xgotext

A command-line tool for extracting translatable strings from Go source code that uses the gotext library for internationalization. This tool generates POT (Portable Object Template) files that can be used with standard translation tools.

Features

• Extracts translatable strings from Go source files
• Supports all gotext translation functions (Get, GetD, GetN, GetC, GetND, GetNC, GetNDC)
• Handles multi-line strings
• Preserves context and plural forms
• Automatically removes duplicates while maintaining source references
• Supports excluding specific files or directories
• Provides verbose output option for debugging
• Customizable headers and metadata for POT files
• Supports joining messages with existing POT files
• Configurable output directories and file naming

Installation

go install github.com/Tom5521/xgotext/cli/xgotext@latest

Usage

Basic usage:

xgotext [flags] file1 file2 file3...

Command Line Options

• Input/Output Options:

  • --files-from, -f: Get list of input files from FILE.
  • --directory, -D: Add DIRECTORY to list for input files search. If input file is -, standard input is read.
  • --output, -o: Write output to specified file.
  • --output-dir, -p: Output files will be placed in directory DIR. If output file is -, output is written to standard output.
  • --default-domain, -d: Use NAME.pot for output (instead of messages.pot).

• Parser Options:

  • --exclude, -X: Specifies which files will be omitted.
  • --extract-all, -a: Extract all strings.
  • --exclude-file, -x: Entries from file are not extracted. File should be a PO or POT file.
  • --join-existing, -j: Join messages with existing file.

• Header Options:

  • --lang, -l: Language code to include in the POT file (default: "en").
  • --nplurals: Specify the number of plural forms of the language in question (default: 2).
  • --msgid-bugs-address: Set the reporting address for msgid bugs.
  • --title: Set the title of the POT file (default: "SOME DESCRIPTIVE TITLE").
  • --copyright-holder: Set the copyright holder in the output.
  • --foreign-user: Omit FSF copyright in output (equivalent to --copyright-holder='').

• Compiler Options:

  • --force-po: Always write an output file even if no message is defined.
  • --no-location, -n: Do not write #: filename:line lines.
  • --add-location: Generate #: filename:line lines (default: "full"). Options: full, file, never.
  • --omit-header: Don’t write header with msgid "" entry.
  • --package-name: Set the package name in the header of the output.
  • --package-version: Set the package version in the header of the output.
  • --msgstr-prefix, -m: Use string as prefix for msgstr values.
  • --msgstr-suffix, -M: Use string as suffix for msgstr values.

Examples

Extract strings from specific files:

xgotext -o messages.pot file1.go file2.go

Extract strings from all .go files in the current directory:

xgotext -o messages.pot *.go

Process a specific directory with version information:

xgotext -o messages.pot --package-version "1.0.0" ./cmd/*.go

Exclude certain files or directories:

xgotext -o messages.pot --exclude vendor/* --exclude tests/* *.go

Join messages with an existing POT file:

xgotext -o messages.pot --join-existing file1.go file2.go

Customize headers and metadata:

xgotext -o messages.pot --title "My Project" --copyright-holder "My Company" --msgid-bugs-address "[email protected]" file1.go file2.go

Supported Translation Functions

The tool extracts strings from the following gotext function calls:

• gotext.Get(message)
• gotext.GetD(domain, message)
• gotext.GetN(message, plural, n)
• gotext.GetC(message, context)
• gotext.GetND(domain, message, plural, n)
• gotext.GetNC(message, plural, n, context)
• gotext.GetNDC(domain, message, plural, n, context)

Output Format

The generated POT file follows the standard gettext format, including:

• Source file references with line numbers
• Context information when available
• Plural forms
• Support for multi-line strings
• Empty msgstr fields ready for translation
• Customizable headers and metadata

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

MIT Licence

Acknowledgments

• xgotext - The reason I did this, their tool does not work.
• gotext - The Go internationalization library this tool is designed to work with
• spf13/pflag - Command line flag parsing