[CCing bug-gnu-gettext, which is the right list about questions regarding PO files]

Yan Kerb wrote:

In this line, i have : << #: src/uptime.c:142 #, c-format msgid "up %ld day %2d:%02d, " msgid_plural "up %ld days %2d:%02d, " msgstr[0] "actif %ld jour %2d:%02d, " msgstr[1] ""

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Q : What it is for this "msgid_plural"? I guess i have to translate both form in msgstr0 & 1.

For info, i have in the original 'po' file : << #: src/uptime.c:142 #, c-format msgid "up %ld day %2d:%02d, " msgid_plural "up %ld days %2d:%02d, " msgstr[0] "" msgstr[1] ""

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Indeed, this is not well documented in the GNU gettext manual. I'm adding this text now:

12.6 Translating plural forms =============================

Suppose you are translating a PO file, and it contains an entry like this:

#, c-format msgid "One file removed" msgid_plural "%d files removed" msgstr[0] "" msgstr[1] ""

What does this mean? How do you fill it in?

Such an entry denotes a message with plural forms, that is, a message where the text depends on an cardinal number. The general form of the message, in English, is the `msgid_plural' line. The `msgid' line is the English singular form, that is, the form for when the number is equal to 1. More details about plural forms are explained in *note Plural forms::.

The first thing you need to look at is the `Plural-Forms' line in the header entry of the PO file. It contains the number of plural forms and a formula. If the PO file does not yet have such a line, you have to add it. It only depends on the language into which you are translating. You can get this info by using the `msginit' command (see *note Creating::) - it contains a database of known plural formulas - or by asking other members of your translation team.

Suppose the line looks as follows:

"Plural-Forms: nplurals=3; plural=n%10==1 && n%100!=11 ? 0 : n%10>=2 && n" "%10<=4 && (n%100<10 || n%100>=20) ? 1 : 2;\n"

It's logically one line; recall that the PO file formatting is allowed to break long lines so that each physical line fits in 80 monospaced columns.

The value of `nplurals' here tells you that there are three plural forms. The first thing you need to do is to ensure that the entry contains an `msgstr' line for each of the forms:

#, c-format msgid "One file removed" msgid_plural "%d files removed" msgstr[0] "" msgstr[1] "" msgstr[2] ""

Then translate the `msgid_plural' line and fill it in into each `msgstr' line:

#, c-format msgid "One file removed" msgid_plural "%d files removed" msgstr[0] "%d slika uklonjenih" msgstr[1] "%d slika uklonjenih" msgstr[2] "%d slika uklonjenih"

Now you can refine the translation so that it matches the plural form. According to the formula above, `msgstr[0]' is used when the number ends in 1 but does not end in 11; `msgstr[1]' is used when the number ends in 2, 3, 4, but not in 12, 13, 14; and `msgstr[2]' is used in all other cases. With this knowledge, you can refine the translations:

#, c-format msgid "One file removed" msgid_plural "%d files removed" msgstr[0] "%d slika je uklonjena" msgstr[1] "%d datoteke uklonjenih" msgstr[2] "%d slika uklonjenih"

You noticed that in the English singular form (`msgid') the number placeholder could be omitted and replaced by the numeral word "one". Can you do this in your translation as well?

msgstr[0] "jednom datotekom je uklonjen"

Well, it depends on whether `msgstr[0]' applies only to the number 1, or to other numbers as well. If, according to the plural formula, `msgstr[0]' applies only to `n == 1', then you can use the specialized translation without the number placeholder. In our case, however, `msgstr[0]' also applies to the numbers 21, 31, 41, etc., and therefore you cannot omit the placeholder.

Does this answer your question?

Bruno