gettext(1) User Commands gettext(1)NAMEgettext - retrieve text string from message database
SYNOPSISgettext [-d textdomain | -−domain=textdomain] [textdomain] msgid
gettext-s [-e] [-n] [-d textdomain | -−domain=textdomain] msgid...
DESCRIPTION
The gettext utility retrieves a translated text string corresponding to
string msgid from a message object generated with msgfmt(1). The mes‐
sage object name is derived from the optional argument textdomain if
present, otherwise from the TEXTDOMAIN environment. If no domain is
specified, or if a corresponding string cannot be found, gettext prints
msgid.
Ordinarily, gettext looks for its message object in
/usr/lib/locale/lang/LC_MESSAGES where lang is the locale name. If
present, the TEXTDOMAINDIR environment variable replaces the pathname
component up to lang.
This command interprets C escape sequences such as \t for tab. Use \\
to print a backslash. To produce a message on a line of its own, either
enter \n at the end of msgid, or use this command in conjunction with
printf(1).
When used with the -s option, gettext behaves like echo(1). But it does
not simply copy its arguments to standard output. Instead, those mes‐
sages found in the selected catalog are translated.
OPTIONS
The following options are supported:
-d textdomain Retrieves translated messages from the domain
-−domain=textdomain textdomain, if textdomain is not specified as
an operand.
-e Enables expansion of some escape sequences if
used with the -s option.
-n Suppresses trailing newline if used with the -s
option.
-s Behaves like echo(1) (see DESCRIPTION above).
If the -s option is specified, no expansion of
C escape sequences is performed and a newline
character is appended to the output, by
default.
OPERANDS
The following operands are supported:
textdomain A domain name used to retrieve the messages.
This overrides the specification by the -d or
-−domain options, if present.
msgid A key to retrieve the localized message.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
LANG Specifies locale name.
LC_MESSAGES Specifies messaging locale, and if present
overrides LANG for messages.
TEXTDOMAIN Specifies the text domain name, which is iden‐
tical to the message object filename without
.mo suffix.
TEXTDOMAINDIR Specifies the pathname to the message database.
If present, replaces /usr/lib/locale.
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
┌─────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────┐
│ ATTRIBUTE TYPE │ ATTRIBUTE VALUE │
├─────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────┤
│Availability │SUNWcsu │
└─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────┘
SEE ALSOecho(1), msgfmt(1), printf(1), gettext(3C), setlocale(3C),
attributes(5)NOTES
This is the shell equivalent of the library routine gettext(3C).
SunOS 5.10 17 Sep 2001 gettext(1)
