 Also, GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>'s libintl sources consist of C sources, shell
75 scripts, <CODE>sed</CODE> scripts and complicated Makefile rules, which don't
76 fit well into an existing flat structure. For these reasons, we
77 recommend to use non-flat approach in this case as well.
81 Maybe because GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> itself has a non-flat structure,
82 we have more experience with this approach, and this is what will be
83 described in the remaining of this chapter. Some maintainers might
84 use this as an opportunity to unflatten their package structure.
89 <H2><A NAME="SEC213" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC213">13.2 Prerequisite Works</A></H2>
91 <A NAME="IDX1122"></A>
92 <A NAME="IDX1123"></A>
93 <A NAME="IDX1124"></A>
97 There are some works which are required for using GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>
98 in one of your package. These works have some kind of generality
99 that escape the point by point descriptions used in the remainder
100 of this chapter. So, we describe them here.
107 Before attempting to use <CODE>gettextize</CODE> you should install some
108 other packages first.
109 Ensure that recent versions of GNU <CODE>m4</CODE>, GNU Autoconf and GNU
110 <CODE>gettext</CODE> are already installed at your site, and if not, proceed
111 to do this first. If you get to install these things, beware that
112 GNU <CODE>m4</CODE> must be fully installed before GNU Autoconf is even
115 To further ease the task of a package maintainer the <CODE>automake</CODE>
116 package was designed and implemented. GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> now uses this
117 tool and the <TT>‘Makefile’</TT>s in the <TT>‘intl/’</TT> and <TT>‘po/’</TT>
118 therefore know about all the goals necessary for using <CODE>automake</CODE>
119 and <TT>‘libintl’</TT> in one project.
121 Those four packages are only needed by you, as a maintainer; the
122 installers of your own package and end users do not really need any of
123 GNU <CODE>m4</CODE>, GNU Autoconf, GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>, or GNU <CODE>automake</CODE>
124 for successfully installing and running your package, with messages
125 properly translated. But this is not completely true if you provide
126 internationalized shell scripts within your own package: GNU
127 <CODE>gettext</CODE> shall then be installed at the user site if the end users
128 want to see the translation of shell script messages.
132 Your package should use Autoconf and have a <TT>‘configure.ac’</TT> or
133 <TT>‘configure.in’</TT> file.
134 If it does not, you have to learn how. The Autoconf documentation
135 is quite well written, it is a good idea that you print it and get
140 Your C sources should have already been modified according to
141 instructions given earlier in this manual. See section <A HREF="gettext_4.html#SEC16">4 Preparing Program Sources</A>.
145 Your <TT>‘po/’</TT> directory should receive all PO files submitted to you
146 by the translator teams, each having <TT>‘<VAR>ll</VAR>.po’</TT> as a name.
147 This is not usually easy to get translation
148 work done before your package gets internationalized and available!
149 Since the cycle has to start somewhere, the easiest for the maintainer
150 is to start with absolutely no PO files, and wait until various
151 translator teams get interested in your package, and submit PO files.
156 It is worth adding here a few words about how the maintainer should
157 ideally behave with PO files submissions. As a maintainer, your role is
158 to authenticate the origin of the submission as being the representative
159 of the appropriate translating teams of the Translation Project (forward
160 the submission to <TT>‘coordinator@translationproject.org’</TT> in case of doubt),
161 to ensure that the PO file format is not severely broken and does not
162 prevent successful installation, and for the rest, to merely put these
163 PO files in <TT>‘po/’</TT> for distribution.
167 As a maintainer, you do not have to take on your shoulders the
168 responsibility of checking if the translations are adequate or
169 complete, and should avoid diving into linguistic matters. Translation
170 teams drive themselves and are fully responsible of their linguistic
171 choices for the Translation Project. Keep in mind that translator teams are <EM>not</EM>
172 driven by maintainers. You can help by carefully redirecting all
173 communications and reports from users about linguistic matters to the
174 appropriate translation team, or explain users how to reach or join
175 their team. The simplest might be to send them the <TT>‘ABOUT-NLS’</TT> file.
179 Maintainers should <EM>never ever</EM> apply PO file bug reports
180 themselves, short-cutting translation teams. If some translator has
181 difficulty to get some of her points through her team, it should not be
182 an option for her to directly negotiate translations with maintainers.
183 Teams ought to settle their problems themselves, if any. If you, as
184 a maintainer, ever think there is a real problem with a team, please
185 never try to <EM>solve</EM> a team's problem on your own.
190 <H2><A NAME="SEC214" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC214">13.3 Invoking the <CODE>gettextize</CODE> Program</A></H2>
193 The <CODE>gettextize</CODE> program is an interactive tool that helps the
194 maintainer of a package internationalized through GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>.
195 It is used for two purposes:
202 As a wizard, when a package is modified to use GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> for
207 As a migration tool, for upgrading the GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> support in
208 a package from a previous to a newer version of GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>.
212 This program performs the following tasks:
219 It copies into the package some files that are consistently and
220 identically needed in every package internationalized through
221 GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>.
223 <LI>It performs as many of the tasks mentioned in the next section
225 section <A HREF="gettext_13.html#SEC215">13.4 Files You Must Create or Alter</A> as can be performed automatically.
227 <LI>It removes obsolete files and idioms used for previous GNU
229 <CODE>gettext</CODE> versions to the form recommended for the current GNU
230 <CODE>gettext</CODE> version.
232 <LI>It prints a summary of the tasks that ought to be done manually
234 and could not be done automatically by <CODE>gettextize</CODE>.
238 It can be invoked as follows:
242 <A NAME="IDX1125"></A>
243 <A NAME="IDX1126"></A>
246 gettextize [ <VAR>option</VAR>... ] [ <VAR>directory</VAR> ]
250 and accepts the following options:
255 <DT><SAMP>‘-f’</SAMP>
257 <DT><SAMP>‘--force’</SAMP>
259 <A NAME="IDX1127"></A>
260 <A NAME="IDX1128"></A>
261 Force replacement of files which already exist.
263 <DT><SAMP>‘--intl’</SAMP>
265 <A NAME="IDX1129"></A>
266 Install the libintl sources in a subdirectory named <TT>‘intl/’</TT>.
267 This libintl will be used to provide internationalization on systems
268 that don't have GNU libintl installed. If this option is omitted,
269 the call to <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</CODE> in <TT>‘configure.ac’</TT> should read:
270 <SAMP>‘AM_GNU_GETTEXT([external])’</SAMP>, and internationalization will not
271 be enabled on systems lacking GNU gettext.
273 <DT><SAMP>‘--po-dir=<VAR>dir</VAR>’</SAMP>
275 <A NAME="IDX1130"></A>
276 Specify a directory containing PO files. Such a directory contains the
277 translations into various languages of a particular POT file. This
278 option can be specified multiple times, once for each translation domain.
279 If it is not specified, the directory named <TT>‘po/’</TT> is updated.
281 <DT><SAMP>‘--no-changelog’</SAMP>
283 <A NAME="IDX1131"></A>
284 Don't update or create ChangeLog files. By default, <CODE>gettextize</CODE>
285 logs all changes (file additions, modifications and removals) in a
286 file called <SAMP>‘ChangeLog’</SAMP> in each affected directory.
288 <DT><SAMP>‘--symlink’</SAMP>
290 <A NAME="IDX1132"></A>
291 Make symbolic links instead of copying the needed files. This can be
292 useful to save a few kilobytes of disk space, but it requires extra
293 effort to create self-contained tarballs, it may disturb some mechanism
294 the maintainer applies to the sources, and it is likely to introduce
295 bugs when a newer version of <CODE>gettext</CODE> is installed on the system.
297 <DT><SAMP>‘-n’</SAMP>
299 <DT><SAMP>‘--dry-run’</SAMP>
301 <A NAME="IDX1133"></A>
302 <A NAME="IDX1134"></A>
303 Print modifications but don't perform them. All actions that
304 <CODE>gettextize</CODE> would normally execute are inhibited and instead only
305 listed on standard output.
307 <DT><SAMP>‘--help’</SAMP>
309 <A NAME="IDX1135"></A>
310 Display this help and exit.
312 <DT><SAMP>‘--version’</SAMP>
314 <A NAME="IDX1136"></A>
315 Output version information and exit.
320 If <VAR>directory</VAR> is given, this is the top level directory of a
321 package to prepare for using GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>. If not given, it
322 is assumed that the current directory is the top level directory of
327 The program <CODE>gettextize</CODE> provides the following files. However,
328 no existing file will be replaced unless the option <CODE>--force</CODE>
329 (<CODE>-f</CODE>) is specified.
