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	<hr size="2">
	<a name="Maintainers"></a>
	<a name="SEC238"></a>
	<h1 class="chapter"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC232">13. The Maintainer's View</a> </h1>

	<p>The maintainer of a package has many responsibilities. One of them
	is ensuring that the package will install easily on many platforms,
	and that the magic we described earlier (see section <a href="gettext_2.html#SEC7">The User's View</a>) will work
	for installers and end users.
	</p>
	<p>Of course, there are many possible ways by which GNU <code>gettext</code>
	might be integrated in a distribution, and this chapter does not cover
	them in all generality. Instead, it details one possible approach which
	is especially adequate for many free software distributions following GNU
	standards, or even better, Gnits standards, because GNU <code>gettext</code>
	is purposely for helping the internationalization of the whole GNU
	project, and as many other good free packages as possible. So, the
	maintainer's view presented here presumes that the package already has
	a ‘<tt>configure.ac</tt>’ file and uses GNU Autoconf.
	</p>
	<p>Nevertheless, GNU <code>gettext</code> may surely be useful for free packages
	not following GNU standards and conventions, but the maintainers of such
	packages might have to show imagination and initiative in organizing
	their distributions so <code>gettext</code> work for them in all situations.
	There are surely many, out there.
	</p>
	<p>Even if <code>gettext</code> methods are now stabilizing, slight adjustments
	might be needed between successive <code>gettext</code> versions, so you
	should ideally revise this chapter in subsequent releases, looking
	for changes.
	</p>


	<a name="Flat-and-Non_002dFlat"></a>
	<a name="SEC239"></a>
	<h2 class="section"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC233">13.1 Flat or Non-Flat Directory Structures</a> </h2>

	<p>Some free software packages are distributed as <code>tar</code> files which unpack
	in a single directory, these are said to be <em>flat</em> distributions.
	Other free software packages have a one level hierarchy of subdirectories, using
	for example a subdirectory named ‘<tt>doc/</tt>’ for the Texinfo manual and
	man pages, another called ‘<tt>lib/</tt>’ for holding functions meant to
	replace or complement C libraries, and a subdirectory ‘<tt>src/</tt>’ for
	holding the proper sources for the package. These other distributions
	are said to be <em>non-flat</em>.
	</p>
	<p>We cannot say much about flat distributions. A flat
	directory structure has the disadvantage of increasing the difficulty
	of updating to a new version of GNU <code>gettext</code>. Also, if you have
	many PO files, this could somewhat pollute your single directory.
	Also, GNU <code>gettext</code>'s libintl sources consist of C sources, shell
	scripts, <code>sed</code> scripts and complicated Makefile rules, which don't
	fit well into an existing flat structure. For these reasons, we
	recommend to use non-flat approach in this case as well.
	</p>
	<p>Maybe because GNU <code>gettext</code> itself has a non-flat structure,
	we have more experience with this approach, and this is what will be
	described in the remaining of this chapter. Some maintainers might
	use this as an opportunity to unflatten their package structure.
	</p>

	<a name="Prerequisites"></a>
	<a name="SEC240"></a>
	<h2 class="section"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC234">13.2 Prerequisite Works</a> </h2>

	<p>There are some works which are required for using GNU <code>gettext</code>
	in one of your package. These works have some kind of generality
	that escape the point by point descriptions used in the remainder
	of this chapter. So, we describe them here.
	</p>
	<ul>
	<li>
	Before attempting to use <code>gettextize</code> you should install some
	other packages first.
	Ensure that recent versions of GNU <code>m4</code>, GNU Autoconf and GNU
	<code>gettext</code> are already installed at your site, and if not, proceed
	to do this first. If you get to install these things, beware that
	GNU <code>m4</code> must be fully installed before GNU Autoconf is even
	<em>configured</em>.

	<p>To further ease the task of a package maintainer the <code>automake</code>
	package was designed and implemented. GNU <code>gettext</code> now uses this
	tool and the ‘<tt>Makefile</tt>’ in the ‘<tt>po/</tt>’ directory therefore
	knows about all the goals necessary for using <code>automake</code>.
	</p>
	<p>Those four packages are only needed by you, as a maintainer; the
	installers of your own package and end users do not really need any of
	GNU <code>m4</code>, GNU Autoconf, GNU <code>gettext</code>, or GNU <code>automake</code>
	for successfully installing and running your package, with messages
	properly translated. But this is not completely true if you provide
	internationalized shell scripts within your own package: GNU
	<code>gettext</code> shall then be installed at the user site if the end users
	want to see the translation of shell script messages.
	</p>
	</li><li>
	Your package should use Autoconf and have a ‘<tt>configure.ac</tt>’ or
	‘<tt>configure.in</tt>’ file.
	If it does not, you have to learn how. The Autoconf documentation
	is quite well written, it is a good idea that you print it and get
	familiar with it.

	</li><li>
	Your C sources should have already been modified according to
	instructions given earlier in this manual. See section <a href="gettext_4.html#SEC17">Preparing Program Sources</a>.

	</li><li>
	Your ‘<tt>po/</tt>’ directory should receive all PO files submitted to you
	by the translator teams, each having ‘<tt><var>ll</var>.po</tt>’ as a name.
	This is not usually easy to get translation
	work done before your package gets internationalized and available!
	Since the cycle has to start somewhere, the easiest for the maintainer
	is to start with absolutely no PO files, and wait until various
	translator teams get interested in your package, and submit PO files.

	</li></ul>

	<p>It is worth adding here a few words about how the maintainer should
	ideally behave with PO files submissions. As a maintainer, your role is
	to authenticate the origin of the submission as being the representative
	of the appropriate translating teams of the Translation Project (forward
	the submission to ‘<tt>coordinator@translationproject.org</tt>’ in case of doubt),
	to ensure that the PO file format is not severely broken and does not
	prevent successful installation, and for the rest, to merely put these
	PO files in ‘<tt>po/</tt>’ for distribution.
	</p>
	<p>As a maintainer, you do not have to take on your shoulders the
	responsibility of checking if the translations are adequate or
	complete, and should avoid diving into linguistic matters. Translation
	teams drive themselves and are fully responsible of their linguistic
	choices for the Translation Project. Keep in mind that translator teams are <em>not</em>
	driven by maintainers. You can help by carefully redirecting all
	communications and reports from users about linguistic matters to the
	appropriate translation team, or explain users how to reach or join
	their team.
	</p>
	<p>Maintainers should <em>never ever</em> apply PO file bug reports
	themselves, short-cutting translation teams. If some translator has
	difficulty to get some of her points through her team, it should not be
	an option for her to directly negotiate translations with maintainers.
	Teams ought to settle their problems themselves, if any. If you, as
	a maintainer, ever think there is a real problem with a team, please
	never try to <em>solve</em> a team's problem on your own.
	</p>

	<a name="gettextize-Invocation"></a>
	<a name="SEC241"></a>
	<h2 class="section"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC235">13.3 Invoking the <code>gettextize</code> Program</a> </h2>


	<p>The <code>gettextize</code> program is an interactive tool that helps the
	maintainer of a package internationalized through GNU <code>gettext</code>.
	It is used for two purposes:
	</p>
	<ul>
	<li>
	As a wizard, when a package is modified to use GNU <code>gettext</code> for
	the first time.

	</li><li>
	As a migration tool, for upgrading the GNU <code>gettext</code> support in
	a package from a previous to a newer version of GNU <code>gettext</code>.
	</li></ul>

	<p>This program performs the following tasks:
	</p>
	<ul>
	<li>
	It copies into the package some files that are consistently and
	identically needed in every package internationalized through
	GNU <code>gettext</code>.

	</li><li> It performs as many of the tasks mentioned in the next section
	<a href="#SEC242">Files You Must Create or Alter</a> as can be performed automatically.

	</li><li> It removes obsolete files and idioms used for previous GNU
	<code>gettext</code> versions to the form recommended for the current GNU
	<code>gettext</code> version.

