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PO Files 101

Terminology

New to .po? Start with the Glossary: ../glossary.md#po-portable-object

This page explains what .po files are, why RimLoc uses them, and how to edit them comfortably.

What is a PO file?

PO (Portable Object) is a simple text format from the GNU gettext ecosystem. Each entry contains:

#: <reference to source file>
msgctxt "<optional context>"
msgid "<source text>"
msgstr "<translated text>"

RimLoc adds helpful #: path:line comments and a unique msgctxt that combines the key and a relative path to keep entries stable across changes.

Why PO with RimLoc?

  • Friendly for translators — many desktop tools support PO.
  • Keeps context, references, and keys in one place.
  • Easy to diff and review in PRs.

Typical RimLoc entry

#: Mods/MyMod/Languages/English/Keyed/Gameplay.xml:42
msgctxt "Greeting|Keyed/Gameplay.xml:42"
msgid "Hello, {PAWN_label}!"
msgstr ""

Translate by filling msgstr but keep placeholders (like {PAWN_label}) unchanged.

Workflow with RimLoc

  • Export:
rimloc-cli --quiet export-po --root ./Mods/MyMod --out-po ./out/MyMod.po --lang ru

  • Edit in your favorite PO editor (see below).

  • Validate placeholders (strict for CI):

rimloc-cli --quiet validate-po --po ./out/MyMod.po --strict --format json | jq .
  • Import back to XML (single file or full structure):
# Single XML for review
rimloc-cli --quiet import-po --po ./out/MyMod.po --out-xml ./out/MyMod.ru.xml

# Update a mod’s structure (with backups)
rimloc-cli --quiet import-po --po ./out/MyMod.po --mod-root ./Mods/MyMod --backup
  • Poedit — popular, cross‑platform editor tailored for PO files.
  • Gtranslator (GNOME), Lokalize (KDE) — native Linux apps.
  • VS Code — “gettext/PO” extensions exist for syntax highlight and basic editing.
  • CLI utilities: msgfmt, msgcat, msgconv from gettext (advanced users).

Tip: PO files must be UTF‑8. If a tool saved another encoding, convert it:

msgconv --to-code=utf-8 ./in.po > ./out.po

Placeholders

Don’t change placeholders (e.g., {count}, %s). See Guides → Placeholders for details.

See also: ../cli/export_import.md · ../cli/validate_po.md