336 The <TT>‘ABOUT-NLS’</TT> file is copied in the main directory of your package,
337 the one being at the top level. This file gives the main indications
338 about how to install and use the Native Language Support features
339 of your program. You might elect to use a more recent copy of this
340 <TT>‘ABOUT-NLS’</TT> file than the one provided through <CODE>gettextize</CODE>,
341 if you have one handy. You may also fetch a more recent copy of file
342 <TT>‘ABOUT-NLS’</TT> from Translation Project sites, and from most GNU
347 A <TT>‘po/’</TT> directory is created for eventually holding
348 all translation files, but initially only containing the file
349 <TT>‘po/Makefile.in.in’</TT> from the GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> distribution
350 (beware the double <SAMP>‘.in’</SAMP> in the file name) and a few auxiliary
351 files. If the <TT>‘po/’</TT> directory already exists, it will be preserved
352 along with the files it contains, and only <TT>‘Makefile.in.in’</TT> and
353 the auxiliary files will be overwritten.
355 If <SAMP>‘--po-dir’</SAMP> has been specified, this holds for every directory
356 specified through <SAMP>‘--po-dir’</SAMP>, instead of <TT>‘po/’</TT>.
360 Only if <SAMP>‘--intl’</SAMP> has been specified:
361 A <TT>‘intl/’</TT> directory is created and filled with most of the files
362 originally in the <TT>‘intl/’</TT> directory of the GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>
363 distribution. Also, if option <CODE>--force</CODE> (<CODE>-f</CODE>) is given,
364 the <TT>‘intl/’</TT> directory is emptied first.
368 The file <TT>‘config.rpath’</TT> is copied into the directory containing
369 configuration support files. It is needed by the <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</CODE>
374 Only if the project is using GNU <CODE>automake</CODE>:
375 A set of <CODE>autoconf</CODE> macro files is copied into the package's
376 <CODE>autoconf</CODE> macro repository, usually in a directory called <TT>‘m4/’</TT>.
380 If your site support symbolic links, <CODE>gettextize</CODE> will not
381 actually copy the files into your package, but establish symbolic
382 links instead. This avoids duplicating the disk space needed in
383 all packages. Merely using the <SAMP>‘-h’</SAMP> option while creating the
384 <CODE>tar</CODE> archive of your distribution will resolve each link by an
385 actual copy in the distribution archive. So, to insist, you really
386 should use <SAMP>‘-h’</SAMP> option with <CODE>tar</CODE> within your <CODE>dist</CODE>
387 goal of your main <TT>‘Makefile.in’</TT>.
391 Furthermore, <CODE>gettextize</CODE> will update all <TT>‘Makefile.am’</TT> files
392 in each affected directory, as well as the top level <TT>‘configure.ac’</TT>
393 or <TT>‘configure.in’</TT> file.
397 It is interesting to understand that most new files for supporting
398 GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> facilities in one package go in <TT>‘intl/’</TT>,
399 <TT>‘po/’</TT> and <TT>‘m4/’</TT> subdirectories. One distinction between
400 <TT>‘intl/’</TT> and the two other directories is that <TT>‘intl/’</TT> is
401 meant to be completely identical in all packages using GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>,
402 while the other directories will mostly contain package dependent
407 The <CODE>gettextize</CODE> program makes backup files for all files it
408 replaces or changes, and also write ChangeLog entries about these
409 changes. This way, the careful maintainer can check after running
410 <CODE>gettextize</CODE> whether its changes are acceptable to him, and
411 possibly adjust them. An exception to this rule is the <TT>‘intl/’</TT>
412 directory, which is added or replaced or removed as a whole.
416 It is important to understand that <CODE>gettextize</CODE> can not do the
417 entire job of adapting a package for using GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>. The
418 amount of remaining work depends on whether the package uses GNU
419 <CODE>automake</CODE> or not. But in any case, the maintainer should still
420 read the section section <A HREF="gettext_13.html#SEC215">13.4 Files You Must Create or Alter</A> after invoking <CODE>gettextize</CODE>.
424 In particular, if after using <SAMP>‘gettexize’</SAMP>, you get an error
425 <SAMP>‘AC_COMPILE_IFELSE was called before AC_GNU_SOURCE’</SAMP> or
426 <SAMP>‘AC_RUN_IFELSE was called before AC_GNU_SOURCE’</SAMP>, you can fix it
427 by modifying <TT>‘configure.ac’</TT>, as described in section <A HREF="gettext_13.html#SEC220">13.4.5 <TT>‘configure.ac’</TT> at top level</A>.
431 It is also important to understand that <CODE>gettextize</CODE> is not part
432 of the GNU build system, in the sense that it should not be invoked
433 automatically, and not be invoked by someone who doesn't assume the
434 responsibilities of a package maintainer. For the latter purpose, a
435 separate tool is provided, see section <A HREF="gettext_13.html#SEC240">13.6.3 Invoking the <CODE>autopoint</CODE> Program</A>.
440 <H2><A NAME="SEC215" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC215">13.4 Files You Must Create or Alter</A></H2>
442 <A NAME="IDX1137"></A>
446 Besides files which are automatically added through <CODE>gettextize</CODE>,
447 there are many files needing revision for properly interacting with
448 GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>. If you are closely following GNU standards for
449 Makefile engineering and auto-configuration, the adaptations should
450 be easier to achieve. Here is a point by point description of the
451 changes needed in each.
455 So, here comes a list of files, each one followed by a description of
456 all alterations it needs. Many examples are taken out from the GNU
457 <CODE>gettext</CODE> 0.18.3 distribution itself, or from the GNU
458 <CODE>hello</CODE> distribution (<A HREF="http://www.franken.de/users/gnu/ke/hello">http://www.franken.de/users/gnu/ke/hello</A>
459 or <A HREF="http://www.gnu.franken.de/ke/hello/">http://www.gnu.franken.de/ke/hello/</A>) You may indeed
460 refer to the source code of the GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> and GNU <CODE>hello</CODE>
461 packages, as they are intended to be good examples for using GNU
462 gettext functionality.
468 <H3><A NAME="SEC216" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC216">13.4.1 <TT>‘POTFILES.in’</TT> in <TT>‘po/’</TT></A></H3>
470 <A NAME="IDX1138"></A>
474 The <TT>‘po/’</TT> directory should receive a file named
475 <TT>‘POTFILES.in’</TT>. This file tells which files, among all program
476 sources, have marked strings needing translation. Here is an example
482 # List of source files containing translatable strings.
483 # Copyright (C) 1995 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
485 # Common library files
490 # Package source files
497 Hash-marked comments and white lines are ignored. All other lines
498 list those source files containing strings marked for translation
499 (see section <A HREF="gettext_4.html#SEC20">4.4 How Marks Appear in Sources</A>), in a notation relative to the top level
500 of your whole distribution, rather than the location of the
501 <TT>‘POTFILES.in’</TT> file itself.
505 When a C file is automatically generated by a tool, like <CODE>flex</CODE> or
506 <CODE>bison</CODE>, that doesn't introduce translatable strings by itself,
507 it is recommended to list in <TT>‘po/POTFILES.in’</TT> the real source file
508 (ending in <TT>‘.l’</TT> in the case of <CODE>flex</CODE>, or in <TT>‘.y’</TT> in the
509 case of <CODE>bison</CODE>), not the generated C file.
514 <H3><A NAME="SEC217" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC217">13.4.2 <TT>‘LINGUAS’</TT> in <TT>‘po/’</TT></A></H3>
516 <A NAME="IDX1139"></A>
520 The <TT>‘po/’</TT> directory should also receive a file named
521 <TT>‘LINGUAS’</TT>. This file contains the list of available translations.
522 It is a whitespace separated list. Hash-marked comments and white lines
523 are ignored. Here is an example file:
528 # Set of available languages.
533 This example means that German and French PO files are available, so
534 that these languages are currently supported by your package. If you
535 want to further restrict, at installation time, the set of installed
536 languages, this should not be done by modifying the <TT>‘LINGUAS’</TT> file,
537 but rather by using the <CODE>LINGUAS</CODE> environment variable
538 (see section <A HREF="gettext_14.html#SEC244">14 The Installer's and Distributor's View</A>).