	</li><li> It prints a summary of the tasks that ought to be done manually
	and could not be done automatically by <code>gettextize</code>.
	</li></ul>

	<p>It can be invoked as follows:
	</p>
	<a name="IDX1131"></a>
	<a name="IDX1132"></a>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">gettextize [ <var>option</var>… ] [ <var>directory</var> ]
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p>and accepts the following options:
	</p>
	<dl compact="compact">
	<dt> ‘<samp>-f</samp>’</dt>
	<dt> ‘<samp>--force</samp>’</dt>
	<dd><a name="IDX1133"></a>
	<a name="IDX1134"></a>
	<p>Force replacement of files which already exist.
	</p>
	</dd>
	<dt> ‘<samp>--po-dir=<var>dir</var></samp>’</dt>
	<dd><a name="IDX1135"></a>
	<p>Specify a directory containing PO files. Such a directory contains the
	translations into various languages of a particular POT file. This
	option can be specified multiple times, once for each translation domain.
	If it is not specified, the directory named ‘<tt>po/</tt>’ is updated.
	</p>
	</dd>
	<dt> ‘<samp>--no-changelog</samp>’</dt>
	<dd><a name="IDX1136"></a>
	<p>Don't update or create ChangeLog files. By default, <code>gettextize</code>
	logs all changes (file additions, modifications and removals) in a
	file called ‘<samp>ChangeLog</samp>’ in each affected directory.
	</p>
	</dd>
	<dt> ‘<samp>--symlink</samp>’</dt>
	<dd><a name="IDX1137"></a>
	<p>Make symbolic links instead of copying the needed files. This can be
	useful to save a few kilobytes of disk space, but it requires extra
	effort to create self-contained tarballs, it may disturb some mechanism
	the maintainer applies to the sources, and it is likely to introduce
	bugs when a newer version of <code>gettext</code> is installed on the system.
	</p>
	</dd>
	<dt> ‘<samp>-n</samp>’</dt>
	<dt> ‘<samp>--dry-run</samp>’</dt>
	<dd><a name="IDX1138"></a>
	<a name="IDX1139"></a>
	<p>Print modifications but don't perform them. All actions that
	<code>gettextize</code> would normally execute are inhibited and instead only
	listed on standard output.
	</p>
	</dd>
	<dt> ‘<samp>--help</samp>’</dt>
	<dd><a name="IDX1140"></a>
	<p>Display this help and exit.
	</p>
	</dd>
	<dt> ‘<samp>--version</samp>’</dt>
	<dd><a name="IDX1141"></a>
	<p>Output version information and exit.
	</p>
	</dd>
	</dl>

	<p>If <var>directory</var> is given, this is the top level directory of a
	package to prepare for using GNU <code>gettext</code>. If not given, it
	is assumed that the current directory is the top level directory of
	such a package.
	</p>
	<p>The program <code>gettextize</code> provides the following files. However,
	no existing file will be replaced unless the option <code>--force</code>
	(<code>-f</code>) is specified.
	</p>
	<ol>
	<li>
	The ‘<tt>ABOUT-NLS</tt>’ file is copied in the main directory of your package,
	the one being at the top level. This file contains a reference to the
	GNU gettext documentation. It also avoids an error from Automake in
	packages that use the Automake option ‘<samp>gnits</samp>’:
	“error: required file './ABOUT-NLS' not found”.

	</li><li>
	A ‘<tt>po/</tt>’ directory is created for eventually holding
	all translation files, but initially only containing the file
	‘<tt>po/Makefile.in.in</tt>’ from the GNU <code>gettext</code> distribution
	(beware the double ‘<samp>.in</samp>’ in the file name) and a few auxiliary
	files. If the ‘<tt>po/</tt>’ directory already exists, it will be preserved
	along with the files it contains, and only ‘<tt>Makefile.in.in</tt>’ and
	the auxiliary files will be overwritten.

	<p>If ‘<samp>--po-dir</samp>’ has been specified, this holds for every directory
	specified through ‘<samp>--po-dir</samp>’, instead of ‘<tt>po/</tt>’.
	</p>
	</li><li>
	The file ‘<tt>config.rpath</tt>’ is copied into the directory containing
	configuration support files. It is needed by the <code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</code>
	autoconf macro.

	</li><li>
	Only if the project is using GNU <code>automake</code>:
	A set of <code>autoconf</code> macro files is copied into the package's
	<code>autoconf</code> macro repository, usually in a directory called ‘<tt>m4/</tt>’.
	</li></ol>

	<p>If your site support symbolic links, <code>gettextize</code> will not
	actually copy the files into your package, but establish symbolic
	links instead. This avoids duplicating the disk space needed in
	all packages. Merely using the ‘<samp>-h</samp>’ option while creating the
	<code>tar</code> archive of your distribution will resolve each link by an
	actual copy in the distribution archive. So, to insist, you really
	should use ‘<samp>-h</samp>’ option with <code>tar</code> within your <code>dist</code>
	goal of your main ‘<tt>Makefile.in</tt>’.
	</p>
	<p>Furthermore, <code>gettextize</code> will update all ‘<tt>Makefile.am</tt>’ files
	in each affected directory, as well as the top level ‘<tt>configure.ac</tt>’
	or ‘<tt>configure.in</tt>’ file.
	</p>
	<p>It is interesting to understand that most new files for supporting
	GNU <code>gettext</code> facilities in one package go in ‘<tt>po/</tt>’ and
	‘<tt>m4/</tt>’ subdirectories. Still, these directories will mostly
	contain package dependent files.
	</p>
	<p>The <code>gettextize</code> program makes backup files for all files it
	replaces or changes, and also write ChangeLog entries about these
	changes. This way, the careful maintainer can check after running
	<code>gettextize</code> whether its changes are acceptable to him, and
	possibly adjust them. An exception to this rule is the ‘<tt>intl/</tt>’
	directory, which is removed as a whole if it still existed.
	</p>
	<p>It is important to understand that <code>gettextize</code> can not do the
	entire job of adapting a package for using GNU <code>gettext</code>. The
	amount of remaining work depends on whether the package uses GNU
	<code>automake</code> or not. But in any case, the maintainer should still
	read the section <a href="#SEC242">Files You Must Create or Alter</a> after invoking <code>gettextize</code>.
	</p>
	<p>In particular, if after using ‘<samp>gettexize</samp>’, you get an error
	‘<samp>AC_COMPILE_IFELSE was called before AC_GNU_SOURCE</samp>’ or
	‘<samp>AC_RUN_IFELSE was called before AC_GNU_SOURCE</samp>’, you can fix it
	by modifying ‘<tt>configure.ac</tt>’, as described in <a href="#SEC247">‘<tt>configure.ac</tt>’ at top level</a>.
	</p>
	<p>It is also important to understand that <code>gettextize</code> is not part
	of the GNU build system, in the sense that it should not be invoked
	automatically, and not be invoked by someone who doesn't assume the
	responsibilities of a package maintainer. For the latter purpose, a
	separate tool is provided, see <a href="#SEC266">Invoking the <code>autopoint</code> Program</a>.
	</p>

	<a name="Adjusting-Files"></a>
	<a name="SEC242"></a>
	<h2 class="section"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC236">13.4 Files You Must Create or Alter</a> </h2>

	<p>Besides files which are automatically added through <code>gettextize</code>,
	there are many files needing revision for properly interacting with
	GNU <code>gettext</code>. If you are closely following GNU standards for
	Makefile engineering and auto-configuration, the adaptations should
	be easier to achieve. Here is a point by point description of the
	changes needed in each.
	</p>
	<p>So, here comes a list of files, each one followed by a description of
	all alterations it needs. Many examples are taken out from the GNU
	<code>gettext</code> 0.25.1 distribution itself, or from the GNU
	<code>hello</code> distribution (<a href="https://www.gnu.org/software/hello">https://www.gnu.org/software/hello</a>).
	You may indeed refer to the source code of the GNU <code>gettext</code> and
	GNU <code>hello</code> packages, as they are intended to be good examples for
	using GNU gettext functionality.
	</p>


	<a name="po_002fPOTFILES_002ein"></a>
	<a name="SEC243"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC237">13.4.1 ‘<tt>POTFILES.in</tt>’ in ‘<tt>po/</tt>’</a> </h3>

	<p>The ‘<tt>po/</tt>’ directory should receive a file named
	‘<tt>POTFILES.in</tt>’. This file tells which files, among all program
	sources, have marked strings needing translation. Here is an example
	of such a file:
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example"># List of source files containing translatable strings.
	# Copyright (C) 1995 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

