msginit(1) User Commands msginit(1)
NAME
msginit - initialize a message catalog
SYNOPSIS
msginit [OPTION]
DESCRIPTION
Creates a new PO file, initializing the meta information with values
from the user's environment.
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options
too.
Input file location:
-i, --input=INPUTFILE
input POT file
If no input file is given, the current directory is searched for the
POT file. If it is -, standard input is read.
Output file location:
-o, --output-file=FILE
write output to specified PO file
If no output file is given, it depends on the --locale option or the
user's locale setting. If the output file already exists, it is merged
with the input file, as if through 'msgmerge'. If it is -, the results
are written to standard output.
Input file syntax:
-P, --properties-input
input file is in Java .properties syntax
--stringtable-input
input file is in NeXTstep/GNUstep .strings syntax
Output details:
-l, --locale=LL_CC[.ENCODING]
set target locale
--no-translator
assume the PO file is automatically generated
--color
use colors and other text attributes always
--color=WHEN
use colors and other text attributes if WHEN. WHEN may be
'always', 'never', 'auto', or 'html'.
--style=STYLEFILE
specify CSS style rule file for --color
-p, --properties-output
write out a Java .properties file
--stringtable-output
write out a NeXTstep/GNUstep .strings file
-w, --width=NUMBER
set output page width
--no-wrap
do not break long message lines, longer than the output page
width, into several lines
Informative output:
-h, --help
display this help and exit
-V, --version
output version information and exit
AUTHOR
Written by Bruno Haible.
REPORTING BUGS
Report bugs in the bug tracker at
<https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/gettext> or by email to
<bug-gettext@gnu.org>.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 2001-2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+:
GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
SEE ALSO
The full documentation for msginit is maintained as a Texinfo manual.
If the info and msginit programs are properly installed at your site,
the command
info msginit
should give you access to the complete manual.
GNU gettext-tools 1.0 January 2026 msginit(1)
gettext 1.0 - Generated Thu Mar 12 15:36:22 CDT 2026