245 lines
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245 lines
11 KiB
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<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Tcl Built-In Commands - msgcat manual page</TITLE></HEAD><BODY>
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<DL>
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<DD><A HREF="msgcat.htm#M2" NAME="L715">NAME</A>
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<DL><DD>msgcat - Tcl message catalog</DL>
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<DD><A HREF="msgcat.htm#M3" NAME="L716">SYNOPSIS</A>
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<DL>
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<DD><B>::msgcat::mc </B><I>src-string</I>
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<DD><B>::msgcat::mclocale </B>?<I>newLocale</I>?
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<DD><B>::msgcat::mcpreferences</B>
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<DD><B>::msgcat::mcload </B><I>dirname</I>
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<DD><B>::msgcat::mcset </B><I>locale src-string </I>?<I>translate-string</I>?
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<DD><B>::msgcat::mcunknown </B><I>locale src-string</I>
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</DL>
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<DD><A HREF="msgcat.htm#M4" NAME="L717">DESCRIPTION</A>
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<DD><A HREF="msgcat.htm#M5" NAME="L718">COMMANDS</A>
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<DL>
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<DD><A HREF="msgcat.htm#M6" NAME="L719"><B>::msgcat::mc </B><I>src-string</I> ?<I>arg arg ...</I>?</A>
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</DL>
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<DL>
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<DD><A HREF="msgcat.htm#M7" NAME="L720"><B>::msgcat::mclocale </B>?<I>newLocale</I>?</A>
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<DD><A HREF="msgcat.htm#M8" NAME="L721"><B>::msgcat::mcpreferences</B></A>
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<DD><A HREF="msgcat.htm#M9" NAME="L722"><B>::msgcat::mcload </B><I>dirname</I></A>
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<DD><A HREF="msgcat.htm#M10" NAME="L723"><B>::msgcat::mcset </B><I>locale src-string </I>?<I>translate-string</I>?</A>
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<DD><A HREF="msgcat.htm#M11" NAME="L724"><B>::msgcat::mcunknown </B><I>locale src-string</I></A>
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</DL>
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<DD><A HREF="msgcat.htm#M12" NAME="L725">LOCALE AND SUBLOCALE SPECIFICATION</A>
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<DD><A HREF="msgcat.htm#M13" NAME="L726">NAMESPACES AND MESSAGE CATALOGS</A>
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<DD><A HREF="msgcat.htm#M14" NAME="L727">LOCATION AND FORMAT OF MESSAGE FILES</A>
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<DL>
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</DL>
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<DD><A HREF="msgcat.htm#M15" NAME="L728">RECOMMENDED MESSAGE SETUP FOR PACKAGES</A>
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<DL>
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</DL>
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<DD><A HREF="msgcat.htm#M16" NAME="L729">POSTITIONAL CODES FOR FORMAT AND SCAN COMMANDS</A>
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<DD><A HREF="msgcat.htm#M17" NAME="L730">CREDITS</A>
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<DD><A HREF="msgcat.htm#M18" NAME="L731">SEE ALSO</A>
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<DD><A HREF="msgcat.htm#M19" NAME="L732">KEYWORDS</A>
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</DL><HR>
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<H3><A NAME="M2">NAME</A></H3>
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msgcat - Tcl message catalog
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<H3><A NAME="M3">SYNOPSIS</A></H3>
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<B>::msgcat::mc </B><I>src-string</I><BR>
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<B>::msgcat::mclocale </B>?<I>newLocale</I>?<BR>
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<B>::msgcat::mcpreferences</B><BR>
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<B>::msgcat::mcload </B><I>dirname</I><BR>
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<B>::msgcat::mcset </B><I>locale src-string </I>?<I>translate-string</I>?<BR>
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<B>::msgcat::mcunknown </B><I>locale src-string</I><BR>
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<H3><A NAME="M4">DESCRIPTION</A></H3>
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The <B>msgcat</B> package provides a set of functions
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that can be used to manage multi-lingual user interfaces.
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Text strings are defined in a ``message catalog'' which
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is independent from the application, and
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which can be edited or localized without modifying
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the application source code. New languages
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or locales are provided by adding a new file to
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the message catalog.
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<P>
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Use of the message catalog is optional by any application
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or package, but is encouraged if the application or package
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wishes to be enabled for multi-lingual applications.
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<H3><A NAME="M5">COMMANDS</A></H3>
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<DL>
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<P><DT><A NAME="M6"><B>::msgcat::mc </B><I>src-string</I> ?<I>arg arg ...</I>?</A><DD>
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Returns a translation of <I>src-string</I> according to the
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user's current locale. If additional arguments past <I>src-string</I>
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are given, the <B><A HREF="../TkCmd/format.htm">format</A></B> command is used to substitute the
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additional arguments in the translation of <I>src-string</I>.