	# Common library files
	lib/error.c
	lib/getopt.c
	lib/xmalloc.c

	# Package source files
	src/gettext.c
	src/msgfmt.c
	src/xgettext.c
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p>Hash-marked comments and white lines are ignored. All other lines
	list those source files containing strings marked for translation
	(see section <a href="gettext_4.html#SEC32">How Marks Appear in Sources</a>), in a notation relative to the top level
	of your whole distribution, rather than the location of the
	‘<tt>POTFILES.in</tt>’ file itself.
	</p>
	<p>When a C file is automatically generated by a tool, like <code>flex</code> or
	<code>bison</code>, that doesn't introduce translatable strings by itself,
	it is recommended to list in ‘<tt>po/POTFILES.in</tt>’ the real source file
	(ending in ‘<tt>.l</tt>’ in the case of <code>flex</code>, or in ‘<tt>.y</tt>’ in the
	case of <code>bison</code>), not the generated C file.
	</p>

	<a name="po_002fLINGUAS"></a>
	<a name="SEC244"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC238">13.4.2 ‘<tt>LINGUAS</tt>’ in ‘<tt>po/</tt>’</a> </h3>

	<p>The ‘<tt>po/</tt>’ directory should also receive a file named
	‘<tt>LINGUAS</tt>’. This file contains the list of available translations.
	It is a whitespace separated list. Hash-marked comments and white lines
	are ignored. Here is an example file:
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example"># Set of available languages.
	de fr
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p>This example means that German and French PO files are available, so
	that these languages are currently supported by your package. If you
	want to further restrict, at installation time, the set of installed
	languages, this should not be done by modifying the ‘<tt>LINGUAS</tt>’ file,
	but rather by using the <code>LINGUAS</code> environment variable
	(see section <a href="gettext_14.html#SEC270">The Installer's and Distributor's View</a>).
	</p>
	<p>It is recommended that you add the "languages" ‘<samp>en@quot</samp>’ and
	‘<samp>en@boldquot</samp>’ to the <code>LINGUAS</code> file. <code>en@quot</code> is a
	variant of English message catalogs (<code>en</code>) which uses real quotation
	marks instead of the ugly looking asymmetric ASCII substitutes ‘<samp>`</samp>’
	and ‘<samp>'</samp>’. <code>en@boldquot</code> is a variant of <code>en@quot</code> that
	additionally outputs quoted pieces of text in a bold font, when used in
	a terminal emulator which supports the VT100 escape sequences (such as
	<code>xterm</code> or the Linux console, but not Emacs in <kbd>M-x shell</kbd> mode).
	</p>
	<p>These extra message catalogs ‘<samp>en@quot</samp>’ and ‘<samp>en@boldquot</samp>’
	are constructed automatically, not by translators; to support them, you
	need the files ‘<tt>Rules-quot</tt>’, ‘<tt>quot.sed</tt>’, ‘<tt>boldquot.sed</tt>’,
	‘<tt>en@quot.header</tt>’, ‘<tt>en@boldquot.header</tt>’, ‘<tt>insert-header.sed</tt>’
	in the ‘<tt>po/</tt>’ directory. You can copy them from GNU gettext's ‘<tt>po/</tt>’
	directory; they are also installed by running <code>gettextize</code>.
	</p>

	<a name="po_002fMakevars"></a>
	<a name="SEC245"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC239">13.4.3 ‘<tt>Makevars</tt>’ in ‘<tt>po/</tt>’</a> </h3>

	<p>The ‘<tt>po/</tt>’ directory also has a file named ‘<tt>Makevars</tt>’. It
	contains variables that are specific to your project. ‘<tt>po/Makevars</tt>’
	gets inserted into the ‘<tt>po/Makefile</tt>’ when the latter is created.
	The variables thus take effect when the POT file is created or updated,
	and when the message catalogs get installed.
	</p>
	<p>The first three variables can be left unmodified if your package has a
	single message domain and, accordingly, a single ‘<tt>po/</tt>’ directory.
	Only packages which have multiple ‘<tt>po/</tt>’ directories at different
	locations need to adjust the three first variables defined in
	‘<tt>Makevars</tt>’.
	</p>
	<p>As an alternative to the <code>XGETTEXT_OPTIONS</code> variable, it is also
	possible to specify <code>xgettext</code> options through the
	<code>AM_XGETTEXT_OPTION</code> autoconf macro. See <a href="#SEC260">AM_XGETTEXT_OPTION in ‘<tt>po.m4</tt>’</a>.
	</p>

	<a name="po_002fRules_002d_002a"></a>
	<a name="SEC246"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC240">13.4.4 Extending ‘<tt>Makefile</tt>’ in ‘<tt>po/</tt>’</a> </h3>

	<p>All files called ‘<tt>Rules-*</tt>’ in the ‘<tt>po/</tt>’ directory get appended to
	the ‘<tt>po/Makefile</tt>’ when it is created. They present an opportunity to
	add rules for special PO files to the Makefile, without needing to mess
	with ‘<tt>po/Makefile.in.in</tt>’.
	</p>
	<a name="IDX1142"></a>
	<a name="IDX1143"></a>
	<p>GNU gettext comes with a ‘<tt>Rules-quot</tt>’ file, containing rules for
	building catalogs ‘<tt>en@quot.po</tt>’ and ‘<tt>en@boldquot.po</tt>’. The
	effect of ‘<tt>en@quot.po</tt>’ is that people who set their <code>LANGUAGE</code>
	environment variable to ‘<samp>en@quot</samp>’ will get messages with proper
	looking symmetric Unicode quotation marks instead of abusing the ASCII
	grave accent and the ASCII apostrophe for indicating quotations. To
	enable this catalog, simply add <code>en@quot</code> to the ‘<tt>po/LINGUAS</tt>’
	file. The effect of ‘<tt>en@boldquot.po</tt>’ is that people who set
	<code>LANGUAGE</code> to ‘<samp>en@boldquot</samp>’ will get not only proper quotation
	marks, but also the quoted text will be shown in a bold font on terminals
	and consoles. This catalog is useful only for command-line programs, not
	GUI programs. To enable it, similarly add <code>en@boldquot</code> to the
	‘<tt>po/LINGUAS</tt>’ file.
	</p>
	<p>Similarly, you can create rules for building message catalogs for the
	‘<tt>sr@latin</tt>’ locale – Serbian written with the Latin alphabet –
	from those for the ‘<tt>sr</tt>’ locale – Serbian written with Cyrillic
	letters. See <a href="gettext_9.html#SEC123">Invoking the <code>msgfilter</code> Program</a>.
	</p>

	<a name="configure_002eac"></a>
	<a name="SEC247"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC241">13.4.5 ‘<tt>configure.ac</tt>’ at top level</a> </h3>

	<p>‘<tt>configure.ac</tt>’ or ‘<tt>configure.in</tt>’ - this is the source from which
	<code>autoconf</code> generates the ‘<tt>configure</tt>’ script.
	</p>
	<ol>
	<li> Declare the package and version.
	<a name="IDX1144"></a>

	<p>This is done by a set of lines like these:
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">PACKAGE=gettext
	VERSION=0.25.1
	AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(PACKAGE, "$PACKAGE")
	AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(VERSION, "$VERSION")
	AC_SUBST(PACKAGE)
	AC_SUBST(VERSION)
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p>or, if you are using GNU <code>automake</code>, by a line like this:
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE(gettext, 0.25.1)
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p>Of course, you replace ‘<samp>gettext</samp>’ with the name of your package,
	and ‘<samp>0.25.1</samp>’ by its version numbers, exactly as they
	should appear in the packaged <code>tar</code> file name of your distribution
	(‘<tt>gettext-0.25.1.tar.gz</tt>’, here).
	</p>
	</li><li> Check for internationalization support.

	<p>Here is the main <code>m4</code> macro for triggering internationalization
	support. Just add this line to ‘<tt>configure.ac</tt>’:
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">AM_GNU_GETTEXT([external])
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p>This call is purposely simple, even if it generates a lot of configure
	time checking and actions.
	</p>
	</li><li> Have output files created.

