# MSGFILTER

NAME
SYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
AUTHOR
REPORTING BUGS
COPYRIGHT
SEE ALSO

## 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.