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<!-- This HTML file has been created by texi2html 1.52a
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from gettext.texi on 9 December 2003 -->
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<TITLE>GNU gettext utilities - 9 The User's View</TITLE> |
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Go to the <A HREF="gettext_1.html">first</A>, <A HREF="gettext_8.html">previous</A>, <A HREF="gettext_10.html">next</A>, <A HREF="gettext_22.html">last</A> section, <A HREF="gettext_toc.html">table of contents</A>. |
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<P><HR><P> |
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<H1><A NAME="SEC153" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC153">9 The User's View</A></H1> |
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<P>
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When GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> will truly have reached its goal, average users |
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should feel some kind of astonished pleasure, seeing the effect of |
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that strange kind of magic that just makes their own native language |
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appear everywhere on their screens. As for naive users, they would |
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ideally have no special pleasure about it, merely taking their own |
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language for <EM>granted</EM>, and becoming rather unhappy otherwise. |
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</P>
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<P>
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So, let's try to describe here how we would like the magic to operate, |
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as we want the users' view to be the simplest, among all ways one |
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could look at GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>. All other software engineers: |
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programmers, translators, maintainers, should work together in such a |
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way that the magic becomes possible. This is a long and progressive |
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undertaking, and information is available about the progress of the |
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Translation Project. |
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</P>
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<P>
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When a package is distributed, there are two kinds of users: |
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<EM>installers</EM> who fetch the distribution, unpack it, configure |
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it, compile it and install it for themselves or others to use; and |
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<EM>end users</EM> that call programs of the package, once these have |
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been installed at their site. GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> is offering magic |
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for both installers and end users. |
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</P>
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<H2><A NAME="SEC154" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC154">9.1 The Current <TT>`ABOUT-NLS´</TT> Matrix</A></H2> |
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<P>
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<A NAME="IDX947"></A> |
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<A NAME="IDX948"></A> |
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<A NAME="IDX949"></A> |
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</P>
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<P>
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Languages are not equally supported in all packages using GNU |
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<CODE>gettext</CODE>. To know if some package uses GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>, one |
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may check the distribution for the <TT>`ABOUT-NLS´</TT> information file, for |
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some <TT>`<VAR>ll</VAR>.po´</TT> files, often kept together into some <TT>`po/´</TT> |
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directory, or for an <TT>`intl/´</TT> directory. Internationalized packages |
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have usually many <TT>`<VAR>ll</VAR>.po´</TT> files, where <VAR>ll</VAR> represents |
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the language. section <A HREF="gettext_9.html#SEC156">9.3 Magic for End Users</A> for a complete description of the format |
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for <VAR>ll</VAR>. |
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</P>
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<P>
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More generally, a matrix is available for showing the current state |
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of the Translation Project, listing which packages are prepared for |
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multi-lingual messages, and which languages are supported by each. |
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Because this information changes often, this matrix is not kept within |
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this GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> manual. This information is often found in |
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file <TT>`ABOUT-NLS´</TT> from various distributions, but is also as old as |
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the distribution itself. A recent copy of this <TT>`ABOUT-NLS´</TT> file, |
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containing up-to-date information, should generally be found on the |
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Translation Project sites, and also on most GNU archive sites. |
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</P>
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<H2><A NAME="SEC155" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC155">9.2 Magic for Installers</A></H2> |
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<P>
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<A NAME="IDX950"></A> |
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<A NAME="IDX951"></A> |
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</P>
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<P>
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By default, packages fully using GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE>, internally, |
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are installed in such a way that they to allow translation of |
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messages. At <EM>configuration</EM> time, those packages should |
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automatically detect whether the underlying host system already provides |
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the GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> functions. If not, |
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the GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> library should be automatically prepared |
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and used. Installers may use special options at configuration |
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time for changing this behavior. The command <SAMP>`./configure
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--with-included-gettext´</SAMP> bypasses system <CODE>gettext</CODE> to |
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use the included GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> instead, |
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while <SAMP>`./configure --disable-nls´</SAMP> |
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produces programs totally unable to translate messages. |
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</P>
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<P>
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<A NAME="IDX952"></A> |
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Internationalized packages have usually many <TT>`<VAR>ll</VAR>.po´</TT> |
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files. Unless |
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translations are disabled, all those available are installed together |
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with the package. However, the environment variable <CODE>LINGUAS</CODE> |
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may be set, prior to configuration, to limit the installed set. |
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<CODE>LINGUAS</CODE> should then contain a space separated list of two-letter |
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codes, stating which languages are allowed. |
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</P>
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<H2><A NAME="SEC156" HREF="gettext_toc.html#TOC156">9.3 Magic for End Users</A></H2> |
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<P>
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<A NAME="IDX953"></A> |
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<A NAME="IDX954"></A> |
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<A NAME="IDX955"></A> |
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</P>
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<P>
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<A NAME="IDX956"></A> |
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We consider here those packages using GNU <CODE>gettext</CODE> internally, |
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and for which the installers did not disable translation at |
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<EM>configure</EM> time. Then, users only have to set the <CODE>LANG</CODE> |
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environment variable to the appropriate <SAMP>`<VAR>ll</VAR>_<VAR>CC</VAR>´</SAMP> |
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combination prior to using the programs in the package. See section <A HREF="gettext_9.html#SEC154">9.1 The Current <TT>`ABOUT-NLS´</TT> Matrix</A>. |
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For example, let's presume a German site. At the shell prompt, users |
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merely have to execute <SAMP>`setenv LANG de_DE´</SAMP> (in <CODE>csh</CODE>) or |
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<SAMP>`export LANG; LANG=de_DE´</SAMP> (in <CODE>sh</CODE>). They could even do |
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this from their <TT>`.login´</TT> or <TT>`.profile´</TT> file. |
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</P>
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<P><HR><P> |
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Go to the <A HREF="gettext_1.html">first</A>, <A HREF="gettext_8.html">previous</A>, <A HREF="gettext_10.html">next</A>, <A HREF="gettext_22.html">last</A> section, <A HREF="gettext_toc.html">table of contents</A>. |
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