	<p>The <code>AC_OUTPUT</code> directive, at the end of your ‘<tt>configure.ac</tt>’
	file, needs to be modified in two ways:
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">AC_OUTPUT([<var>existing configuration files</var> po/Makefile.in],
	[<var>existing additional actions</var>])
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p>The modification to the first argument to <code>AC_OUTPUT</code> asks
	for substitution in the ‘<tt>po/</tt>’ directory.
	Note the ‘<samp>.in</samp>’ suffix used for ‘<tt>po/</tt>’ only. This is because
	the distributed file is really ‘<tt>po/Makefile.in.in</tt>’.
	</p>
	</li></ol>


	<a name="config_002eguess"></a>
	<a name="SEC248"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC242">13.4.6 ‘<tt>config.guess</tt>’, ‘<tt>config.sub</tt>’ at top level</a> </h3>

	<p>You need to add the GNU ‘<tt>config.guess</tt>’ and ‘<tt>config.sub</tt>’ files
	to your distribution. They are needed because the <code>AM_ICONV</code> macro
	contains knowledge about specific platforms and therefore needs to
	identify the platform.
	</p>
	<p>You can obtain the newest version of ‘<tt>config.guess</tt>’ and
	‘<tt>config.sub</tt>’ from the ‘<samp>config</samp>’ project at
	‘<tt>https://savannah.gnu.org/</tt>’. The commands to fetch them are
	</p><table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="smallexample">$ wget -O config.guess 'https://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=config.git;a=blob_plain;f=config.guess;hb=HEAD'
	$ wget -O config.sub 'https://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=config.git;a=blob_plain;f=config.sub;hb=HEAD'
	</pre></td></tr></table>
	<p>Less recent versions are also contained in the GNU <code>automake</code> and
	GNU <code>libtool</code> packages.
	</p>
	<p>Normally, ‘<tt>config.guess</tt>’ and ‘<tt>config.sub</tt>’ are put at the
	top level of a distribution. But it is also possible to put them in a
	subdirectory, altogether with other configuration support files like
	‘<tt>install-sh</tt>’, ‘<tt>ltconfig</tt>’, ‘<tt>ltmain.sh</tt>’ or ‘<tt>missing</tt>’.
	All you need to do, other than moving the files, is to add the following line
	to your ‘<tt>configure.ac</tt>’.
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">AC_CONFIG_AUX_DIR([<var>subdir</var>])
	</pre></td></tr></table>


	<a name="mkinstalldirs"></a>
	<a name="SEC249"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC243">13.4.7 ‘<tt>mkinstalldirs</tt>’ at top level</a> </h3>

	<p>With earlier versions of GNU gettext, you needed to add the GNU
	‘<tt>mkinstalldirs</tt>’ script to your distribution. This is not needed any
	more. You can remove it.
	</p>

	<a name="aclocal"></a>
	<a name="SEC250"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC244">13.4.8 ‘<tt>aclocal.m4</tt>’ at top level</a> </h3>

	<p>If you do not have an ‘<tt>aclocal.m4</tt>’ file in your distribution,
	the simplest is to concatenate the files ‘<tt>build-to-host.m4</tt>’,
	‘<tt>gettext.m4</tt>’, ‘<tt>host-cpu-c-abi.m4</tt>’, ‘<tt>intlmacosx.m4</tt>’,
	‘<tt>iconv.m4</tt>’, ‘<tt>lib-ld.m4</tt>’, ‘<tt>lib-link.m4</tt>’, ‘<tt>lib-prefix.m4</tt>’,
	‘<tt>nls.m4</tt>’, ‘<tt>po.m4</tt>’, ‘<tt>progtest.m4</tt>’ from GNU <code>gettext</code>'s
	‘<tt><var>prefix</var>/share/gettext/m4/</tt>’ directory into a single file.
	</p>
	<p>If you already have an ‘<tt>aclocal.m4</tt>’ file, then you will have
	to merge the said macro files into your ‘<tt>aclocal.m4</tt>’. Note that if
	you are upgrading from a previous release of GNU <code>gettext</code>, you
	should most probably <em>replace</em> the macros (<code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</code>,
	etc.), as they usually
	change a little from one release of GNU <code>gettext</code> to the next.
	Their contents may vary as we get more experience with strange systems
	out there.
	</p>
	<p>You should be using GNU <code>automake</code> 1.9 or newer. With it, you need
	to copy the files ‘<tt>build-to-host.m4</tt>’, ‘<tt>gettext.m4</tt>’,
	‘<tt>host-cpu-c-abi.m4</tt>’, ‘<tt>intlmacosx.m4</tt>’, ‘<tt>iconv.m4</tt>’,
	‘<tt>lib-ld.m4</tt>’, ‘<tt>lib-link.m4</tt>’, ‘<tt>lib-prefix.m4</tt>’, ‘<tt>nls.m4</tt>’,
	‘<tt>po.m4</tt>’, ‘<tt>progtest.m4</tt>’ from GNU <code>gettext</code>'s
	‘<tt><var>prefix</var>/share/gettext/m4/</tt>’
	directory to a subdirectory named ‘<tt>m4/</tt>’ and add the line
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = -I m4
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p>to your top level ‘<tt>Makefile.am</tt>’.
	</p>
	<p>If you are using GNU <code>automake</code> 1.12 or newer, it is even easier:
	Add the line
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = -I m4
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p>to your top level ‘<tt>Makefile.am</tt>’, and run
	‘<samp>aclocal --install --system-acdir=<var>prefix</var>/share/gettext/m4 -I m4</samp>’.
	This will copy the needed files to the ‘<tt>m4/</tt>’ subdirectory automatically,
	before updating ‘<tt>aclocal.m4</tt>’.
	</p>
	<p>Note: This <code>--system-acdir</code> option should only be used here, once.
	If you were to use it after <code>autopoint</code> has been run,
	it would destroy the consistency that <code>autopoint</code> guarantees
	and lead to all sorts of malfunction at build time.
	</p>
	<p>These macros check for the internationalization support functions
	and related information.
	</p>

	<a name="config_002eh_002ein"></a>
	<a name="SEC251"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC245">13.4.9 ‘<tt>config.h.in</tt>’ at top level</a> </h3>

	<p>The include file template that holds the C macros to be defined by
	<code>configure</code> is usually called ‘<tt>config.h.in</tt>’ and may be
	maintained either manually or automatically.
	</p>
	<p>If it is maintained automatically, by use of the ‘<samp>autoheader</samp>’
	program, you need to do nothing about it. This is the case in particular
	if you are using GNU <code>automake</code>.
	</p>
	<p>If it is maintained manually, you can get away by adding the
	following lines to ‘<tt>config.h.in</tt>’:
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">/* Define to 1 if translation of program messages to the user's
	native language is requested. */
	#undef ENABLE_NLS
	</pre></td></tr></table>


	<a name="Makefile"></a>
	<a name="SEC252"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC246">13.4.10 ‘<tt>Makefile.in</tt>’ at top level</a> </h3>

	<p>Here are a few modifications you need to make to your main, top-level
	‘<tt>Makefile.in</tt>’ file.
	</p>
	<ol>
	<li>
	Add the following lines near the beginning of your ‘<tt>Makefile.in</tt>’,
	so the ‘<samp>dist:</samp>’ goal will work properly (as explained further down):

	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">PACKAGE = @PACKAGE@
	VERSION = @VERSION@
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	</li><li>
	Wherever you process subdirectories in your ‘<tt>Makefile.in</tt>’, be sure
	you also process the subdirectory ‘<samp>po</samp>’. Special
	rules in the ‘<tt>Makefiles</tt>’ take care for the case where no
	internationalization is wanted.

