MSGFILTER(1)

NAME
msgfilter - edit translations of message catalog

SYNOPSIS
msgfilter [OPTION] FILTER [FILTER-OPTION]

DESCRIPTION

Applies a filter to all translations of a translation catalog.

Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.

  Input file location:

-i, --input=INPUTFILE
    input PO file

-D, --directory=DIRECTORY
    add DIRECTORY to list for input files search

If no input file is given or if it is -, standard input is read.

  Output file location:

-o, --output-file=FILE
    write output to specified file

The results are written to standard output if no output file is specified or if it is -.

The FILTER can be any program that reads a translation from standard input and writes a modified translation to standard output.

  Filter input and output:

--newline
    add a newline at the end of input and remove a newline from the end of output

  Useful FILTER-OPTIONs when the FILTER is 'sed':

-e, --expression=SCRIPT
    add SCRIPT to the commands to be executed

-f, --file=SCRIPTFILE
    add the contents of SCRIPTFILE to the commands to be executed

-n, --quiet, --silent
    suppress automatic printing of pattern space

  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:

--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

--no-escape
    do not use C escapes in output (default)

-E, --escape
    use C escapes in output, no extended chars

--force-po
    write PO file even if empty

--indent
    indented output style

--keep-header
    keep header entry unmodified, don't filter it

--no-location
    suppress '#: filename:line' lines

-n, --add-location
    preserve '#: filename:line' lines (default)

--strict
    strict Uniforum output style

-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

-s, --sort-output
    generate sorted output

-F, --sort-by-file
    sort output by file location

  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 © 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 msgfilter is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and msgfilter programs are properly installed at your site, the command

    info msgfilter

should give you access to the complete manual.