gencat(1)						      General Commands Manual							 gencat(1)

NAME

       gencat - generate a formatted message catalog file

SYNOPSIS

       catfile msgfile ...

DESCRIPTION

       Message catalogs allow a program to process input and produce output according to local customs and languages.  For details, see

       The command merges each message source msgfile into a formatted message catalog catfile that can be accessed by (see catgets(3C)).  If cat-
       file does not exist, it is created.  If catfile exists, its messages are included in the new catfile.  If set and message numbers  collide,
       the  new  message  text in file replaces the old message text in catfile.  A msgfile consists of message, directive, and comment lines (all
       without leading spaces or tabs) described below.  Except as noted, fields are separated by one or more space or tab characters.

       If is specified as catalog file, standard output is used.

       If is specified for an instance of message file, standard input is used.

	      A 		     directive specifies the set s, of the messages that follow until the next or end-of-file  appears.   The  set
				     number  s	is  an unsigned integer in the range 1 through Any string following the set number is treated as a
				     comment.  If a directive is not specified, messages are put in the default set

				     Set numbers must be in ascending order within a msgfile but need not be contiguous.

	      A 		     directive deletes the message set identified by the set number s, from  an  existing  message  catalog.   Any
				     string following the set number is treated as a comment.

	      m message_text	     A	message  line  specifies  a  message  number  m,  and associated message text.	The message number m is an
				     unsigned integer in the range 1 through The message_text is a C string, including spaces, tabs and    (back-
				     slash)  escapes,  but  by	default without surrounding quotes (see directive below).  The message number m is
				     separated from the message_text by a single space or tab character.  The message_text begins with	the  first
				     character	following the separator and ends at new-line.  Extra spaces or tabs (including any trailing spaces
				     or tabs) are considered part of the message_text.

				     The message_text of a message line is stored in catfile with message number m and set number s  specified	by
				     the most recent directive.

				     Message numbers must be in ascending order within a set, but need not be contiguous.

				     Note  that  the  space or tab separator distinguishes insertion of a null message from deletion of a message.
				     If a message line has a number and separator but no text, the message number and an associated  null  message
				     string  are  stored  in  catfile.	If a message line has a number but neither separator nor text, the message
				     number and its associated message text are deleted from catfile.

	      If the		     option is specified, the length of message_text must be no more than - 1 bytes.  If the option is not  speci-
				     fied,  the  length  of  message_text  must be no more than bytes.	See catgets(3C), for message length limits
				     imposed by these routines.

	      A 		     directive specifies a quote character q, used to surround message_text and make leading  and  trailing  space
				     visible in a message line.  Any string following the specified quote character q is treated as a comment.	By
				     default, or if a quote character q not is supplied, quoting of message_text is not recognized.

	      A 		     followed by a space or tab is treated as a comment and can appear anywhere in a file.  A line  consisting	of
				     zero or more spaces or tabs is treated as a comment line.

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EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

   Environment Variables
       provides a default value for the internationalization variables that are unset or null.	If is unset or null, the default value of "C" (see
       lang(5)) is used.  If any of the internationalization variables contains an invalid setting, will behave  as  if  all  internationalization
       variables are set to "C".  See environ(5).

       if set to a non-empty string value, overrides the values of all of the other internationalization variables.

       determines  the interpretation of text as single and/or multi-byte characters, the classification of characters as printable, and the char-
       acters matched by character class expressions in regular expressions.

       determines the locale that should be used to affect the format and contents of diagnostic messages written to standard error  and  informa-
       tive messages written to standard output.

       determines the location of message catalogs for the processing of

   International Code Set Support
       Single- and multi-byte character code sets are supported.

WARNINGS

       The directive is not currently supported on the HP MPE and RTE operating systems.

AUTHOR

       was developed by HP and the X/Open Company, Ltd.

SEE ALSO

       dumpmsg(1), findmsg(1), insertmsg(1), catgets(3C), catopen(3C).

STANDARDS CONFORMANCE

																	 gencat(1)