	<p>If you are using Makefiles, either generated by automake, or hand-written
	so they carefully follow the GNU coding standards, the effected goals for
	which the new subdirectories must be handled include ‘<samp>installdirs</samp>’,
	‘<samp>install</samp>’, ‘<samp>uninstall</samp>’, ‘<samp>clean</samp>’, ‘<samp>distclean</samp>’.
	</p>
	<p>Here is an example of a canonical order of processing. In this
	example, we also define <code>SUBDIRS</code> in <code>Makefile.in</code> for it
	to be further used in the ‘<samp>dist:</samp>’ goal.
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">SUBDIRS = doc lib src po
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	</li><li>
	A delicate point is the ‘<samp>dist:</samp>’ goal, as ‘<tt>po/Makefile</tt>’ will later
	assume that the proper directory has been set up from the main ‘<tt>Makefile</tt>’.
	Here is an example at what the ‘<samp>dist:</samp>’ goal might look like:

	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">distdir = $(PACKAGE)-$(VERSION)
	dist: Makefile
	rm -fr $(distdir)
	mkdir $(distdir)
	chmod 777 $(distdir)
	for file in $(DISTFILES); do \
	ln $$file $(distdir) 2>/dev/null \|\| cp -p $$file $(distdir); \
	done
	for subdir in $(SUBDIRS); do \
	mkdir $(distdir)/$$subdir \|\| exit 1; \
	chmod 777 $(distdir)/$$subdir; \
	(cd $$subdir && $(MAKE) $@) \|\| exit 1; \
	done
	tar chozf $(distdir).tar.gz $(distdir)
	rm -fr $(distdir)
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	</li></ol>

	<p>Note that if you are using GNU <code>automake</code>, ‘<tt>Makefile.in</tt>’ is
	automatically generated from ‘<tt>Makefile.am</tt>’, and all needed changes
	to ‘<tt>Makefile.am</tt>’ are already made by running ‘<samp>gettextize</samp>’.
	</p>

	<a name="src_002fMakefile"></a>
	<a name="SEC253"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC247">13.4.11 ‘<tt>Makefile.in</tt>’ in ‘<tt>src/</tt>’</a> </h3>

	<p>Some of the modifications made in the main ‘<tt>Makefile.in</tt>’ will
	also be needed in the ‘<tt>Makefile.in</tt>’ from your package sources,
	which we assume here to be in the ‘<tt>src/</tt>’ subdirectory. Here are
	all the modifications needed in ‘<tt>src/Makefile.in</tt>’:
	</p>
	<ol>
	<li>
	In view of the ‘<samp>dist:</samp>’ goal, you should have these lines near the
	beginning of ‘<tt>src/Makefile.in</tt>’:

	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">PACKAGE = @PACKAGE@
	VERSION = @VERSION@
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	</li><li>
	If not done already, you should guarantee that <code>top_srcdir</code>
	gets defined. This will serve for <code>cpp</code> include files. Just add
	the line:

	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">top_srcdir = @top_srcdir@
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	</li><li>
	You might also want to define <code>subdir</code> as ‘<samp>src</samp>’, later
	allowing for almost uniform ‘<samp>dist:</samp>’ goals in all your
	‘<tt>Makefile.in</tt>’. At list, the ‘<samp>dist:</samp>’ goal below assume that
	you used:

	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">subdir = src
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	</li><li>
	The <code>main</code> function of your program will normally call
	<code>bindtextdomain</code> (see see section <a href="gettext_4.html#SEC19">Triggering <code>gettext</code> Operations</a>), like this:

	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">bindtextdomain (<var>PACKAGE</var>, LOCALEDIR);
	textdomain (<var>PACKAGE</var>);
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p>On native Windows platforms, the <code>main</code> function may call
	<code>wbindtextdomain</code> instead of <code>bindtextdomain</code>.
	</p>
	<p>To make LOCALEDIR known to the program, add the following lines to
	‘<tt>Makefile.in</tt>’:
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">datadir = @datadir@
	datarootdir= @datarootdir@
	localedir = @localedir@
	DEFS = -DLOCALEDIR=$(localedir_c_make) @DEFS@
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p><code>$(localedir_c_make)</code> expands to the value of <code>localedir</code>, in
	C syntax, escaped for use in a <code>Makefile</code>.
	Note that <code>@datadir@</code> defaults to ‘<samp>$(prefix)/share</samp>’, and
	<code>$(localedir)</code> defaults to ‘<samp>$(prefix)/share/locale</samp>’.
	</p>
	</li><li>
	You should ensure that the final linking will use <code>@LIBINTL@</code> or
	<code>@LTLIBINTL@</code> as a library. <code>@LIBINTL@</code> is for use without
	<code>libtool</code>, <code>@LTLIBINTL@</code> is for use with <code>libtool</code>. An
	easy way to achieve this is to manage that it gets into <code>LIBS</code>, like
	this:

	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">LIBS = @LIBINTL@ @LIBS@
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p>In most packages internationalized with GNU <code>gettext</code>, one will
	find a directory ‘<tt>lib/</tt>’ in which a library containing some helper
	functions will be build. (You need at least the few functions which the
	GNU <code>gettext</code> Library itself needs.) However some of the functions
	in the ‘<tt>lib/</tt>’ also give messages to the user which of course should be
	translated, too. Taking care of this, the support library (say
	‘<tt>libsupport.a</tt>’) should be placed before <code>@LIBINTL@</code> and
	<code>@LIBS@</code> in the above example. So one has to write this:
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">LIBS = ../lib/libsupport.a @LIBINTL@ @LIBS@
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	</li><li>
	Your ‘<samp>dist:</samp>’ goal has to conform with others. Here is a
	reasonable definition for it:

	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">distdir = ../$(PACKAGE)-$(VERSION)/$(subdir)
	dist: Makefile $(DISTFILES)
	for file in $(DISTFILES); do \
	ln $$file $(distdir) 2>/dev/null \|\| cp -p $$file $(distdir) \|\| exit 1; \
	done
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	</li></ol>

	<p>Note that if you are using GNU <code>automake</code>, ‘<tt>Makefile.in</tt>’ is
	automatically generated from ‘<tt>Makefile.am</tt>’, and the first three
	changes and the last change are not necessary. The remaining needed
	‘<tt>Makefile.am</tt>’ modifications are the following:
	</p>
	<ol>
	<li>
	To make LOCALEDIR known to the program, add the following to
	‘<tt>Makefile.am</tt>’:

	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example"><module>_CPPFLAGS = -DLOCALEDIR=$(localedir_c_make)
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p>for each specific module or compilation unit, or
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">AM_CPPFLAGS = -DLOCALEDIR=$(localedir_c_make)
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p>for all modules and compilation units together.
	</p>
	</li><li>
	To ensure that the final linking will use <code>@LIBINTL@</code> or
	<code>@LTLIBINTL@</code> as a library, add the following to
	‘<tt>Makefile.am</tt>’:

	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example"><program>_LDADD = @LIBINTL@
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p>for each specific program, or
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">LDADD = @LIBINTL@
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p>for all programs together. Remember that when you use <code>libtool</code>
	to link a program, you need to use @LTLIBINTL@ instead of @LIBINTL@
	for that program.
	</p>
	</li></ol>


	<a name="lib_002fgettext_002eh"></a>
	<a name="SEC254"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC248">13.4.12 ‘<tt>gettext.h</tt>’ in ‘<tt>lib/</tt>’</a> </h3>

	<p>Internationalization of packages, as provided by GNU <code>gettext</code>, is
	optional. It can be turned off in two situations:
	</p>
	<ul>
	<li>
	When the installer has specified ‘<samp>./configure --disable-nls</samp>’. This
	can be useful when small binaries are more important than features, for
	example when building utilities for boot diskettes. It can also be useful
	in order to get some specific C compiler warnings about code quality with
	some older versions of GCC (older than 3.0).

	</li><li>
	When the libintl.h header (with its associated libintl library, if any) is
	not already installed on the system, it is preferable that the package builds
	without internationalization support, rather than to give a compilation
	error.
	</li></ul>

	<p>A C preprocessor macro can be used to detect these two cases. Usually,
	when <code>libintl.h</code> was found and not explicitly disabled, the
	<code>ENABLE_NLS</code> macro will be defined to 1 in the autoconf generated
	configuration file (usually called ‘<tt>config.h</tt>’). In the two negative
	situations, however, this macro will not be defined, thus it will evaluate
	to 0 in C preprocessor expressions.
	</p>
	<a name="IDX1145"></a>
	<p>‘<tt>gettext.h</tt>’ is a convenience header file for conditional use of
	‘<tt><libintl.h></tt>’, depending on the <code>ENABLE_NLS</code> macro. If
	<code>ENABLE_NLS</code> is set, it includes ‘<tt><libintl.h></tt>’; otherwise it
	defines no-op substitutes for the libintl.h functions. We recommend
	the use of <code>"gettext.h"</code> over direct use of ‘<tt><libintl.h></tt>’,
	so that portability to older systems is guaranteed and installers can
	turn off internationalization if they want to. In the C code, you will
	then write
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">#include "gettext.h"
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p>instead of
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">#include <libintl.h>
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p>The location of <code>gettext.h</code> is usually in a directory containing
	auxiliary include files. In many GNU packages, there is a directory
	‘<tt>lib/</tt>’ containing helper functions; ‘<tt>gettext.h</tt>’ fits there.
	In other packages, it can go into the ‘<tt>src</tt>’ directory.
	</p>
	<p>Do not install the <code>gettext.h</code> file in public locations. Every
	package that needs it should contain a copy of it on its own.
	</p>

