[I18n-sig] gettext-0.12 is released

Bruno Haible bruno@clisp.org
Tue, 20 May 2003 13:33:05 +0200 (CEST)


Available at
    ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/gettext/gettext-0.12.tar.gz


News in 0.12 (since 0.11.5):

* The gettext package is now separated into two subpackages:
  - gettext-runtime: Runtime libraries and programs.
  - gettext-tools: Tools and documentation for developers and translators.
  The 'gettext-runtime' package is very small and should be installed on every
  system that has users who desire to use internationalization. Whereas the
  'gettext-tools' package is only for developers and translators.

* The po/Makevars file has a new field MSGID_BUGS_ADDRESS, which program
  maintainers should fill in, to help feedback from the translators to the
  program maintainers.
  xgettext, accordingly, has a new option --msgid-bugs-address.

* Programming languages support:

  - C++

    A new C++ class, called gnu::autosprintf, makes it possible to use
    C format strings in C++. This is needed for proper internationalization
    of C++ programs.

  - Java

    All the tools that manipulate PO files can work with .properties files
    as well, if given the --properties-input and/or --properties-output
    option. To create a .properties file from a PO or POT file, use
    "msgcat --properties-output".

  - Smalltalk

    xgettext now also supports Smalltalk.

  - PHP

    xgettext now also supports PHP.

  - Python

    "xgettext --language=Python" now supports the plural handling functions
    ngettext, dngettext, ungettext (introduced in Python 2.3).

  - A new autoconf macro AM_PO_SUBDIRS is added. It is like AM_GNU_GETTEXT,
    for packages written in other languages than C/C++.

* A new library libgettextpo, with public header file "gettext-po.h",
  provides functions for reading PO files into memory. It is useful for
  applying PO files to areas not covered by the GNU gettext programs.
  New documentation section:
  - Writing your own programs that process PO files.

* New documentation sections:
  - Prioritizing messages: How to determine which messages to translate first.
  - Names: Marking Proper Names for Translation.

* xgettext now supports msgid strings in other encodings than ASCII.
  xgettext has a new option --from-code that specifies the encoding of the
  source files. The resulting POT files are UTF-8 encoded.

* Tools for translators:

  - msgmerge has a new option -N/--no-fuzzy-matching that inhibits the fuzzy
    search for untranslated messages.

  - msgattrib has new options --only-file and --ignore-file that cause the
    specified attribute manipulation to apply to selected messages only.

* Compatibility with automake-1.7.

* In documentation section po/LINGUAS:
  - Document the optional "languages" en@quot and en@boldquot.

* New configuration option --enable-relocatable.  See the INSTALL file for
  details.

Enjoy!


Bruno