542 It is recommended that you add the "languages" <SAMP>‘en@quot’</SAMP> and
543 <SAMP>‘en@boldquot’</SAMP> to the <CODE>LINGUAS</CODE> file. <CODE>en@quot</CODE> is a
544 variant of English message catalogs (<CODE>en</CODE>) which uses real quotation
545 marks instead of the ugly looking asymmetric ASCII substitutes <SAMP>‘`’</SAMP>
546 and <SAMP>‘'’</SAMP>. <CODE>en@boldquot</CODE> is a variant of <CODE>en@quot</CODE> that
547 additionally outputs quoted pieces of text in a bold font, when used in
548 a terminal emulator which supports the VT100 escape sequences (such as
549 <CODE>xterm</CODE> or the Linux console, but not Emacs in <KBD>M-x shell</KBD> mode).
553 These extra message catalogs <SAMP>‘en@quot’</SAMP> and <SAMP>‘en@boldquot’</SAMP>
554 are constructed automatically, not by translators; to support them, you
555 need the files <TT>‘Rules-quot’</TT>, <TT>‘quot.sed’</TT>, <TT>‘boldquot.sed’</TT>,
556 <TT>‘en@quot.header’</TT>, <TT>‘en@boldquot.header’</TT>, <TT>‘insert-header.sin’</TT>
557 in the <TT>‘po/’</TT> directory. You can copy them from GNU gettext's <TT>‘po/’</TT>
558 directory; they are also installed by running <CODE>gettextize</CODE>.
563 <H3><A NAME="SEC218" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC218">13.4.3 <TT>‘Makevars’</TT> in <TT>‘po/’</TT></A></H3>
565 <A NAME="IDX1140"></A>
569 The <TT>‘po/’</TT> directory also has a file named <TT>‘Makevars’</TT>. It
570 contains variables that are specific to your project. <TT>‘po/Makevars’</TT>
571 gets inserted into the <TT>‘po/Makefile’</TT> when the latter is created.
572 The variables thus take effect when the POT file is created or updated,
573 and when the message catalogs get installed.
577 The first three variables can be left unmodified if your package has a
578 single message domain and, accordingly, a single <TT>‘po/’</TT> directory.
579 Only packages which have multiple <TT>‘po/’</TT> directories at different
580 locations need to adjust the three first variables defined in
581 <TT>‘Makevars’</TT>.
585 As an alternative to the <CODE>XGETTEXT_OPTIONS</CODE> variables, it is also
586 possible to specify <CODE>xgettext</CODE> options through the
587 <CODE>AM_XGETTEXT_OPTION</CODE> autoconf macro. See section <A HREF="gettext_13.html#SEC235">13.5.6 AM_XGETTEXT_OPTION in <TT>‘po.m4’</TT></A>.
592 <H3><A NAME="SEC219" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC219">13.4.4 Extending <TT>‘Makefile’</TT> in <TT>‘po/’</TT></A></H3>
594 <A NAME="IDX1141"></A>
598 All files called <TT>‘Rules-*’</TT> in the <TT>‘po/’</TT> directory get appended to
599 the <TT>‘po/Makefile’</TT> when it is created. They present an opportunity to
600 add rules for special PO files to the Makefile, without needing to mess
601 with <TT>‘po/Makefile.in.in’</TT>.
605 <A NAME="IDX1142"></A>
606 <A NAME="IDX1143"></A>
607 GNU gettext comes with a <TT>‘Rules-quot’</TT> file, containing rules for
608 building catalogs <TT>‘en@quot.po’</TT> and <TT>‘en@boldquot.po’</TT>. The
609 effect of <TT>‘en@quot.po’</TT> is that people who set their <CODE>LANGUAGE</CODE>
610 environment variable to <SAMP>‘en@quot’</SAMP> will get messages with proper
611 looking symmetric Unicode quotation marks instead of abusing the ASCII
612 grave accent and the ASCII apostrophe for indicating quotations. To
613 enable this catalog, simply add <CODE>en@quot</CODE> to the <TT>‘po/LINGUAS’</TT>
614 file. The effect of <TT>‘en@boldquot.po’</TT> is that people who set
615 <CODE>LANGUAGE</CODE> to <SAMP>‘en@boldquot’</SAMP> will get not only proper quotation
616 marks, but also the quoted text will be shown in a bold font on terminals
617 and consoles. This catalog is useful only for command-line programs, not
618 GUI programs. To enable it, similarly add <CODE>en@boldquot</CODE> to the
619 <TT>‘po/LINGUAS’</TT> file.
623 Similarly, you can create rules for building message catalogs for the
624 <TT>‘sr@latin’</TT> locale -- Serbian written with the Latin alphabet --
625 from those for the <TT>‘sr’</TT> locale -- Serbian written with Cyrillic
626 letters. See section <A HREF="gettext_9.html#SEC102">9.4 Invoking the <CODE>msgfilter</CODE> Program</A>.
631 <H3><A NAME="SEC220" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC220">13.4.5 <TT>‘configure.ac’</TT> at top level</A></H3>
634 <TT>‘configure.ac’</TT> or <TT>‘configure.in’</TT> - this is the source from which
635 <CODE>autoconf</CODE> generates the <TT>‘configure’</TT> script.
640 <LI>Declare the package and version.
642 <A NAME="IDX1144"></A>
644 This is done by a set of lines like these:
650 AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(PACKAGE, "$PACKAGE")
651 AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(VERSION, "$VERSION")
656 or, if you are using GNU <CODE>automake</CODE>, by a line like this:
660 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE(gettext, 0.18.3)
663 Of course, you replace <SAMP>‘gettext’</SAMP> with the name of your package,
664 and <SAMP>‘0.18.3’</SAMP> by its version numbers, exactly as they
665 should appear in the packaged <CODE>tar</CODE> file name of your distribution
666 (<TT>‘gettext-0.18.3.tar.gz’</TT>, here).
668 <LI>Check for internationalization support.
670 Here is the main <CODE>m4</CODE> macro for triggering internationalization
671 support. Just add this line to <TT>‘configure.ac’</TT>:
678 This call is purposely simple, even if it generates a lot of configure
679 time checking and actions.
681 If you have suppressed the <TT>‘intl/’</TT> subdirectory by calling
682 <CODE>gettextize</CODE> without <SAMP>‘--intl’</SAMP> option, this call should read
686 AM_GNU_GETTEXT([external])
689 <LI>Have output files created.
691 The <CODE>AC_OUTPUT</CODE> directive, at the end of your <TT>‘configure.ac’</TT>
692 file, needs to be modified in two ways:
696 AC_OUTPUT([<VAR>existing configuration files</VAR> intl/Makefile po/Makefile.in],
697 [<VAR>existing additional actions</VAR>])
700 The modification to the first argument to <CODE>AC_OUTPUT</CODE> asks
701 for substitution in the <TT>‘intl/’</TT> and <TT>‘po/’</TT> directories.
702 Note the <SAMP>‘.in’</SAMP> suffix used for <TT>‘po/’</TT> only. This is because
703 the distributed file is really <TT>‘po/Makefile.in.in’</TT>.
705 If you have suppressed the <TT>‘intl/’</TT> subdirectory by calling
706 <CODE>gettextize</CODE> without <SAMP>‘--intl’</SAMP> option, then you don't need to
707 add <CODE>intl/Makefile</CODE> to the <CODE>AC_OUTPUT</CODE> line.
712 If, after doing the recommended modifications, a command like
713 <SAMP>‘aclocal -I m4’</SAMP> or <SAMP>‘autoconf’</SAMP> or <SAMP>‘autoreconf’</SAMP> fails with
714 a trace similar to this:
719 configure.ac:44: warning: AC_COMPILE_IFELSE was called before AC_GNU_SOURCE
720 ../../lib/autoconf/specific.m4:335: AC_GNU_SOURCE is expanded from...
721 m4/lock.m4:224: gl_LOCK is expanded from...
722 m4/gettext.m4:571: gt_INTL_SUBDIR_CORE is expanded from...
723 m4/gettext.m4:472: AM_INTL_SUBDIR is expanded from...
724 m4/gettext.m4:347: AM_GNU_GETTEXT is expanded from...
725 configure.ac:44: the top level
726 configure.ac:44: warning: AC_RUN_IFELSE was called before AC_GNU_SOURCE
730 you need to add an explicit invocation of <SAMP>‘AC_GNU_SOURCE’</SAMP> in the
731 <TT>‘configure.ac’</TT> file - after <SAMP>‘AC_PROG_CC’</SAMP> but before
732 <SAMP>‘AM_GNU_GETTEXT’</SAMP>, most likely very close to the <SAMP>‘AC_PROG_CC’</SAMP>
733 invocation. This is necessary because of ordering restrictions imposed
739 <H3><A NAME="SEC221" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC221">13.4.6 <TT>‘config.guess’</TT>, <TT>‘config.sub’</TT> at top level</A></H3>
742 If you haven't suppressed the <TT>‘intl/’</TT> subdirectory,
743 you need to add the GNU <TT>‘config.guess’</TT> and <TT>‘config.sub’</TT> files
744 to your distribution. They are needed because the <TT>‘intl/’</TT> directory
745 has platform dependent support for determining the locale's character
746 encoding and therefore needs to identify the platform.