	<a name="autoconf-macros"></a>
	<a name="SEC255"></a>
	<h2 class="section"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC249">13.5 Autoconf macros for use in ‘<tt>configure.ac</tt>’</a> </h2>

	<p>GNU <code>gettext</code> installs macros for use in a package's
	‘<tt>configure.ac</tt>’ or ‘<tt>configure.in</tt>’.
	See <a href="../autoconf/index.html#Top">(autoconf)Top</a> section `Introduction' in <cite>The Autoconf Manual</cite>.
	</p>
	<p>In order to copy these macros into your package,
	use the <code>gettextize</code> or <code>autopoint</code> programs.
	See <a href="#SEC241">Invoking the <code>gettextize</code> Program</a> or <a href="#SEC266">Invoking the <code>autopoint</code> Program</a>.
	Attempts to use the <code>autoreconf</code> program for this purpose are unreliable.
	</p>
	<p>The primary macro is, of course, <code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</code>.
	</p>


	<a name="AM_005fGNU_005fGETTEXT"></a>
	<a name="SEC256"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC250">13.5.1 AM_GNU_GETTEXT in ‘<tt>gettext.m4</tt>’</a> </h3>

	<p>The <code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</code> macro tests for the presence of the GNU gettext
	function family in either the C library or a separate <code>libintl</code>
	library (shared or static libraries are both supported). It also invokes
	<code>AM_PO_SUBDIRS</code>, thus preparing the ‘<tt>po/</tt>’ directories of the
	package for building.
	</p>
	<p><code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</code> accepts up to two optional arguments. The general
	syntax is
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">AM_GNU_GETTEXT([<var>intlsymbol</var>], [<var>needsymbol</var>])
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p><var>intlsymbol</var> should always be ‘<samp>external</samp>’.
	</p>
	<p>If <var>needsymbol</var> is specified and is ‘<samp>need-ngettext</samp>’, then GNU
	gettext implementations (in libc or libintl) without the <code>ngettext()</code>
	function will be ignored. If <var>needsymbol</var> is specified and is
	‘<samp>need-formatstring-macros</samp>’, then GNU gettext implementations that don't
	support the ISO C 99 ‘<tt><inttypes.h></tt>’ formatstring macros will be ignored.
	Only one <var>needsymbol</var> can be specified. These requirements can also be
	specified by using the macro <code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_NEED</code> elsewhere. To specify
	more than one requirement, just specify the strongest one among them, or
	invoke the <code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_NEED</code> macro several times. The hierarchy
	among the various alternatives is as follows: ‘<samp>need-formatstring-macros</samp>’
	implies ‘<samp>need-ngettext</samp>’.
	</p>
	<p>The <code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</code> macro determines whether GNU gettext is
	available and should be used. If so, it sets the <code>USE_NLS</code> variable
	to ‘<samp>yes</samp>’; it defines <code>ENABLE_NLS</code> to 1 in the autoconf
	generated configuration file (usually called ‘<tt>config.h</tt>’); it sets
	the variables <code>LIBINTL</code> and <code>LTLIBINTL</code> to the linker options
	for use in a Makefile (<code>LIBINTL</code> for use without libtool,
	<code>LTLIBINTL</code> for use with libtool); it adds an ‘<samp>-I</samp>’ option to
	<code>CPPFLAGS</code> if necessary. In the negative case, it sets
	<code>USE_NLS</code> to ‘<samp>no</samp>’; it sets <code>LIBINTL</code> and <code>LTLIBINTL</code>
	to empty and doesn't change <code>CPPFLAGS</code>.
	</p>
	<p>The complexities that <code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</code> deals with are the following:
	</p>
	<ul>
	<li>
	<a name="IDX1146"></a>
	Some operating systems have <code>gettext</code> in the C library, for example
	glibc. Some have it in a separate library <code>libintl</code>. GNU <code>libintl</code>
	might have been installed as part of the GNU <code>gettext</code> package.

	</li><li>
	GNU <code>libintl</code>, if installed, is not necessarily already in the search
	path (<code>CPPFLAGS</code> for the include file search path, <code>LDFLAGS</code> for
	the library search path).

	</li><li>
	Except for glibc and the Solaris 11 libc, the operating system's native
	<code>gettext</code> cannot exploit the GNU mo files, doesn't have the
	necessary locale dependency features, and cannot convert messages from
	the catalog's text encoding to the user's locale encoding.

	</li><li>
	GNU <code>libintl</code>, if installed, is not necessarily already in the
	run time library search path. To avoid the need for setting an environment
	variable like <code>LD_LIBRARY_PATH</code>, the macro adds the appropriate
	run time search path options to the <code>LIBINTL</code> and <code>LTLIBINTL</code>
	variables. This works on most systems, but not on some operating systems
	with limited shared library support, like SCO.

	</li><li>
	GNU <code>libintl</code> relies on POSIX/XSI <code>iconv</code>. The macro checks for
	linker options needed to use iconv and appends them to the <code>LIBINTL</code>
	and <code>LTLIBINTL</code> variables.
	</li></ul>

	<p>Additionally, the <code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</code> macro sets two variables, for
	convenience. Both are derived from the <code>--localedir</code> configure
	option. They are correct even on native Windows, where directories
	frequently contain backslashes.
	</p><dl compact="compact">
	<dt> <code>localedir_c</code></dt>
	<dd><p>This is the value of <code>localedir</code>, in C syntax. This variable is
	meant to be substituted into C or C++ code through
	<code>AC_CONFIG_FILES</code>.
	</p>
	</dd>
	<dt> <code>localedir_c_make</code></dt>
	<dd><p>This is the value of <code>localedir</code>, in C syntax, escaped for use in
	a <code>Makefile</code>. This variable is meant to be used in Makefiles,
	for example for defining a C macro named <code>LOCALEDIR</code>:
	</p><table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="smallexample">AM_CPPFLAGS = ... -DLOCALEDIR=$(localedir_c_make) ...
	</pre></td></tr></table>
	</dd>
	</dl>


	<a name="AM_005fGNU_005fGETTEXT_005fVERSION"></a>
	<a name="SEC257"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC251">13.5.2 AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION in ‘<tt>gettext.m4</tt>’</a> </h3>

	<p>The <code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION</code> macro declares the version number of
	the GNU gettext infrastructure that is used by the package.
	</p>
	<p>The use of this macro is optional; only the <code>autopoint</code> program makes
	use of it (see section <a href="#SEC262">Integrating with Version Control Systems</a>).
	</p>

	<a name="AM_005fGNU_005fGETTEXT_005fNEED"></a>
	<a name="SEC258"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC252">13.5.3 AM_GNU_GETTEXT_NEED in ‘<tt>gettext.m4</tt>’</a> </h3>

	<p>The <code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_NEED</code> macro declares a constraint regarding the
	GNU gettext implementation. The syntax is
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">AM_GNU_GETTEXT_NEED([<var>needsymbol</var>])
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p>If <var>needsymbol</var> is ‘<samp>need-ngettext</samp>’, then GNU gettext implementations
	(in libc or libintl) without the <code>ngettext()</code> function will be ignored.
	If <var>needsymbol</var> is ‘<samp>need-formatstring-macros</samp>’, then GNU gettext
	implementations that don't support the ISO C 99 ‘<tt><inttypes.h></tt>’
	formatstring macros will be ignored.
	</p>
	<p>The optional second argument of <code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</code> is also taken into
	account.
	</p>
	<p>The <code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_NEED</code> invocations can occur before or after
	the <code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT</code> invocation; the order doesn't matter.
	</p>

	<a name="AM_005fPO_005fSUBDIRS"></a>
	<a name="SEC259"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC253">13.5.4 AM_PO_SUBDIRS in ‘<tt>po.m4</tt>’</a> </h3>

