8.2.1 Input file location ¶

‘-i inputfile’ ¶

‘--input=inputfile’

Input PO file.

‘-D directory’ ¶

‘--directory=directory’

Add directory to the list of directories. Source files are searched relative to this list of directories. The resulting .po file will be written relative to the current directory, though.

If no inputfile is given or if it is ‘-’, standard input is read.

8.2.2 Output file location ¶

‘-o file’ ¶

‘--output-file=file’

Write output to specified file.

The results are written to standard output if no output file is specified or if it is ‘-’.

8.2.3 Message selection ¶

‘--keep-fuzzy’ ¶

Keep fuzzy messages unmodified. Pretranslate only untranslated messages.

8.2.4 Large Language Model (LLM) options ¶

‘--species=type’ ¶

Specifies the type of Large Language Model execution engine. The default and only valid value is ollama.

‘--url=url’ ¶

Specifies the URL of the server that runs Large Language Model execution engine. For ollama, the default is http://localhost:11434.

‘-m model’ ¶

‘--model=model’

Specifies the model to use. This option is mandatory; no default exists. The specified model must already be installed in the Large Language Model execution engine.

‘--prompt=text’ ¶

Specifies the prompt to use before each msgid from the PO file. It allows you to specify extra instructions for the LLM. The prompt should include an instruction like "Translate into target language.". Some hints for good prompts are described in the article “How to write AI prompts for translation” https://poeditor.com/blog/ai-prompts-for-translation/.

‘--postprocess=command’ ¶

Specifies a command to post-process the output from the LLM. This should be a Bourne shell command that reads from standard input and writes to standard output.

For instance, the ministral-3:14b model often emphasizes part of the output with ‘**’ characters. To eliminate these markers, you could use the command ‘sed -e 's/[*][*]//g'’.

8.2.5 Input file syntax ¶

‘-P’ ¶

‘--properties-input’

Assume the input file is a Java ResourceBundle in Java .properties syntax, not in PO file syntax.

‘--stringtable-input’ ¶

Assume the input file is a NeXTstep/GNUstep localized resource file in .strings syntax, not in PO file syntax.

8.2.6 Output details ¶

‘--color’ ¶

‘--color=when’

Specify whether or when to use colors and other text attributes. See The --color option for details.

‘--style=style_file’ ¶

Specify the CSS style rule file to use for --color. See The --style option for details.

‘--force-po’ ¶

Always write an output file even if it contains no message.

‘--indent’ ¶

Write the .po file using indented style.

‘--no-location’ ¶

Do not write ‘#: filename:line’ lines.

‘-n’ ¶

‘--add-location=type’

Generate ‘#: filename:line’ lines (default).

The optional type can be either ‘full’, ‘file’, or ‘never’. If it is not given or ‘full’, it generates the lines with both file name and line number. If it is ‘file’, the line number part is omitted. If it is ‘never’, it completely suppresses the lines (same as --no-location).

‘--strict’ ¶

Write out a strict Uniforum conforming PO file. Note that this Uniforum format should be avoided because it doesn’t support the GNU extensions.

‘-p’ ¶

‘--properties-output’

Write out a Java ResourceBundle in Java .properties syntax. Note that this file format doesn’t support plural forms and silently drops obsolete messages.

‘--stringtable-output’ ¶

Write out a NeXTstep/GNUstep localized resource file in .strings syntax. Note that this file format doesn’t support plural forms.

‘-w number’ ¶

‘--width=number’

Set the output page width. Long strings in the output files will be split across multiple lines in order to ensure that each line’s width (= number of screen columns) is less or equal to the given number.

‘--no-wrap’ ¶

Do not break long message lines. Message lines whose width exceeds the output page width will not be split into several lines. Only file reference lines which are wider than the output page width will be split.

‘-s’ ¶

‘--sort-output’

Generate sorted output. Note that using this option makes it much harder for the translator to understand each message’s context.

‘-F’ ¶

‘--sort-by-file’

Sort output by file location.

8.2.7 Informative output ¶

‘-h’ ¶

‘--help’

Display this help and exit.

‘-V’ ¶

‘--version’

Output version information and exit.

‘-q’ ¶

‘--quiet’

‘--silent’

Suppress progress indicators.

8.2.8 Examples ¶

To pretranslate the file foo.po:

msgpre --model=ministral-3:14b < foo.po > foo-pretranslated.po

Note that this command can take a long time, depending on the model and the available hardware.