750 You can obtain the newest version of <TT>‘config.guess’</TT> and
751 <TT>‘config.sub’</TT> from the <SAMP>‘config’</SAMP> project at
752 <TT>‘http://savannah.gnu.org/’</TT>. The commands to fetch them are
755 $ wget -O config.guess 'http://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=config.git;a=blob_plain;f=config.guess;hb=HEAD'
756 $ wget -O config.sub 'http://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=config.git;a=blob_plain;f=config.sub;hb=HEAD'
760 Less recent versions are also contained in the GNU <CODE>automake</CODE> and
761 GNU <CODE>libtool</CODE> packages.
765 Normally, <TT>‘config.guess’</TT> and <TT>‘config.sub’</TT> are put at the
766 top level of a distribution. But it is also possible to put them in a
767 subdirectory, altogether with other configuration support files like
768 <TT>‘install-sh’</TT>, <TT>‘ltconfig’</TT>, <TT>‘ltmain.sh’</TT> or <TT>‘missing’</TT>.
769 All you need to do, other than moving the files, is to add the following line
770 to your <TT>‘configure.ac’</TT>.
775 AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([<VAR>subdir</VAR>])
780 <H3><A NAME="SEC222" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC222">13.4.7 <TT>‘mkinstalldirs’</TT> at top level</A></H3>
782 <A NAME="IDX1145"></A>
786 With earlier versions of GNU gettext, you needed to add the GNU
787 <TT>‘mkinstalldirs’</TT> script to your distribution. This is not needed any
788 more. You can remove it if you not also using an automake version older than
794 <H3><A NAME="SEC223" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC223">13.4.8 <TT>‘aclocal.m4’</TT> at top level</A></H3>
796 <A NAME="IDX1146"></A>
800 If you do not have an <TT>‘aclocal.m4’</TT> file in your distribution,
801 the simplest is to concatenate the files <TT>‘codeset.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘fcntl-o.m4’</TT>,
802 <TT>‘gettext.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘glibc2.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘glibc21.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘iconv.m4’</TT>,
803 <TT>‘intdiv0.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘intl.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘intldir.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘intlmacosx.m4’</TT>,
804 <TT>‘intmax.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘inttypes_h.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘inttypes-pri.m4’</TT>,
805 <TT>‘lcmessage.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘lib-ld.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘lib-link.m4’</TT>,
806 <TT>‘lib-prefix.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘lock.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘longlong.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘nls.m4’</TT>,
807 <TT>‘po.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘printf-posix.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘progtest.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘size_max.m4’</TT>,
808 <TT>‘stdint_h.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘threadlib.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘uintmax_t.m4’</TT>,
809 <TT>‘visibility.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘wchar_t.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘wint_t.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘xsize.m4’</TT>
810 from GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>'s
811 <TT>‘m4/’</TT> directory into a single file. If you have suppressed the
812 <TT>‘intl/’</TT> directory, only <TT>‘gettext.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘iconv.m4’</TT>,
813 <TT>‘lib-ld.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘lib-link.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘lib-prefix.m4’</TT>,
814 <TT>‘nls.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘po.m4’</TT>, <TT>‘progtest.m4’</TT> need to be concatenated.
818 If you are not using GNU <CODE>automake</CODE> 1.8 or newer, you will need to
819 add a file <TT>‘mkdirp.m4’</TT> from a newer automake distribution to the
824 If you already have an <TT>‘aclocal.m4’</TT> file, then you will have
825 to merge the said macro files into your <TT>‘aclocal.m4’</TT>. Note that if
826 you are upgrading from a previous release of GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>, you
827 should most probably <EM>replace</EM> the macros (<CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</CODE>,
828 etc.), as they usually
829 change a little from one release of GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> to the next.
830 Their contents may vary as we get more experience with strange systems
835 If you are using GNU <CODE>automake</CODE> 1.5 or newer, it is enough to put
836 these macro files into a subdirectory named <TT>‘m4/’</TT> and add the line
841 ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = -I m4
845 to your top level <TT>‘Makefile.am’</TT>.
849 If you are using GNU <CODE>automake</CODE> 1.10 or newer, it is even easier:
855 ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = --install -I m4
859 to your top level <TT>‘Makefile.am’</TT>, and run <SAMP>‘aclocal --install -I m4’</SAMP>.
860 This will copy the needed files to the <TT>‘m4/’</TT> subdirectory automatically,
861 before updating <TT>‘aclocal.m4’</TT>.
865 These macros check for the internationalization support functions
866 and related informations. Hopefully, once stabilized, these macros
867 might be integrated in the standard Autoconf set, because this
868 piece of <CODE>m4</CODE> code will be the same for all projects using GNU
869 <CODE>gettext</CODE>.
874 <H3><A NAME="SEC224" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC224">13.4.9 <TT>‘acconfig.h’</TT> at top level</A></H3>
876 <A NAME="IDX1147"></A>
880 Earlier GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> releases required to put definitions for
881 <CODE>ENABLE_NLS</CODE>, <CODE>HAVE_GETTEXT</CODE> and <CODE>HAVE_LC_MESSAGES</CODE>,
882 <CODE>HAVE_STPCPY</CODE>, <CODE>PACKAGE</CODE> and <CODE>VERSION</CODE> into an
883 <TT>‘acconfig.h’</TT> file. This is not needed any more; you can remove
884 them from your <TT>‘acconfig.h’</TT> file unless your package uses them
885 independently from the <TT>‘intl/’</TT> directory.
890 <H3><A NAME="SEC225" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC225">13.4.10 <TT>‘config.h.in’</TT> at top level</A></H3>
892 <A NAME="IDX1148"></A>
896 The include file template that holds the C macros to be defined by
897 <CODE>configure</CODE> is usually called <TT>‘config.h.in’</TT> and may be
898 maintained either manually or automatically.
902 If <CODE>gettextize</CODE> has created an <TT>‘intl/’</TT> directory, this file
903 must be called <TT>‘config.h.in’</TT> and must be at the top level. If,
904 however, you have suppressed the <TT>‘intl/’</TT> directory by calling
905 <CODE>gettextize</CODE> without <SAMP>‘--intl’</SAMP> option, then you can choose the
906 name of this file and its location freely.
910 If it is maintained automatically, by use of the <SAMP>‘autoheader’</SAMP>
911 program, you need to do nothing about it. This is the case in particular
912 if you are using GNU <CODE>automake</CODE>.
916 If it is maintained manually, and if <CODE>gettextize</CODE> has created an
917 <TT>‘intl/’</TT> directory, you should switch to using <SAMP>‘autoheader’</SAMP>.
918 The list of C macros to be added for the sake of the <TT>‘intl/’</TT>
919 directory is just too long to be maintained manually; it also changes
920 between different versions of GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>.
924 If it is maintained manually, and if on the other hand you have
925 suppressed the <TT>‘intl/’</TT> directory by calling <CODE>gettextize</CODE>
926 without <SAMP>‘--intl’</SAMP> option, then you can get away by adding the
927 following lines to <TT>‘config.h.in’</TT>:
932 /* Define to 1 if translation of program messages to the user's
933 native language is requested. */
939 <H3><A NAME="SEC226" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC226">13.4.11 <TT>‘Makefile.in’</TT> at top level</A></H3>
942 Here are a few modifications you need to make to your main, top-level
943 <TT>‘Makefile.in’</TT> file.
950 Add the following lines near the beginning of your <TT>‘Makefile.in’</TT>,
951 so the <SAMP>‘dist:’</SAMP> goal will work properly (as explained further down):
961 Add file <TT>‘ABOUT-NLS’</TT> to the <CODE>DISTFILES</CODE> definition, so the file gets
966 Wherever you process subdirectories in your <TT>‘Makefile.in’</TT>, be sure
967 you also process the subdirectories <SAMP>‘intl’</SAMP> and <SAMP>‘po’</SAMP>. Special
968 rules in the <TT>‘Makefiles’</TT> take care for the case where no
969 internationalization is wanted.
