NAME
    msgmerge - merge message catalog and template

SYNOPSIS
    msgmerge [OPTION] def.po ref.pot

DESCRIPTION
    Merges two Uniforum style .po files together.  The def.po file is an
    existing PO file with translations which will be taken  over to the
    newly created file as long as they still match; comments will be pre-
    served, but extracted comments and file positions will be discarded.
    The ref.pot file is the last created PO file with up-to-date source
    references but old translations, or a PO Template file (generally cre-
    ated by  xgettext); any translations or comments in the file will be
    discarded, however dot comments and file positions will be preserved.
    Where an exact match cannot be found, fuzzy matching is used to produce
    better results.

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

  Input file location:
    def.po translations referring to old sources

    ref.pot
    references to new sources

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

    -C, --compendium=FILE
    additional library of message translations, may be specified
    more than once

  Operation mode:
    -U, --update
    update def.po, do nothing if def.po already up to date

  Output file location:
    -o, --output-file=FILE
    write output to specified file

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

    Output file location in update mode: The result is written back to
    def.po.

    --backup=CONTROL
    make a backup of def.po

    --suffix=SUFFIX
    override the usual backup suffix

    The version control method may be selected via the --backup option or
    through the VERSION_CONTROL environment variable. Here are the values:

    none, off
    never make backups (even if --backup is given)

    numbered, t
    make numbered backups

    existing, nil
    numbered if numbered backups exist, simple otherwise

    simple, never
    always make simple backups

    The backup suffix is `~', unless set  with --suffix  or the SIM-
    PLE_BACKUP_SUFFIX environment variable.

  Operation modifiers:
    -m, --multi-domain
    apply ref.pot to each of the domains in def.po

  Output details:
    -e, --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

    -i, --indent
    indented output style

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

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

    --strict
    strict Uniforum output style

    -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

    -v, --verbose
    increase verbosity level

    -q, --quiet, --silent
    suppress progress indicators

AUTHOR
    Written by Peter Miller.

REPORTING BUGS
    Report bugs to <bug-gnu-gettext@gnu.org>.

COPYRIGHT
    Copyright (C) 1995-1998, 2000-2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
    This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is
    NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
    PURPOSE.

SEE ALSO
    The full documentation for msgmerge is maintained as a Texinfo manual.
    If the info and msgmerge programs are properly installed at your site,
    the command

    info msgmerge

    should give you access to the complete manual.