The
gencat
utility merges the message text source file(s)
msgfile into a formatted message database
catfile.
The database
catfile
will be created if it does not already exist.
If
catfile
does exist its messages will be included in the new
catfile.
If set and message numbers collide,
the new message-text defined in
msgfile
will replace the old message text currently contained in
catfile.
If - is used for catfile, then gencat writes the
message catalog file to standard output.
If - is used for msgfile, then gencat reads the
message text source from standard input.
The message text source file (or set of files) input to
gencat
can contain either set and message numbers or simply
message numbers, in which case the set NL_SETD [see
nl_types(5)]
is assumed.
If msgfile is not specified, gencat will read from stdin.
The -l option lists messages to standard output.
The -m option specifies ``malloc''-format messages.
The
-X
option is the same as
-m.
The -f option allows different format message catalogs to be generated.
Arguments that can be used with this option are:
SVR4
Produce the System V Release 4 format catalog.
(This is the default if -f or -m are not specified.)
m
This is equivalent to the -m option.
This is the default if the POSIX2 environment variable is set.
SCO
Produce message catalogs suitable for use with SCO
UNIX/XENIX applications.
If the -m or -f options are not used, the format of an existing
message catalog will be retained.
The -f option can be used to change the format of a catalog.
The format of a message text source file is defined as follows.
NOTE:
The fields of a message text source line are separated by a single ASCII space or tab character. Any other ASCII spaces or tabs are considered as being part of the subsequent field.
$setn comment
n specifies the set identifier of the
following messages until the next
$set,
$delset,
or end-of-file appears.
n must be a number in the range (1 to NL_SETMAX).
Set identifiers
within a single source file need not be contiguous.
Any string following the set identifier is treated as a comment.
If no
$set
directive is specified in a message text source file, all messages
will be located in
the default message set
NL_SETD.
$delsetn comment
Delete message set
n
from an
existing message catalog.
Any string following the set number is treated as a comment.
(If n is not a valid set it is ignored.)
$comment
A line beginning with a dollar symbol ``$'' followed by an ASCII space or
tab character is treated as a comment.
m message-text
The
m
denotes the message identifier,
which is a number in the range (1 to NL_MSGMAX).
The
message-text
is stored in the message catalog
with the set identifier
specified by the last
$set
directive, and with message identifier
m.
If the
message-text
is empty,
and an ASCII space or tab field separator is present, an empty string is
stored in the message catalog.
If a message source line has a
message number, but neither a field separator nor
message-text,
the existing message with that number (if any) is deleted from the
catalog.
Message identifiers
need not be contiguous.
The length of
message-text
must be in the range (0 to NL_TEXTMAX).
$quotec
This line specifies an optional quote character
c,
which can be used to surround
message-text
so that trailing spaces or null (empty) messages are visible in a
message source line.
By default, or if an empty
$quote
directive is supplied, no quoting of
message-text
will be recognized.
Empty lines in a message text source file are ignored.
Text strings can contain the special characters and
escape sequences defined in the following table:
Description
Symbol
Sequence
newline
NL(LF)
\n
horizontal tab
HT
\t
vertical tab
VT
\v
backspace
BS
\b
carriage return
CR
\r
form feed
FF
\f
backslash
\
\\
bit pattern
ddd
\ddd
The escape sequence
\ddd
consists of backslash followed by 1, 2 or 3 octal digits,
which are taken to specify the value of the desired character.
If the character following a backslash is not one of those specified,
the backslash is ignored.
Backslash followed by an ASCII newline character is also used
to continue a string on the following line.
Thus, the following two lines describe a single message string:
1 This line continues \
to the next line
which is equivalent to:
1 This line continues to the next line
Notices
This version of gencat is built on the
mkmsgs
utility.
The gencat database
comprises two files: catfile.m, which is a catalog in
mkmsgs
format and
the file
catfile,
which contains the information required to translate
a set and message number into a simple message number which can be used
in a call to gettxt.
Using gettxt constrains the catalogs to be located in a subdirectory
under /usr/lib/locale.
This restriction is lifted by placing only a symbolic
link to the catalog in the directory /usr/lib/locale/Xopen/LC_MESSAGES
when the catalog is opened.
It is this link that gettxt uses when
attempting to access the catalog.
The link is removed when the catalog is closed,
but occasionally as applications exit abnormally without closing catalogs
redundant symbolic links will be left in the directory.
For compatibility with previous version of gencat released in a number
of specialized internationalization products, the -m option is supplied.
This option causes gencat to build a single file
catfile
that is compatible
with the format catalogs produced by the earlier versions.
The retrieval routines detect the type of catalog they are using and act
appropriately.
Files
/usr/lib/locale/locale/LC_MESSAGES/uxmesg
language-specific message file [See LANG on
environ(5).]