971 If you are using Makefiles, either generated by automake, or hand-written
972 so they carefully follow the GNU coding standards, the effected goals for
973 which the new subdirectories must be handled include <SAMP>‘installdirs’</SAMP>,
974 <SAMP>‘install’</SAMP>, <SAMP>‘uninstall’</SAMP>, <SAMP>‘clean’</SAMP>, <SAMP>‘distclean’</SAMP>.
976 Here is an example of a canonical order of processing. In this
977 example, we also define <CODE>SUBDIRS</CODE> in <CODE>Makefile.in</CODE> for it
978 to be further used in the <SAMP>‘dist:’</SAMP> goal.
982 SUBDIRS = doc intl lib src po
985 Note that you must arrange for <SAMP>‘make’</SAMP> to descend into the
986 <CODE>intl</CODE> directory before descending into other directories containing
987 code which make use of the <CODE>libintl.h</CODE> header file. For this
988 reason, here we mention <CODE>intl</CODE> before <CODE>lib</CODE> and <CODE>src</CODE>.
992 A delicate point is the <SAMP>‘dist:’</SAMP> goal, as both
993 <TT>‘intl/Makefile’</TT> and <TT>‘po/Makefile’</TT> will later assume that the
994 proper directory has been set up from the main <TT>‘Makefile’</TT>. Here is
995 an example at what the <SAMP>‘dist:’</SAMP> goal might look like:
999 distdir = $(PACKAGE)-$(VERSION)
1003 chmod 777 $(distdir)
1004 for file in $(DISTFILES); do \
1005 ln $$file $(distdir) 2>/dev/null || cp -p $$file $(distdir); \
1007 for subdir in $(SUBDIRS); do \
1008 mkdir $(distdir)/$$subdir || exit 1; \
1009 chmod 777 $(distdir)/$$subdir; \
1010 (cd $$subdir && $(MAKE) $@) || exit 1; \
1012 tar chozf $(distdir).tar.gz $(distdir)
1019 Note that if you are using GNU <CODE>automake</CODE>, <TT>‘Makefile.in’</TT> is
1020 automatically generated from <TT>‘Makefile.am’</TT>, and all needed changes
1021 to <TT>‘Makefile.am’</TT> are already made by running <SAMP>‘gettextize’</SAMP>.
1026 <H3><A NAME="SEC227" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC227">13.4.12 <TT>‘Makefile.in’</TT> in <TT>‘src/’</TT></A></H3>
1029 Some of the modifications made in the main <TT>‘Makefile.in’</TT> will
1030 also be needed in the <TT>‘Makefile.in’</TT> from your package sources,
1031 which we assume here to be in the <TT>‘src/’</TT> subdirectory. Here are
1032 all the modifications needed in <TT>‘src/Makefile.in’</TT>:
1039 In view of the <SAMP>‘dist:’</SAMP> goal, you should have these lines near the
1040 beginning of <TT>‘src/Makefile.in’</TT>:
1050 If not done already, you should guarantee that <CODE>top_srcdir</CODE>
1051 gets defined. This will serve for <CODE>cpp</CODE> include files. Just add
1056 top_srcdir = @top_srcdir@
1061 You might also want to define <CODE>subdir</CODE> as <SAMP>‘src’</SAMP>, later
1062 allowing for almost uniform <SAMP>‘dist:’</SAMP> goals in all your
1063 <TT>‘Makefile.in’</TT>. At list, the <SAMP>‘dist:’</SAMP> goal below assume that
1073 The <CODE>main</CODE> function of your program will normally call
1074 <CODE>bindtextdomain</CODE> (see see section <A HREF="gettext_4.html#SEC18">4.2 Triggering <CODE>gettext</CODE> Operations</A>), like this:
1078 bindtextdomain (<VAR>PACKAGE</VAR>, LOCALEDIR);
1079 textdomain (<VAR>PACKAGE</VAR>);
1082 To make LOCALEDIR known to the program, add the following lines to
1083 <TT>‘Makefile.in’</TT> if you are using Autoconf version 2.60 or newer:
1088 datarootdir= @datarootdir@
1089 localedir = @localedir@
1090 DEFS = -DLOCALEDIR=\"$(localedir)\" @DEFS@
1093 or these lines if your version of Autoconf is older than 2.60:
1098 localedir = $(datadir)/locale
1099 DEFS = -DLOCALEDIR=\"$(localedir)\" @DEFS@
1102 Note that <CODE>@datadir@</CODE> defaults to <SAMP>‘$(prefix)/share’</SAMP>, thus
1103 <CODE>$(localedir)</CODE> defaults to <SAMP>‘$(prefix)/share/locale’</SAMP>.
1107 You should ensure that the final linking will use <CODE>@LIBINTL@</CODE> or
1108 <CODE>@LTLIBINTL@</CODE> as a library. <CODE>@LIBINTL@</CODE> is for use without
1109 <CODE>libtool</CODE>, <CODE>@LTLIBINTL@</CODE> is for use with <CODE>libtool</CODE>. An
1110 easy way to achieve this is to manage that it gets into <CODE>LIBS</CODE>, like
1115 LIBS = @LIBINTL@ @LIBS@
1118 In most packages internationalized with GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>, one will
1119 find a directory <TT>‘lib/’</TT> in which a library containing some helper
1120 functions will be build. (You need at least the few functions which the
1121 GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> Library itself needs.) However some of the functions
1122 in the <TT>‘lib/’</TT> also give messages to the user which of course should be
1123 translated, too. Taking care of this, the support library (say
1124 <TT>‘libsupport.a’</TT>) should be placed before <CODE>@LIBINTL@</CODE> and
1125 <CODE>@LIBS@</CODE> in the above example. So one has to write this:
1129 LIBS = ../lib/libsupport.a @LIBINTL@ @LIBS@
1134 You should also ensure that directory <TT>‘intl/’</TT> will be searched for
1135 C preprocessor include files in all circumstances. So, you have to
1136 manage so both <SAMP>‘-I../intl’</SAMP> and <SAMP>‘-I$(top_srcdir)/intl’</SAMP> will
1137 be given to the C compiler.
1141 Your <SAMP>‘dist:’</SAMP> goal has to conform with others. Here is a
1142 reasonable definition for it:
1146 distdir = ../$(PACKAGE)-$(VERSION)/$(subdir)
1147 dist: Makefile $(DISTFILES)
1148 for file in $(DISTFILES); do \
1149 ln $$file $(distdir) 2>/dev/null || cp -p $$file $(distdir) || exit 1; \
1156 Note that if you are using GNU <CODE>automake</CODE>, <TT>‘Makefile.in’</TT> is
1157 automatically generated from <TT>‘Makefile.am’</TT>, and the first three
1158 changes and the last change are not necessary. The remaining needed
1159 <TT>‘Makefile.am’</TT> modifications are the following:
1166 To make LOCALEDIR known to the program, add the following to
1167 <TT>‘Makefile.am’</TT>:
1171 <module>_CPPFLAGS = -DLOCALEDIR=\"$(localedir)\"
1174 for each specific module or compilation unit, or
1178 AM_CPPFLAGS = -DLOCALEDIR=\"$(localedir)\"
1181 for all modules and compilation units together. Furthermore, if you are
1182 using an Autoconf version older then 2.60, add this line to define
1183 <SAMP>‘localedir’</SAMP>:
1187 localedir = $(datadir)/locale
1192 To ensure that the final linking will use <CODE>@LIBINTL@</CODE> or
1193 <CODE>@LTLIBINTL@</CODE> as a library, add the following to
1194 <TT>‘Makefile.am’</TT>:
1198 <program>_LDADD = @LIBINTL@
1201 for each specific program, or
1208 for all programs together. Remember that when you use <CODE>libtool</CODE>
1209 to link a program, you need to use @LTLIBINTL@ instead of @LIBINTL@
1214 If you have an <TT>‘intl/’</TT> directory, whose contents is created by
1215 <CODE>gettextize</CODE>, then to ensure that it will be searched for
1216 C preprocessor include files in all circumstances, add something like
1217 this to <TT>‘Makefile.am’</TT>:
1221 AM_CPPFLAGS = -I../intl -I$(top_srcdir)/intl
1228 <H3><A NAME="SEC228" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC228">13.4.13 <TT>‘gettext.h’</TT> in <TT>‘lib/’</TT></A></H3>
1230 <A NAME="IDX1149"></A>
1231 <A NAME="IDX1150"></A>
1232 <A NAME="IDX1151"></A>
1236 Internationalization of packages, as provided by GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>, is
1237 optional. It can be turned off in two situations:
1244 When the installer has specified <SAMP>‘./configure --disable-nls’</SAMP>. This
1245 can be useful when small binaries are more important than features, for
1246 example when building utilities for boot diskettes. It can also be useful
1247 in order to get some specific C compiler warnings about code quality with
1248 some older versions of GCC (older than 3.0).