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<B>::msgcat::mc</B> will search the messages defined
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in the current namespace for a translation of <I>src-string</I>; if
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none is found, it will search in the parent of the current namespace,
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and so on until it reaches the global namespace. If no translation
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string exists, <B>::msgcat::mcunknown</B> is called and the string
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returned from <B>::msgcat::mcunknown</B> is returned.
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<P></DL>
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<P>
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<B>::msgcat::mc</B> is the main function used to localize an
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application. Instead of using an English string directly, an
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applicaton can pass the English string through <B>::msgcat::mc</B> and
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use the result. If an application is written for a single language in
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this fashion, then it is easy to add support for additional languages
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later simply by defining new message catalog entries.
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<P>
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<DL>
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<P><DT><A NAME="M7"><B>::msgcat::mclocale </B>?<I>newLocale</I>?</A><DD>
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This function sets the locale to <I>newLocale</I>. If <I>newLocale</I>
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is omitted, the current locale is returned, otherwise the current locale
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is set to <I>newLocale</I>.
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The initial locale defaults to the locale specified in
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the user's environment. See <B>LOCALE AND SUBLOCALE SPECIFICATION</B>
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below for a description of the locale string format.
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<P><DT><A NAME="M8"><B>::msgcat::mcpreferences</B></A><DD>
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Returns an ordered list of the locales preferred by
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the user, based on the user's language specification.
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The list is ordered from most specific to least
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preference. If the user has specified LANG=en_US_funky,
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this procedure would return {en_US_funky en_US en}.
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<P><DT><A NAME="M9"><B>::msgcat::mcload </B><I>dirname</I></A><DD>
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Searches the specified directory for files that match
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the language specifications returned by <B>::msgcat::mcpreferences</B>.
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Each file located is sourced. The file extension is ``.msg''.
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The number of message files which matched the specification
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and were loaded is returned.
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<P><DT><A NAME="M10"><B>::msgcat::mcset </B><I>locale src-string </I>?<I>translate-string</I>?</A><DD>
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Sets the translation for <I>src-string</I> to <I>translate-string</I>
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in the specified <I>locale</I>. If <I>translate-string</I> is not
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specified, <I>src-string</I> is used for both. The function
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returns <I>translate-string</I>.
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<P><DT><A NAME="M11"><B>::msgcat::mcunknown </B><I>locale src-string</I></A><DD>
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This routine is called by <B>::msgcat::mc</B> in the case when
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a translation for <I>src-string</I> is not defined in the
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current locale. The default action is to return
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<I>src-string</I>. This procedure can be redefined by the
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application, for example to log error messages for each unknown
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string. The <B>::msgcat::mcunknown</B> procedure is invoked at the
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same stack context as the call to <B>::msgcat::mc</B>. The return vaue
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of <B>::msgcat::mcunknown</B> is used as the return vaue for the call
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to <B>::msgcat::mc</B>.
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<P></DL>
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<H3><A NAME="M12">LOCALE AND SUBLOCALE SPECIFICATION</A></H3>
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The locale is specified by a locale string.
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The locale string consists of
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a language code, an optional country code, and an optional
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system-specific code, each separated by ``_''. The country and language
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codes are specified in standards ISO-639 and ISO-3166.
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For example, the locale ``en'' specifies English and
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``en_US'' specifes U.S. English.
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<P>
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The locale defaults to the value in <B>env(LANG)</B> at the time the
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<B>msgcat</B> package is loaded. If <B>env(LANG)</B> is not defined, then the
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locale defaults to ``C''.
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<P>
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When a locale is specified by the user, a ``best match'' search is
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performed during string translation. For example, if a user specifies
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en_UK_Funky, the locales ``en_UK_Funky'', ``en_UK'', and ``en'' are
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searched in order until a matching translation string is found. If no
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translation string is available, then <B>::msgcat::unknown</B> is
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called.
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<H3><A NAME="M13">NAMESPACES AND MESSAGE CATALOGS</A></H3>
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Strings stored in the message catalog are stored relative
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to the namespace from which they were added. This allows
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multiple packages to use the same strings without fear
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of collisions with other packages. It also allows the
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source string to be shorter and less prone to typographical
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error.
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<P>
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For example, executing the code
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<PRE>mcset en hello "hello from ::"
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namespace eval foo {mcset en hello "hello from ::foo"}
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puts [mc hello]
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namespace eval foo {puts [mc hello]}</PRE>
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will print
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<PRE>hello from ::
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hello from ::foo</PRE>
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<P>
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When searching for a translation of a message, the
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message catalog will search first the current namespace,
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then the parent of the current namespace, and so on until
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the global namespace is reached. This allows child namespaces
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to "inherit" messages from their parent namespace.
