File: gettext.info,  Node: po/POTFILES.in,  Next: po/fetch-po,  Up: Adjusting Files

14.4.1 ‘POTFILES.in’ in ‘po/’
-----------------------------

   The ‘po/’ directory should receive a file named ‘POTFILES.in’.  This
file tells which files, among all program sources, have marked strings
needing translation.  Here is an example of such a file:

     # 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

Hash-marked comments and white lines are ignored.  All other lines list
those source files containing strings marked for translation (*note Mark
Keywords::), in a notation relative to the top level of your whole
distribution, rather than the location of the ‘POTFILES.in’ file itself.

   When a C file is automatically generated by a tool, like ‘flex’ or
‘bison’, that doesn't introduce translatable strings by itself, it is
recommended to list in ‘po/POTFILES.in’ the real source file (ending in
‘.l’ in the case of ‘flex’, or in ‘.y’ in the case of ‘bison’), not the
generated C file.