	<p>The <code>AM_PO_SUBDIRS</code> macro prepares the ‘<tt>po/</tt>’ directories of the
	package for building. This macro should be used in internationalized
	programs written in other programming languages than C, C++, Objective C,
	for example <code>sh</code>, <code>Python</code>, <code>Lisp</code>. See <a href="gettext_15.html#SEC271">Other Programming Languages</a> for a list of programming languages that support localization
	through PO files.
	</p>
	<p>The <code>AM_PO_SUBDIRS</code> macro determines whether internationalization
	should be used. If so, it sets the <code>USE_NLS</code> variable to ‘<samp>yes</samp>’,
	otherwise to ‘<samp>no</samp>’. It also determines the right values for Makefile
	variables in each ‘<tt>po/</tt>’ directory.
	</p>

	<a name="AM_005fXGETTEXT_005fOPTION"></a>
	<a name="SEC260"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC254">13.5.5 AM_XGETTEXT_OPTION in ‘<tt>po.m4</tt>’</a> </h3>

	<p>The <code>AM_XGETTEXT_OPTION</code> macro registers a command-line option to be
	used in the invocations of <code>xgettext</code> in the ‘<tt>po/</tt>’ directories
	of the package.
	</p>
	<p>For example, if you have a source file that defines a function
	‘<samp>error_at_line</samp>’ whose fifth argument is a format string, you can use
	</p><table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">AM_XGETTEXT_OPTION([--flag=error_at_line:5:c-format])
	</pre></td></tr></table>
	<p>to instruct <code>xgettext</code> to mark all translatable strings in ‘<samp>gettext</samp>’
	invocations that occur as fifth argument to this function as ‘<samp>c-format</samp>’.
	</p>
	<p>See <a href="gettext_5.html#SEC41">Invoking the <code>xgettext</code> Program</a> for the list of options that <code>xgettext</code>
	accepts.
	</p>
	<p>The use of this macro is an alternative to the use of the
	‘<samp>XGETTEXT_OPTIONS</samp>’ variable in ‘<tt>po/Makevars</tt>’.
	</p>

	<a name="AM_005fICONV"></a>
	<a name="SEC261"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC255">13.5.6 AM_ICONV in ‘<tt>iconv.m4</tt>’</a> </h3>

	<p>The <code>AM_ICONV</code> macro tests for the presence of the POSIX/XSI
	<code>iconv</code> function family in either the C library or a separate
	<code>libiconv</code> library. If found, it sets the <code>am_cv_func_iconv</code>
	variable to ‘<samp>yes</samp>’; it defines <code>HAVE_ICONV</code> to 1 in the autoconf
	generated configuration file (usually called ‘<tt>config.h</tt>’); it defines
	<code>ICONV_CONST</code> to ‘<samp>const</samp>’ or to empty, depending on whether the
	second argument of <code>iconv()</code> is of type ‘<samp>const char **</samp>’ or
	‘<samp>char **</samp>’; it sets the variables <code>LIBICONV</code> and
	<code>LTLIBICONV</code> to the linker options for use in a Makefile
	(<code>LIBICONV</code> for use without libtool, <code>LTLIBICONV</code> for use with
	libtool); it adds an ‘<samp>-I</samp>’ option to <code>CPPFLAGS</code> if
	necessary. If not found, it sets <code>LIBICONV</code> and <code>LTLIBICONV</code> to
	empty and doesn't change <code>CPPFLAGS</code>.
	</p>
	<p>The complexities that <code>AM_ICONV</code> deals with are the following:
	</p>
	<ul>
	<li>
	<a name="IDX1147"></a>
	Some operating systems have <code>iconv</code> in the C library, for example
	glibc. Some have it in a separate library <code>libiconv</code>, for example
	OSF/1 or FreeBSD. Regardless of the operating system, GNU <code>libiconv</code>
	might have been installed. In that case, it should be used instead of the
	operating system's native <code>iconv</code>.

	</li><li>
	GNU <code>libiconv</code>, if installed, is not necessarily already in the search
	path (<code>CPPFLAGS</code> for the include file search path, <code>LDFLAGS</code> for
	the library search path).

	</li><li>
	GNU <code>libiconv</code> is binary incompatible with some operating system's
	native <code>iconv</code>, for example on FreeBSD. Use of an ‘<tt>iconv.h</tt>’
	and ‘<tt>libiconv.so</tt>’ that don't fit together would produce program
	crashes.

	</li><li>
	GNU <code>libiconv</code>, if installed, is not necessarily already in the
	run time library search path. To avoid the need for setting an environment
	variable like <code>LD_LIBRARY_PATH</code>, the macro adds the appropriate
	run time search path options to the <code>LIBICONV</code> variable. This works
	on most systems, but not on some operating systems with limited shared
	library support, like SCO.
	</li></ul>

	<p>‘<tt>iconv.m4</tt>’ is distributed with the GNU gettext package because
	‘<tt>gettext.m4</tt>’ relies on it.
	</p>

	<a name="Version-Control-Issues"></a>
	<a name="SEC262"></a>
	<h2 class="section"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC256">13.6 Integrating with Version Control Systems</a> </h2>

	<p>Many projects use version control systems for distributed development
	and source backup. This section gives some advice how to manage the
	uses of <code>gettextize</code>, <code>autopoint</code> and <code>autoconf</code> on
	version controlled files.
	</p>


	<a name="Distributed-Development"></a>
	<a name="SEC263"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC257">13.6.1 Avoiding version mismatch in distributed development</a> </h3>

	<p>In a project development with multiple developers, there should be a
	single developer who occasionally - when there is desire to upgrade to
	a new <code>gettext</code> version - runs <code>gettextize</code> and performs the
	changes listed in <a href="#SEC242">Files You Must Create or Alter</a>, and then commits his changes
	to the repository.
	</p>
	<p>It is highly recommended that all developers on a project use the same
	version of GNU <code>gettext</code> in the package. In other words, if a
	developer runs <code>gettextize</code>, he should go the whole way, make the
	necessary remaining changes and commit his changes to the repository.
	Otherwise the following damages will likely occur:
	</p>
	<ul>
	<li>
	Apparent version mismatch between developers. Since some <code>gettext</code>
	specific portions in ‘<tt>configure.ac</tt>’, ‘<tt>configure.in</tt>’ and
	<code>Makefile.am</code>, <code>Makefile.in</code> files depend on the <code>gettext</code>
	version, the use of infrastructure files belonging to different
	<code>gettext</code> versions can easily lead to build errors.

	</li><li>
	Hidden version mismatch. Such version mismatch can also lead to
	malfunctioning of the package, that may be undiscovered by the developers.
	The worst case of hidden version mismatch is that internationalization
	of the package doesn't work at all.

	</li><li>
	Release risks. All developers implicitly perform constant testing on
	a package. This is important in the days and weeks before a release.
	If the guy who makes the release tar files uses a different version
	of GNU <code>gettext</code> than the other developers, the distribution will
	be less well tested than if all had been using the same <code>gettext</code>
	version. For example, it is possible that a platform specific bug goes
	undiscovered due to this constellation.
	</li></ul>


	<a name="Files-under-Version-Control"></a>
	<a name="SEC264"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC258">13.6.2 Files to put under version control</a> </h3>

	<p>There are basically three ways to deal with generated files in the
	context of a version controlled repository, such as ‘<tt>configure</tt>’
	generated from ‘<tt>configure.ac</tt>’, <code><var>parser</var>.c</code> generated
	from <code><var>parser</var>.y</code>, or <code>po/Makefile.in.in</code> autoinstalled
	by <code>gettextize</code> or <code>autopoint</code>.
	</p>
	<ol>
	<li>
	All generated files are always committed into the repository.

	</li><li>
	All generated files are committed into the repository occasionally,
	for example each time a release is made.

	</li><li>
	Generated files are never committed into the repository.
	</li></ol>

	<p>Each of these three approaches has different advantages and drawbacks.
	</p>
	<ol>
	<li>
	The advantage is that anyone can check out the source at any moment and
	gets a working build. The drawbacks are: 1a. It requires some frequent
	"push" actions by the maintainers. 1b. The repository grows in size
	quite fast.