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<P>
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For example, executing the code
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<PRE>mcset en m1 ":: message1"
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mcset en m2 ":: message2"
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mcset en m3 ":: message3"
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namespace eval ::foo {
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mcset en m2 "::foo message2"
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mcset en m3 "::foo message3"
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}
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namespace eval ::foo::bar {
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mcset en m3 "::foo::bar message3"
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}
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puts "[mc m1]; [mc m2]; [mc m3]"
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namespace eval ::foo {puts "[mc m1]; [mc m2]; [mc m3]"}
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namespace eval ::foo::bar {puts "[mc m1]; [mc m2]; [mc m3]"}</PRE>
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will print
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<PRE>:: message1; :: message2; :: message3
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:: message1; ::foo message2; ::foo message3
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:: message1; ::foo message2; ::foo::bar message3</PRE>
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<H3><A NAME="M14">LOCATION AND FORMAT OF MESSAGE FILES</A></H3>
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Message files can be located in any directory, subject
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to the following conditions:
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<P>
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<DL>
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<P><DT>[1]<DD>
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All message files for a package are in the same directory.
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<P><DT>[2]<DD>
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The message file name is a locale specifier followed
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by ``.msg''. For example:
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<PRE>es.msg -- spanish
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en_UK.msg -- UK English</PRE>
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<P><DT>[3]<DD>
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The file contains a series of calls to mcset, setting the
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necessary translation strings for the language. For example:
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<PRE>::msgcat::mcset es "Free Beer!" "Cerveza Gracias!"</PRE>
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<P></DL>
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<H3><A NAME="M15">RECOMMENDED MESSAGE SETUP FOR PACKAGES</A></H3>
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If a package is installed into a subdirectory of the
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<B>tcl_pkgPath</B> and loaded via <B>package require</B>, the
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following procedure is recommended.
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<P>
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<DL>
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<P><DT>[1]<DD>
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During package installation, create a subdirectory
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<B>msgs</B> under your package directory.
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<P><DT>[2]<DD>
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Copy your *.msg files into that directory.
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<P><DT>[3]<DD>
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Add the following command to your package
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initialization script:
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<PRE># load language files, stored in msgs subdirectory
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::msgcat::mcload [file join [file dirname [info script]] msgs]</PRE>
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<P></DL>
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<H3><A NAME="M16">POSTITIONAL CODES FOR FORMAT AND SCAN COMMANDS</A></H3>
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It is possible that a message string used as an argument
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to <B><A HREF="../TkCmd/format.htm">format</A></B> might have positionally dependent parameters that
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might need to be repositioned. For example, it might be
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syntactically desirable to rearrange the sentence structure
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while translating.
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<PRE>format "We produced %d units in location %s" $num $city
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format "In location %s we produced %d units" $city $num</PRE>
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<P>
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This can be handled by using the positional
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parameters:
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<PRE>format "We produced %1\$d units in location %2\$s" $num $city
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format "In location %2\$s we produced %1\$d units" $num $city</PRE>
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<P>
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Similarly, positional parameters can be used with <B><A HREF="../TkCmd/scan.htm">scan</A></B> to
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extract values from internationalized strings.
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<H3><A NAME="M17">CREDITS</A></H3>
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The message catalog code was developed by Mark Harrison.
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<H3><A NAME="M18">SEE ALSO</A></H3>
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<B><A HREF="../TkCmd/format.htm">format</A></B>, <B><A HREF="../TkCmd/scan.htm">scan</A></B>, <B><A HREF="../TkCmd/namespace.htm">namespace</A></B>, <B><A HREF="../TkCmd/package.htm">package</A></B>
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<H3><A NAME="M19">KEYWORDS</A></H3>
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<A href="../Keywords/I.htm#internationalization">internationalization</A>, <A href="../Keywords/I.htm#i18n">i18n</A>, <A href="../Keywords/L.htm#localization">localization</A>, <A href="../Keywords/L.htm#l10n">l10n</A>, <A href="../Keywords/M.htm#message">message</A>, <A href="../Keywords/T.htm#text">text</A>, <A href="../Keywords/T.htm#translation">translation</A>
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<HR><PRE>
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<A HREF="../copyright.htm">Copyright</A> © 1998 Mark Harrison.
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<A HREF="../copyright.htm">Copyright</A> © 1995-1997 Roger E. Critchlow Jr.</PRE>
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</BODY></HTML>
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