Unix in a Nutshell, 4th Edition

Name

gettext

Synopsis

    gettext [options] [domain]string

Solaris and GNU/Linux only. Retrieve and print the translated version of string. This provides shell-level access to the facilities of gettext (3C). Translations are looked up in the file lang /LC_MESSAGES/ domain .mo in the system’s translation directory. lang is the current locale (e.g., en_US). If domain is not supplied, the value of $TEXTDOMAIN is used instead. Without a domain, or if no translation can be found, gettext simply prints string. If $TEXTDOMAINDIR exists, its value is used instead of the system default.

Tip

The GNU version of gettext and the accompanying commands and library functions are an extension of the original Solaris design from the early 1990s. Modern Solaris versions of the commands have picked up some of the features first developed for the GNU version. Thus, for example, even the Solaris version of this command accepts long options.

URL: http://www.gnu.org/software/gettext .

Options

-ddomain, --domain=domain

Retrieve messages from the domain text domain.

-e

Enable expansion of some escape sequences. Use with -s.

-h, --help

Print a command-line summary and exit. GNU/Linux only.

-n

Don’t print the trailing newline. Use with -s.

-s

Enable echo-like features (-e and -n).

-V, --version

Print version information and exit. GNU/Linux only.