What is pofile?
The 'pofile' npm package is used for parsing and manipulating gettext PO (Portable Object) files, which are commonly used for localization in software projects. It allows developers to read, write, and modify PO files programmatically.
What are pofile's main functionalities?
Parsing PO Files
This feature allows you to load and parse a PO file. The parsed content is available as an object, which you can then manipulate or inspect.
const PO = require('pofile');
PO.load('path/to/file.po', function (err, po) {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(po.items);
});
Modifying PO File Entries
This feature allows you to modify the entries in a PO file. For example, you can change the translation of a specific entry.
const PO = require('pofile');
PO.load('path/to/file.po', function (err, po) {
if (err) throw err;
po.items[0].msgstr = ['New translation'];
console.log(po.items[0]);
});
Creating New PO Files
This feature allows you to create a new PO file from scratch. You can add new entries and save the file to the filesystem.
const PO = require('pofile');
const po = new PO();
po.items.push(new PO.Item({
msgid: 'Hello',
msgstr: ['Hola']
}));
po.save('path/to/newfile.po', function (err) {
if (err) throw err;
console.log('PO file saved!');
});
Other packages similar to pofile
gettext-parser
The 'gettext-parser' package is another tool for parsing and compiling gettext PO and MO files. It provides similar functionality to 'pofile' but also includes support for MO files, which are the binary counterparts to PO files.
node-gettext
The 'node-gettext' package is a comprehensive solution for handling gettext translations in Node.js. It includes features for parsing PO files, managing translations, and even supports plural forms. It is more feature-rich compared to 'pofile' but also more complex.
i18next
The 'i18next' package is a full-featured internationalization framework for JavaScript. While it does not directly handle PO files, it provides extensive support for managing translations and can be integrated with other tools to work with PO files. It is more versatile but requires additional setup for PO file handling.
pofile - gettext .po parsing for JavaScript
Parse and serialize Gettext PO files.
Usage
Add pofile to your project:
Installation (Node.JS, browser via Browserified)
npm install --save pofile
Reference it in your code:
var PO = require('pofile');
Installation (via bower)
bower install --save pofile
Add it to your HTML file:
<script src="bower_components/pofile/dist/pofile.js"></script>
Reference it in your code:
var PO = require('pofile');
Loading and parsing
You can create a new empty PO file by using the class:
var po = new PO();
Or by loading a file (Node.JS only):
PO.load('text.po', function (err, po) {
});
Or by parsing a string:
var po = PO.parse(myString);
The PO class
The PO
class exposes three members:
comments
: An array of comments (found at the header of the file).headers
: A dictionary of the headers.items
: An array of PO.Item
objects, each of which represents a string
from the gettext catalog.
There are two methods available:
save
: Accepts a filename and callback, writes the po file to disk.
po.save('out.po', function (err) {
});
toString
: Serializes the po file to a string.
The PO.Item class
The PO.Item
class exposes the following members:
msgid
: The message id.msgid_plural
: The plural message id (null if absent).msgstr
: An array of translated strings. Items that have no plural msgid
only have one element in this array.references
: An array of reference strings.comments
: An array of string translator comments.extractedComments
: An array of string extracted comments.flags
: A dictionary of the string flags. Each flag is mapped to a key with
value true. For instance, a string with the fuzzy flag set will have
item.flags.fuzzy == true
.msgctxt
: Context of the message, an arbitrary string, can be used for disambiguation.
Contributing
In lieu of a formal styleguide, take care to maintain the existing coding
style. Add unit tests for any new or changed functionality. Lint and test your
code using Grunt.
Credits
Originally based on node-po (written by Michael Holly). Rebranded because
node-po is unmaintained and because this library is no longer limited to
Node.JS: it works in the browser too.
Changes compared to node-po
- Proper handling of async methods that won't crash your Node.JS process when
something goes wrong.
- Support for parsing string flags (e.g. fuzzy).
- A test suite.
- Browser support (through Browserified and bower).
Migrating from node-po
You'll need to update the module reference: require('pofile')
instead of
require('node-po')
.
At the initial release, node-po and pofile have identical APIs, with one small
exception: the save
and load
methods now take a callback that has an err
parameter: (err)
for save
and (err, po)
for load
. This is similar to
Node.JS conventions.
Change code such as:
PO.load('text.po', function (po) {
To:
PO.load('text.po', function (err, po) {
License
(The MIT License)
Copyright (C) 2013-2017 by Ruben Vermeersch <ruben@rocketeer.be>
Copyright (C) 2012 by Michael Holly
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
THE SOFTWARE.