GNU gettext PO (Portable Object)

Most widely used format for translating libre software.

Contextual info stored in the file is supported by adjusting its headers or linking to corresponding source files.

Showing source string change

Weblate can extract previous source strings from the PO files if present and show the string difference for strings needing editing based on that. To include these, msgmerge has to be executed with --previous and the resulting PO file then contains lines such as:

#, fuzzy
#| msgid "previous-untranslated-string"
msgid "untranslated-string"
msgstr "translated-string"

PO file header

The header of the PO file is automatically maintained by Weblate. Optionally it can include Source string bug reporting address and Set “Language-Team” header.

Monolingual gettext

Some projects decide to use gettext as monolingual formats—they code just the IDs in their source code and the string then needs to be translated to all languages, including English. This is supported, though you have to choose this file format explicitly when importing components into Weblate.

Example files

The bilingual gettext PO file typically looks like this:

#: weblate/media/js/bootstrap-datepicker.js:1421
msgid "Monday"
msgstr "Pondělí"

#: weblate/media/js/bootstrap-datepicker.js:1421
msgid "Tuesday"
msgstr "Úterý"

#: weblate/accounts/avatar.py:163
msgctxt "No known user"
msgid "None"
msgstr "Žádný"

The monolingual gettext PO file typically looks like this:

#: weblate/media/js/bootstrap-datepicker.js:1421
msgid "day-monday"
msgstr "Pondělí"

#: weblate/media/js/bootstrap-datepicker.js:1421
msgid "day-tuesday"
msgstr "Úterý"

#: weblate/accounts/avatar.py:163
msgid "none-user"
msgstr "Žádný"

While the base language file will be:

#: weblate/media/js/bootstrap-datepicker.js:1421
msgid "day-monday"
msgstr "Monday"

#: weblate/media/js/bootstrap-datepicker.js:1421
msgid "day-tuesday"
msgstr "Tuesday"

#: weblate/accounts/avatar.py:163
msgid "none-user"
msgstr "None"

Weblate configuration

Typical Weblate Component configuration for bilingual gettext

File mask

po/*.po

Monolingual base language file

Empty

Template for new translations

po/messages.pot

File format

Gettext PO file

Typical Weblate Component configuration for monolingual gettext

File mask

po/*.po

Monolingual base language file

po/en.po

Template for new translations

po/messages.pot

File format

Gettext PO file (monolingual)