1252 When the package does not include the <CODE>intl/</CODE> subdirectory, and the
1253 libintl.h header (with its associated libintl library, if any) is not
1254 already installed on the system, it is preferable that the package builds
1255 without internationalization support, rather than to give a compilation
1260 A C preprocessor macro can be used to detect these two cases. Usually,
1261 when <CODE>libintl.h</CODE> was found and not explicitly disabled, the
1262 <CODE>ENABLE_NLS</CODE> macro will be defined to 1 in the autoconf generated
1263 configuration file (usually called <TT>‘config.h’</TT>). In the two negative
1264 situations, however, this macro will not be defined, thus it will evaluate
1265 to 0 in C preprocessor expressions.
1269 <A NAME="IDX1152"></A>
1270 <TT>‘gettext.h’</TT> is a convenience header file for conditional use of
1271 <TT>‘<libintl.h>’</TT>, depending on the <CODE>ENABLE_NLS</CODE> macro. If
1272 <CODE>ENABLE_NLS</CODE> is set, it includes <TT>‘<libintl.h>’</TT>; otherwise it
1273 defines no-op substitutes for the libintl.h functions. We recommend
1274 the use of <CODE>"gettext.h"</CODE> over direct use of <TT>‘<libintl.h>’</TT>,
1275 so that portability to older systems is guaranteed and installers can
1276 turn off internationalization if they want to. In the C code, you will
1282 #include "gettext.h"
1291 #include <libintl.h>
1295 The location of <CODE>gettext.h</CODE> is usually in a directory containing
1296 auxiliary include files. In many GNU packages, there is a directory
1297 <TT>‘lib/’</TT> containing helper functions; <TT>‘gettext.h’</TT> fits there.
1298 In other packages, it can go into the <TT>‘src’</TT> directory.
1302 Do not install the <CODE>gettext.h</CODE> file in public locations. Every
1303 package that needs it should contain a copy of it on its own.
1308 <H2><A NAME="SEC229" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC229">13.5 Autoconf macros for use in <TT>‘configure.ac’</TT></A></H2>
1310 <A NAME="IDX1153"></A>
1314 GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> installs macros for use in a package's
1315 <TT>‘configure.ac’</TT> or <TT>‘configure.in’</TT>.
1316 See section ‘Introduction’ in <CITE>The Autoconf Manual</CITE>.
1317 The primary macro is, of course, <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</CODE>.
1323 <H3><A NAME="SEC230" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC230">13.5.1 AM_GNU_GETTEXT in <TT>‘gettext.m4’</TT></A></H3>
1326 <A NAME="IDX1154"></A>
1327 The <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</CODE> macro tests for the presence of the GNU gettext
1328 function family in either the C library or a separate <CODE>libintl</CODE>
1329 library (shared or static libraries are both supported) or in the package's
1330 <TT>‘intl/’</TT> directory. It also invokes <CODE>AM_PO_SUBDIRS</CODE>, thus preparing
1331 the <TT>‘po/’</TT> directories of the package for building.
1335 <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</CODE> accepts up to three optional arguments. The general
1341 AM_GNU_GETTEXT([<VAR>intlsymbol</VAR>], [<VAR>needsymbol</VAR>], [<VAR>intldir</VAR>])
1345 <VAR>intlsymbol</VAR> can be <SAMP>‘external’</SAMP> or <SAMP>‘no-libtool’</SAMP>. The default
1346 (if it is not specified or empty) is <SAMP>‘no-libtool’</SAMP>. <VAR>intlsymbol</VAR>
1347 should be <SAMP>‘external’</SAMP> for packages with no <TT>‘intl/’</TT> directory.
1348 For packages with an <TT>‘intl/’</TT> directory, you can either use an
1349 <VAR>intlsymbol</VAR> equal to <SAMP>‘no-libtool’</SAMP>, or you can use <SAMP>‘external’</SAMP>
1350 and override by using the macro <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_INTL_SUBDIR</CODE> elsewhere.
1351 The two ways to specify the existence of an <TT>‘intl/’</TT> directory are
1352 equivalent. At build time, a static library
1353 <CODE>$(top_builddir)/intl/libintl.a</CODE> will then be created.
1357 If <VAR>needsymbol</VAR> is specified and is <SAMP>‘need-ngettext’</SAMP>, then GNU
1358 gettext implementations (in libc or libintl) without the <CODE>ngettext()</CODE>
1359 function will be ignored. If <VAR>needsymbol</VAR> is specified and is
1360 <SAMP>‘need-formatstring-macros’</SAMP>, then GNU gettext implementations that don't
1361 support the ISO C 99 <TT>‘<inttypes.h>’</TT> formatstring macros will be ignored.
1362 Only one <VAR>needsymbol</VAR> can be specified. These requirements can also be
1363 specified by using the macro <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_NEED</CODE> elsewhere. To specify
1364 more than one requirement, just specify the strongest one among them, or
1365 invoke the <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_NEED</CODE> macro several times. The hierarchy
1366 among the various alternatives is as follows: <SAMP>‘need-formatstring-macros’</SAMP>
1367 implies <SAMP>‘need-ngettext’</SAMP>.
1371 <VAR>intldir</VAR> is used to find the intl libraries. If empty, the value
1372 <SAMP>‘$(top_builddir)/intl/’</SAMP> is used.
1376 The <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</CODE> macro determines whether GNU gettext is
1377 available and should be used. If so, it sets the <CODE>USE_NLS</CODE> variable
1378 to <SAMP>‘yes’</SAMP>; it defines <CODE>ENABLE_NLS</CODE> to 1 in the autoconf
1379 generated configuration file (usually called <TT>‘config.h’</TT>); it sets
1380 the variables <CODE>LIBINTL</CODE> and <CODE>LTLIBINTL</CODE> to the linker options
1381 for use in a Makefile (<CODE>LIBINTL</CODE> for use without libtool,
1382 <CODE>LTLIBINTL</CODE> for use with libtool); it adds an <SAMP>‘-I’</SAMP> option to
1383 <CODE>CPPFLAGS</CODE> if necessary. In the negative case, it sets
1384 <CODE>USE_NLS</CODE> to <SAMP>‘no’</SAMP>; it sets <CODE>LIBINTL</CODE> and <CODE>LTLIBINTL</CODE>
1385 to empty and doesn't change <CODE>CPPFLAGS</CODE>.
1389 The complexities that <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</CODE> deals with are the following:
1396 <A NAME="IDX1155"></A>
1397 Some operating systems have <CODE>gettext</CODE> in the C library, for example
1398 glibc. Some have it in a separate library <CODE>libintl</CODE>. GNU <CODE>libintl</CODE>
1399 might have been installed as part of the GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> package.
1403 GNU <CODE>libintl</CODE>, if installed, is not necessarily already in the search
1404 path (<CODE>CPPFLAGS</CODE> for the include file search path, <CODE>LDFLAGS</CODE> for
1405 the library search path).
1409 Except for glibc, the operating system's native <CODE>gettext</CODE> cannot
1410 exploit the GNU mo files, doesn't have the necessary locale dependency
1411 features, and cannot convert messages from the catalog's text encoding
1412 to the user's locale encoding.
1416 GNU <CODE>libintl</CODE>, if installed, is not necessarily already in the
1417 run time library search path. To avoid the need for setting an environment
1418 variable like <CODE>LD_LIBRARY_PATH</CODE>, the macro adds the appropriate
1419 run time search path options to the <CODE>LIBINTL</CODE> and <CODE>LTLIBINTL</CODE>
1420 variables. This works on most systems, but not on some operating systems
1421 with limited shared library support, like SCO.
1425 GNU <CODE>libintl</CODE> relies on POSIX/XSI <CODE>iconv</CODE>. The macro checks for
1426 linker options needed to use iconv and appends them to the <CODE>LIBINTL</CODE>
1427 and <CODE>LTLIBINTL</CODE> variables.
1432 <H3><A NAME="SEC231" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC231">13.5.2 AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION in <TT>‘gettext.m4’</TT></A></H3>
1435 <A NAME="IDX1156"></A>
1436 The <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION</CODE> macro declares the version number of
1437 the GNU gettext infrastructure that is used by the package.
