msgpre(1) User Commands msgpre(1)
NAME
msgpre - pretranslate a message catalog
SYNOPSIS
msgpre [OPTION...]
DESCRIPTION
Pretranslates a translation catalog.
Warning: The pretranslations might not be what you expect. They might
be of the wrong form, be of poor quality, or reflect some biases.
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 -.
Message selection:
--keep-fuzzy
Keep fuzzy messages unmodified. Pretranslate only untranslated
messages.
Large Language Model (LLM) options:
--species=TYPE
Specifies the type of LLM. The default and only valid value is
'ollama'.
--url=URL
Specifies the URL of the server that runs the LLM.
-m, --model=MODEL
Specifies the model to use.
--prompt=TEXT
Specifies the prompt to use before standard input.
--postprocess=COMMAND
Specifies a command to post-process the output.
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
--force-po
write PO file even if empty
--indent
indented output style
--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
-q, --quiet, --silent
suppress progress indicators
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 (C) 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 msgpre is maintained as a Texinfo manual.
If the info and msgpre programs are properly installed at your site,
the command
info autopoint
should give you access to the complete manual.
GNU gettext-tools 1.0 January 2026 msgpre(1)
gettext 1.0 - Generated Thu Mar 12 16:30:00 CDT 2026