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.
See also
Translating software using GNU gettext, Translating documentation using Sphinx, Gettext on Wikipedia, PO Files, Contributors in comment, Update ALL_LINGUAS variable in the “configure” file, Customize gettext output, Update LINGUAS file, Generate MO files, Update PO files to match POT (msgmerge)
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 |
|
Monolingual base language file |
Empty |
Template for new translations |
|
File format |
Gettext PO file |
Typical Weblate Component configuration for monolingual gettext |
|
---|---|
File mask |
|
Monolingual base language file |
|
Template for new translations |
|
File format |
Gettext PO file (monolingual) |