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    Command Linux
    Home - man page - PYGETTEXT

    PYGETTEXT

    WillieBy WillieMarch 6, 2026Updated:April 17, 2026No Comments3 Mins Read
     

    NAME

    pygettext – Python equivalent of xgettext(1)  

    SYNOPSIS

    pygettext [OPTIONS] INPUTFILE …  

    DESCRIPTION

    pygettext is deprecated. The current version of xgettext supports many languages, including Python.

    pygettext uses Python’s standard tokenize module to scan Python source code, generating .pot files identical to what GNU xgettext generates for C and C++ code. From there, the standard GNU tools can be used.

    pygettext searches only for _() by default, even though GNU xgettext recognizes the following keywords: gettext, dgettext, dcgettext, and gettext_noop. See the -k/–keyword flag below for how to augment this.

     

    OPTIONS

    -a, –extract-all
    Extract all strings.
    -d, –default-domain=NAME
    Rename the default output file from messages.pot to name.pot.
    -E, –escape
    Replace non-ASCII characters with octal escape sequences.
    -D, –docstrings
    Extract module, class, method, and function docstrings. These do not need to be wrapped in _() markers, and in fact cannot be for Python to consider them docstrings. (See also the -X option).
    -h, –help
    Print this help message and exit.
    -k, –keyword=WORD
    Keywords to look for in addition to the default set, which are: _
    You can have multiple -k flags on the command line.
    -K, –no-default-keywords
    Disable the default set of keywords (see above). Any keywords explicitly added with the -k/–keyword option are still recognized.
    –no-location
    Do not write filename/lineno location comments.
    -n, –add-location
    Write filename/lineno location comments indicating where each extracted string is found in the source. These lines appear before each msgid. The style of comments is controlled by the -S/–style option. This is the default.
    -o, –output=FILENAME
    Rename the default output file from messages.pot to FILENAME. If FILENAME is `-‘ then the output is sent to standard out.
    -p, –output-dir=DIR
    Output files will be placed in directory DIR.
    -S, –style=STYLENAME
    Specify which style to use for location comments. Two styles are supported:
    •
    Solaris        # File: filename, line: line-number
    •
    GNU            #: filename:line
    The style name is case insensitive. GNU style is the default.
    -v, –verbose
    Print the names of the files being processed.
    -V, –version
    Print the version of pygettext and exit.
    -w, –width=COLUMNS
    Set width of output to columns.
    -x, –exclude-file=FILENAME
    Specify a file that contains a list of strings that are not be extracted from the input files. Each string to be excluded must appear on a line by itself in the file.
    -X, –no-docstrings=FILENAME
    Specify a file that contains a list of files (one per line) that should not have their docstrings extracted. This is only useful in conjunction with the -D option above.

    If `INPUTFILE’ is -, standard input is read.  

    BUGS

    pygettext attempts to be option and feature compatible with GNU xgettext where ever possible. However some options are still missing or are not fully implemented. Also, xgettext’s use of command line switches with option arguments is broken, and in these cases, pygettext just defines additional switches.  

    Willie
    • Website

    Willie has over 15 years of experience in Linux system administration and DevOps. After managing infrastructure for startups and enterprises alike, he founded Command Linux to share the practical knowledge he wished he had when starting out. He oversees content strategy and contributes guides on server management, automation, and security.

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