1441 The use of this macro is optional; only the <CODE>autopoint</CODE> program makes
1442 use of it (see section <A HREF="gettext_13.html#SEC237">13.6 Integrating with CVS</A>).
1447 <H3><A NAME="SEC232" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC232">13.5.3 AM_GNU_GETTEXT_NEED in <TT>‘gettext.m4’</TT></A></H3>
1450 <A NAME="IDX1157"></A>
1451 The <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_NEED</CODE> macro declares a constraint regarding the
1452 GNU gettext implementation. The syntax is
1457 AM_GNU_GETTEXT_NEED([<VAR>needsymbol</VAR>])
1461 If <VAR>needsymbol</VAR> is <SAMP>‘need-ngettext’</SAMP>, then GNU gettext implementations
1462 (in libc or libintl) without the <CODE>ngettext()</CODE> function will be ignored.
1463 If <VAR>needsymbol</VAR> is <SAMP>‘need-formatstring-macros’</SAMP>, then GNU gettext
1464 implementations that don't support the ISO C 99 <TT>‘<inttypes.h>’</TT>
1465 formatstring macros will be ignored.
1469 The optional second argument of <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</CODE> is also taken into
1474 The <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_NEED</CODE> invocations can occur before or after
1475 the <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</CODE> invocation; the order doesn't matter.
1480 <H3><A NAME="SEC233" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC233">13.5.4 AM_GNU_GETTEXT_INTL_SUBDIR in <TT>‘intldir.m4’</TT></A></H3>
1483 <A NAME="IDX1158"></A>
1484 The <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_INTL_SUBDIR</CODE> macro specifies that the
1485 <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</CODE> macro, although invoked with the first argument
1486 <SAMP>‘external’</SAMP>, should also prepare for building the <TT>‘intl/’</TT>
1491 The <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_INTL_SUBDIR</CODE> invocation can occur before or after
1492 the <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</CODE> invocation; the order doesn't matter.
1496 The use of this macro requires GNU automake 1.10 or newer and
1497 GNU autoconf 2.61 or newer.
1502 <H3><A NAME="SEC234" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC234">13.5.5 AM_PO_SUBDIRS in <TT>‘po.m4’</TT></A></H3>
1505 <A NAME="IDX1159"></A>
1506 The <CODE>AM_PO_SUBDIRS</CODE> macro prepares the <TT>‘po/’</TT> directories of the
1507 package for building. This macro should be used in internationalized
1508 programs written in other programming languages than C, C++, Objective C,
1509 for example <CODE>sh</CODE>, <CODE>Python</CODE>, <CODE>Lisp</CODE>. See section <A HREF="gettext_15.html#SEC245">15 Other Programming Languages</A> for a list of programming languages that support localization
1514 The <CODE>AM_PO_SUBDIRS</CODE> macro determines whether internationalization
1515 should be used. If so, it sets the <CODE>USE_NLS</CODE> variable to <SAMP>‘yes’</SAMP>,
1516 otherwise to <SAMP>‘no’</SAMP>. It also determines the right values for Makefile
1517 variables in each <TT>‘po/’</TT> directory.
1522 <H3><A NAME="SEC235" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC235">13.5.6 AM_XGETTEXT_OPTION in <TT>‘po.m4’</TT></A></H3>
1525 <A NAME="IDX1160"></A>
1526 The <CODE>AM_XGETTEXT_OPTION</CODE> macro registers a command-line option to be
1527 used in the invocations of <CODE>xgettext</CODE> in the <TT>‘po/’</TT> directories
1532 For example, if you have a source file that defines a function
1533 <SAMP>‘error_at_line’</SAMP> whose fifth argument is a format string, you can use
1536 AM_XGETTEXT_OPTION([--flag=error_at_line:5:c-format])
1540 to instruct <CODE>xgettext</CODE> to mark all translatable strings in <SAMP>‘gettext’</SAMP>
1541 invocations that occur as fifth argument to this function as <SAMP>‘c-format’</SAMP>.
1545 See section <A HREF="gettext_5.html#SEC28">5.1 Invoking the <CODE>xgettext</CODE> Program</A> for the list of options that <CODE>xgettext</CODE>
1550 The use of this macro is an alternative to the use of the
1551 <SAMP>‘XGETTEXT_OPTIONS’</SAMP> variable in <TT>‘po/Makevars’</TT>.
1556 <H3><A NAME="SEC236" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC236">13.5.7 AM_ICONV in <TT>‘iconv.m4’</TT></A></H3>
1559 <A NAME="IDX1161"></A>
1560 The <CODE>AM_ICONV</CODE> macro tests for the presence of the POSIX/XSI
1561 <CODE>iconv</CODE> function family in either the C library or a separate
1562 <CODE>libiconv</CODE> library. If found, it sets the <CODE>am_cv_func_iconv</CODE>
1563 variable to <SAMP>‘yes’</SAMP>; it defines <CODE>HAVE_ICONV</CODE> to 1 in the autoconf
1564 generated configuration file (usually called <TT>‘config.h’</TT>); it defines
1565 <CODE>ICONV_CONST</CODE> to <SAMP>‘const’</SAMP> or to empty, depending on whether the
1566 second argument of <CODE>iconv()</CODE> is of type <SAMP>‘const char **’</SAMP> or
1567 <SAMP>‘char **’</SAMP>; it sets the variables <CODE>LIBICONV</CODE> and
1568 <CODE>LTLIBICONV</CODE> to the linker options for use in a Makefile
1569 (<CODE>LIBICONV</CODE> for use without libtool, <CODE>LTLIBICONV</CODE> for use with
1570 libtool); it adds an <SAMP>‘-I’</SAMP> option to <CODE>CPPFLAGS</CODE> if
1571 necessary. If not found, it sets <CODE>LIBICONV</CODE> and <CODE>LTLIBICONV</CODE> to
1572 empty and doesn't change <CODE>CPPFLAGS</CODE>.
1576 The complexities that <CODE>AM_ICONV</CODE> deals with are the following:
1583 <A NAME="IDX1162"></A>
1584 Some operating systems have <CODE>iconv</CODE> in the C library, for example
1585 glibc. Some have it in a separate library <CODE>libiconv</CODE>, for example
1586 OSF/1 or FreeBSD. Regardless of the operating system, GNU <CODE>libiconv</CODE>
1587 might have been installed. In that case, it should be used instead of the
1588 operating system's native <CODE>iconv</CODE>.
1592 GNU <CODE>libiconv</CODE>, if installed, is not necessarily already in the search
1593 path (<CODE>CPPFLAGS</CODE> for the include file search path, <CODE>LDFLAGS</CODE> for
1594 the library search path).
1598 GNU <CODE>libiconv</CODE> is binary incompatible with some operating system's
1599 native <CODE>iconv</CODE>, for example on FreeBSD. Use of an <TT>‘iconv.h’</TT>
1600 and <TT>‘libiconv.so’</TT> that don't fit together would produce program
1605 GNU <CODE>libiconv</CODE>, if installed, is not necessarily already in the
1606 run time library search path. To avoid the need for setting an environment
1607 variable like <CODE>LD_LIBRARY_PATH</CODE>, the macro adds the appropriate
1608 run time search path options to the <CODE>LIBICONV</CODE> variable. This works
1609 on most systems, but not on some operating systems with limited shared
1610 library support, like SCO.
1614 <TT>‘iconv.m4’</TT> is distributed with the GNU gettext package because
1615 <TT>‘gettext.m4’</TT> relies on it.
1620 <H2><A NAME="SEC237" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC237">13.6 Integrating with CVS</A></H2>
1623 Many projects use CVS for distributed development, version control and
1624 source backup. This section gives some advice how to manage the uses
1625 of <CODE>cvs</CODE>, <CODE>gettextize</CODE>, <CODE>autopoint</CODE> and <CODE>autoconf</CODE>.
1631 <H3><A NAME="SEC238" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC238">13.6.1 Avoiding version mismatch in distributed development</A></H3>
1634 In a project development with multiple developers, using CVS, there
1635 should be a single developer who occasionally - when there is desire to
1636 upgrade to a new <CODE>gettext</CODE> version - runs <CODE>gettextize</CODE> and
1637 performs the changes listed in section <A HREF="gettext_13.html#SEC215">13.4 Files You Must Create or Alter</A>, and then commits
1638 his changes to the CVS.
1642 It is highly recommended that all developers on a project use the same
1643 version of GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> in the package. In other words, if a
1644 developer runs <CODE>gettextize</CODE>, he should go the whole way, make the
1645 necessary remaining changes and commit his changes to the CVS.