	</li><li>
	The advantage is that anyone can check out the source, and the usual
	"./configure; make" will work. The drawbacks are: 2a. The one who
	checks out the repository needs tools like GNU <code>automake</code>, GNU
	<code>autoconf</code>, GNU <code>m4</code> installed in his PATH; sometimes he
	even needs particular versions of them. 2b. When a release is made
	and a commit is made on the generated files, the other developers get
	conflicts on the generated files when merging the local work back to
	the repository. Although these conflicts are easy to resolve, they
	are annoying.

	</li><li>
	The advantage is less work for the maintainers. The drawback is that
	anyone who checks out the source not only needs tools like GNU
	<code>automake</code>, GNU <code>autoconf</code>, GNU <code>m4</code> installed in his
	PATH, but also that he needs to perform a package specific pre-build
	step before being able to "./configure; make".
	</li></ol>

	<p>For the first and second approach, all files modified or brought in
	by the occasional <code>gettextize</code> invocation and update should be
	committed into the repository.
	</p>
	<p>For the third approach, the maintainer can omit from the repository
	all the files that <code>gettextize</code> mentions as "copy". Instead, he
	adds to the ‘<tt>configure.ac</tt>’ or ‘<tt>configure.in</tt>’ a line of the
	form
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION(0.25.1)
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p>and adds to the package's pre-build script an invocation of
	‘<samp>autopoint</samp>’. For everyone who checks out the source, this
	<code>autopoint</code> invocation will copy into the right place the
	<code>gettext</code> infrastructure files that have been omitted from the repository.
	</p>
	<p>The version number used as argument to <code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION</code> is
	the version of the <code>gettext</code> infrastructure that the package wants
	to use. It is also the minimum version number of the ‘<samp>autopoint</samp>’
	program. So, if you write <code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION(0.11.5)</code> then the
	developers can have any version >= 0.11.5 installed; the package will work
	with the 0.11.5 infrastructure in all developers' builds. When the
	maintainer then runs gettextize from, say, version 0.12.1 on the package,
	the occurrence of <code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION(0.11.5)</code> will be changed
	into <code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION(0.12.1)</code>, and all other developers that
	use the CVS will henceforth need to have GNU <code>gettext</code> 0.12.1 or newer
	installed.
	</p>

	<a name="Translations-under-Version-Control"></a>
	<a name="SEC265"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC259">13.6.3 Put PO Files under Version Control</a> </h3>

	<p>Since translations are valuable assets as well as the source code, it
	would make sense to put them under version control. The GNU gettext
	infrastructure supports two ways to deal with translations in the
	context of a version controlled repository.
	</p>
	<ol>
	<li>
	Both POT file and PO files are committed into the repository.

	</li><li>
	Only PO files are committed into the repository.

	</li></ol>

	<p>If a POT file is absent when building, it will be generated by
	scanning the source files with <code>xgettext</code>, and then the PO files
	are regenerated as a dependency. On the other hand, some maintainers
	want to keep the POT file unchanged during the development phase. So,
	even if a POT file is present and older than the source code, it won't
	be updated automatically. You can manually update it with <code>make
	$(DOMAIN).pot-update</code>, and commit it at certain point.
	</p>
	<p>Special advices for particular version control systems:
	</p>
	<ul>
	<li>
	Recent version control systems, Git for instance, ignore file's
	timestamp. In that case, PO files can be accidentally updated even if
	a POT file is not updated. To prevent this, you can set
	‘<samp>PO_DEPENDS_ON_POT</samp>’ variable to <code>no</code> in the ‘<tt>Makevars</tt>’
	file and do <code>make update-po</code> manually.

	</li><li>
	Location comments such as <code>#: lib/error.c:116</code> are sometimes
	annoying, since these comments are volatile and may introduce unwanted
	change to the working copy when building. To mitigate this, you can
	decide to omit those comments from the PO files in the repository.

	<p>This is possible with the <code>--no-location</code> option of the
	<code>msgmerge</code> command <a name="DOCF6" href="gettext_fot.html#FOOT6">(6)</a>. The drawback is
	that, if the location information is needed, translators have to
	recover the location comments by running <code>msgmerge</code> again.
	</p>
	</li></ul>


	<a name="autopoint-Invocation"></a>
	<a name="SEC266"></a>
	<h3 class="subsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC260">13.6.4 Invoking the <code>autopoint</code> Program</a> </h3>


	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">autopoint [<var>option</var>]...
	</pre></td></tr></table>

	<p>The <code>autopoint</code> program copies standard gettext infrastructure files
	into a source package. It extracts from a macro call of the form
	<code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_VERSION(<var>version</var>)</code>, found in the package's
	‘<tt>configure.in</tt>’ or ‘<tt>configure.ac</tt>’ file, the gettext version
	used by the package, and copies the infrastructure files belonging to
	this version into the package.
	</p>
	<p>To extract the latest available infrastructure which satisfies a version
	requirement, then you can use the form
	<code>AM_GNU_GETTEXT_REQUIRE_VERSION(<var>version</var>)</code> instead. For
	example, if gettext 0.25.1 is installed on your system
	and <code>0.19.1</code> is requested, then the infrastructure files of version
	0.25.1 will be copied into a source package.
	</p>

	<a name="SEC267"></a>
	<h4 class="subsubsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC261">13.6.4.1 Options</a> </h4>

	<dl compact="compact">
	<dt> ‘<samp>-f</samp>’</dt>
	<dt> ‘<samp>--force</samp>’</dt>
	<dd><a name="IDX1148"></a>
	<a name="IDX1149"></a>
	<p>Force overwriting of files that already exist.
	</p>
	</dd>
	<dt> ‘<samp>-n</samp>’</dt>
	<dt> ‘<samp>--dry-run</samp>’</dt>
	<dd><a name="IDX1150"></a>
	<a name="IDX1151"></a>
	<p>Print modifications but don't perform them. All file copying actions that
	<code>autopoint</code> would normally execute are inhibited and instead only
	listed on standard output.
	</p>
	</dd>
	</dl>


	<a name="SEC268"></a>
	<h4 class="subsubsection"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC262">13.6.4.2 Informative output</a> </h4>

	<dl compact="compact">
	<dt> ‘<samp>--help</samp>’</dt>
	<dd><a name="IDX1152"></a>
	<p>Display this help and exit.
	</p>
	</dd>
	<dt> ‘<samp>--version</samp>’</dt>
	<dd><a name="IDX1153"></a>
	<p>Output version information and exit.
	</p>
	</dd>
	</dl>

	<p><code>autopoint</code> supports the GNU <code>gettext</code> versions from 0.10.35
	to the current one, 0.25.1. In order to apply
	<code>autopoint</code> to a package using a <code>gettext</code> version newer than
	0.25.1, you need to install this same version of GNU
	<code>gettext</code> at least.
	</p>
	<p>In packages using GNU <code>automake</code>, an invocation of <code>autopoint</code>
	should be followed by invocations of <code>aclocal</code> and then <code>autoconf</code>
	and <code>autoheader</code>. The reason is that <code>autopoint</code> installs some
	autoconf macro files, which are used by <code>aclocal</code> to create
	‘<tt>aclocal.m4</tt>’, and the latter is used by <code>autoconf</code> to create the
	package's ‘<tt>configure</tt>’ script and by <code>autoheader</code> to create the
	package's ‘<tt>config.h.in</tt>’ include file template.
	</p>
	<p>The name ‘<samp>autopoint</samp>’ is an abbreviation of ‘<samp>auto-po-intl-m4</samp>’;
	in earlier versions, the tool copied or updated mostly files in the ‘<tt>po</tt>’,
	‘<tt>intl</tt>’, ‘<tt>m4</tt>’ directories.
	</p>

	<a name="Release-Management"></a>
	<a name="SEC269"></a>
	<h2 class="section"> <a href="gettext_toc.html#TOC263">13.7 Creating a Distribution Tarball</a> </h2>

	<p>In projects that use GNU <code>automake</code>, the usual commands for creating
	a distribution tarball, ‘<samp>make dist</samp>’ or ‘<samp>make distcheck</samp>’,
	automatically update the PO files as needed.
	</p>
	<p>If GNU <code>automake</code> is not used, the maintainer needs to perform this
	update before making a release:
	</p>
	<table><tr><td> </td><td><pre class="example">$ ./configure
	$ (cd po; make update-po)
	$ make distclean
	</pre></td></tr></table>


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