1646 Otherwise the following damages will likely occur:
1653 Apparent version mismatch between developers. Since some <CODE>gettext</CODE>
1654 specific portions in <TT>‘configure.ac’</TT>, <TT>‘configure.in’</TT> and
1655 <CODE>Makefile.am</CODE>, <CODE>Makefile.in</CODE> files depend on the <CODE>gettext</CODE>
1656 version, the use of infrastructure files belonging to different
1657 <CODE>gettext</CODE> versions can easily lead to build errors.
1661 Hidden version mismatch. Such version mismatch can also lead to
1662 malfunctioning of the package, that may be undiscovered by the developers.
1663 The worst case of hidden version mismatch is that internationalization
1664 of the package doesn't work at all.
1668 Release risks. All developers implicitly perform constant testing on
1669 a package. This is important in the days and weeks before a release.
1670 If the guy who makes the release tar files uses a different version
1671 of GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> than the other developers, the distribution will
1672 be less well tested than if all had been using the same <CODE>gettext</CODE>
1673 version. For example, it is possible that a platform specific bug goes
1674 undiscovered due to this constellation.
1679 <H3><A NAME="SEC239" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC239">13.6.2 Files to put under CVS version control</A></H3>
1682 There are basically three ways to deal with generated files in the
1683 context of a CVS repository, such as <TT>‘configure’</TT> generated from
1684 <TT>‘configure.ac’</TT>, <CODE><VAR>parser</VAR>.c</CODE> generated from
1685 <CODE><VAR>parser</VAR>.y</CODE>, or <CODE>po/Makefile.in.in</CODE> autoinstalled by
1686 <CODE>gettextize</CODE> or <CODE>autopoint</CODE>.
1693 All generated files are always committed into the repository.
1697 All generated files are committed into the repository occasionally,
1698 for example each time a release is made.
1702 Generated files are never committed into the repository.
1706 Each of these three approaches has different advantages and drawbacks.
1713 The advantage is that anyone can check out the CVS at any moment and
1714 gets a working build. The drawbacks are: 1a. It requires some frequent
1715 "cvs commit" actions by the maintainers. 1b. The repository grows in size
1720 The advantage is that anyone can check out the CVS, and the usual
1721 "./configure; make" will work. The drawbacks are: 2a. The one who
1722 checks out the repository needs tools like GNU <CODE>automake</CODE>,
1723 GNU <CODE>autoconf</CODE>, GNU <CODE>m4</CODE> installed in his PATH; sometimes
1724 he even needs particular versions of them. 2b. When a release is made
1725 and a commit is made on the generated files, the other developers get
1726 conflicts on the generated files after doing "cvs update". Although
1727 these conflicts are easy to resolve, they are annoying.
1731 The advantage is less work for the maintainers. The drawback is that
1732 anyone who checks out the CVS not only needs tools like GNU <CODE>automake</CODE>,
1733 GNU <CODE>autoconf</CODE>, GNU <CODE>m4</CODE> installed in his PATH, but also that
1734 he needs to perform a package specific pre-build step before being able
1735 to "./configure; make".
1739 For the first and second approach, all files modified or brought in
1740 by the occasional <CODE>gettextize</CODE> invocation and update should be
1741 committed into the CVS.
1745 For the third approach, the maintainer can omit from the CVS repository
1746 all the files that <CODE>gettextize</CODE> mentions as "copy". Instead, he
1747 adds to the <TT>‘configure.ac’</TT> or <TT>‘configure.in’</TT> a line of the
1753 AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION(0.18.3)
1757 and adds to the package's pre-build script an invocation of
1758 <SAMP>‘autopoint’</SAMP>. For everyone who checks out the CVS, this
1759 <CODE>autopoint</CODE> invocation will copy into the right place the
1760 <CODE>gettext</CODE> infrastructure files that have been omitted from the CVS.
1764 The version number used as argument to <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION</CODE> is
1765 the version of the <CODE>gettext</CODE> infrastructure that the package wants
1766 to use. It is also the minimum version number of the <SAMP>‘autopoint’</SAMP>
1767 program. So, if you write <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION(0.11.5)</CODE> then the
1768 developers can have any version >= 0.11.5 installed; the package will work
1769 with the 0.11.5 infrastructure in all developers' builds. When the
1770 maintainer then runs gettextize from, say, version 0.12.1 on the package,
1771 the occurrence of <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION(0.11.5)</CODE> will be changed
1772 into <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION(0.12.1)</CODE>, and all other developers that
1773 use the CVS will henceforth need to have GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> 0.12.1 or newer
1779 <H3><A NAME="SEC240" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC240">13.6.3 Invoking the <CODE>autopoint</CODE> Program</A></H3>
1782 <A NAME="IDX1163"></A>
1783 <A NAME="IDX1164"></A>
1786 autopoint [<VAR>option</VAR>]...
1790 The <CODE>autopoint</CODE> program copies standard gettext infrastructure files
1791 into a source package. It extracts from a macro call of the form
1792 <CODE>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION(<VAR>version</VAR>)</CODE>, found in the package's
1793 <TT>‘configure.in’</TT> or <TT>‘configure.ac’</TT> file, the gettext version
1794 used by the package, and copies the infrastructure files belonging to
1795 this version into the package.
1800 <H4><A NAME="SEC241" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC241">13.6.3.1 Options</A></H4>
1804 <DT><SAMP>‘-f’</SAMP>
1806 <DT><SAMP>‘--force’</SAMP>
1808 <A NAME="IDX1165"></A>
1809 <A NAME="IDX1166"></A>
1810 Force overwriting of files that already exist.
1812 <DT><SAMP>‘-n’</SAMP>
1814 <DT><SAMP>‘--dry-run’</SAMP>
1816 <A NAME="IDX1167"></A>
1817 <A NAME="IDX1168"></A>
1818 Print modifications but don't perform them. All file copying actions that
1819 <CODE>autopoint</CODE> would normally execute are inhibited and instead only
1820 listed on standard output.
1826 <H4><A NAME="SEC242" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC242">13.6.3.2 Informative output</A></H4>
1830 <DT><SAMP>‘--help’</SAMP>
1832 <A NAME="IDX1169"></A>
1833 Display this help and exit.
1835 <DT><SAMP>‘--version’</SAMP>
1837 <A NAME="IDX1170"></A>
1838 Output version information and exit.
1843 <CODE>autopoint</CODE> supports the GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> versions from 0.10.35 to
1844 the current one, 0.18.3. In order to apply <CODE>autopoint</CODE> to
1845 a package using a <CODE>gettext</CODE> version newer than 0.18.3, you
1846 need to install this same version of GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> at least.
1850 In packages using GNU <CODE>automake</CODE>, an invocation of <CODE>autopoint</CODE>
1851 should be followed by invocations of <CODE>aclocal</CODE> and then <CODE>autoconf</CODE>
1852 and <CODE>autoheader</CODE>. The reason is that <CODE>autopoint</CODE> installs some
1853 autoconf macro files, which are used by <CODE>aclocal</CODE> to create
1854 <TT>‘aclocal.m4’</TT>, and the latter is used by <CODE>autoconf</CODE> to create the
1855 package's <TT>‘configure’</TT> script and by <CODE>autoheader</CODE> to create the
1856 package's <TT>‘config.h.in’</TT> include file template.
1860 The name <SAMP>‘autopoint’</SAMP> is an abbreviation of <SAMP>‘auto-po-intl-m4’</SAMP>;
1861 the tool copies or updates mostly files in the <TT>‘po’</TT>, <TT>‘intl’</TT>,
1862 <TT>‘m4’</TT> directories.
1867 <H2><A NAME="SEC243" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC243">13.7 Creating a Distribution Tarball</A></H2>
1870 <A NAME="IDX1171"></A>
1871 <A NAME="IDX1172"></A>
1872 In projects that use GNU <CODE>automake</CODE>, the usual commands for creating
1873 a distribution tarball, <SAMP>‘make dist’</SAMP> or <SAMP>‘make distcheck’</SAMP>,
1874 automatically update the PO files as needed.
1878 If GNU <CODE>automake</CODE> is not used, the maintainer needs to perform this
1879 update before making a release:
1885 $ (cd po; make update-po)
1890 Go to the <A HREF="gettext_1.html">first</A>, <A HREF="gettext_12.html">previous</A>, <A HREF="gettext_14.html">next</A>, <A HREF="gettext_25.html">last</A> section, <A HREF="gettext_toc.html">table of contents</A>.
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