localedef(1) — Linux manual page

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | OPTIONS | EXIT STATUS | ENVIRONMENT | FILES | STANDARDS | EXAMPLES | SEE ALSO

localedef(1)             General Commands Manual            localedef(1)

NAME         top

       localedef - compile locale definition files

SYNOPSIS         top

       localedef [options] outputpath

       localedef --add-to-archive [options] compiledpath

       localedef --delete-from-archive [options] localename ...

       localedef --list-archive [options]

       localedef --help

       localedef --usage

       localedef --version

DESCRIPTION         top

       The localedef program reads the indicated charmap and input
       files, compiles them to a binary form quickly usable by the
       locale functions in the C library (setlocale(3), localeconv(3),
       etc.), and places the output in outputpath.

       The outputpath argument is interpreted as follows:

       •  If outputpath contains a slash character ('/'), it is
          interpreted as the name of the directory where the output
          definitions are to be stored.  In this case, there is a
          separate output file for each locale category (LC_TIME,
          LC_NUMERIC, and so on).

       •  If the --no-archive option is used, outputpath is the name of
          a subdirectory in /usr/lib/locale where per-category compiled
          files are placed.

       •  Otherwise, outputpath is the name of a locale and the compiled
          locale data is added to the archive file
          /usr/lib/locale/locale-archive.  A locale archive is a memory-
          mapped file which contains all the system-provided locales; it
          is used by all localized programs when the environment
          variable LOCPATH is not set.

       In any case, localedef aborts if the directory in which it tries
       to write locale files has not already been created.

       If no charmapfile is given, the value ANSI_X3.4-1968 (for ASCII)
       is used by default.  If no inputfile is given, or if it is given
       as a dash (-), localedef reads from standard input.

OPTIONS         top

   Operation-selection options
       A few options direct localedef to do something other than compile
       locale definitions.  Only one of these options should be used at
       a time.

       --add-to-archive
              Add the compiledpath directories to the locale archive
              file.  The directories should have been created by
              previous runs of localedef, using --no-archive.

       --delete-from-archive
              Delete the named locales from the locale archive file.

       --list-archive
              List the locales contained in the locale archive file.

   Other options
       Some of the following options are sensible only for certain
       operations; generally, it should be self-evident which ones.
       Notice that -f and -c are reversed from what you might expect;
       that is, -f is not the same as --force.

       -f charmapfile, --charmap=charmapfile
              Specify the file that defines the character set that is
              used by the input file.  If charmapfile contains a slash
              character ('/'), it is interpreted as the name of the
              character map.  Otherwise, the file is sought in the
              current directory and the default directory for character
              maps.  If the environment variable I18NPATH is set,
              $I18NPATH/charmaps/ and $I18NPATH/ are also searched after
              the current directory.  The default directory for
              character maps is printed by localedef --help.

       -i inputfile, --inputfile=inputfile
              Specify the locale definition file to compile.  The file
              is sought in the current directory and the default
              directory for locale definition files.  If the environment
              variable I18NPATH is set, $I18NPATH/locales/ and $I18NPATH
              are also searched after the current directory.  The
              default directory for locale definition files is printed
              by localedef --help.

       -u repertoirefile, --repertoire-map=repertoirefile
              Read mappings from symbolic names to Unicode code points
              from repertoirefile.  If repertoirefile contains a slash
              character ('/'), it is interpreted as the pathname of the
              repertoire map.  Otherwise, the file is sought in the
              current directory and the default directory for repertoire
              maps.  If the environment variable I18NPATH is set,
              $I18NPATH/repertoiremaps/ and $I18NPATH are also searched
              after the current directory.  The default directory for
              repertoire maps is printed by localedef --help.

       -A aliasfile, --alias-file=aliasfile
              Use aliasfile to look up aliases for locale names.  There
              is no default aliases file.

       -c, --force
              Write the output files even if warnings were generated
              about the input file.

       -v, --verbose
              Generate extra warnings about errors that are normally
              ignored.

       --big-endian
              Generate big-endian output.

       --little-endian
              Generate little-endian output.

       --no-archive
              Do not use the locale archive file, instead create
              outputpath as a subdirectory in the same directory as the
              locale archive file, and create separate output files for
              locale categories in it.  This is helpful to prevent
              system locale archive updates from overwriting custom
              locales created with localedef.

       --no-hard-links
              Do not create hard links between installed locales.

       --no-warnings=warnings
              Comma-separated list of warnings to disable.  Supported
              warnings are ascii and intcurrsym.

       --posix
              Conform strictly to POSIX.  Implies --verbose.  This
              option currently has no other effect.  POSIX conformance
              is assumed if the environment variable POSIXLY_CORRECT is
              set.

       --prefix=pathname
              Set the prefix to be prepended to the full archive
              pathname.  By default, the prefix is empty.  Setting the
              prefix to foo, the archive would be placed in
              foo/usr/lib/locale/locale-archive.

       --quiet
              Suppress all notifications and warnings, and report only
              fatal errors.

       --replace
              Replace a locale in the locale archive file.  Without this
              option, if the locale is in the archive file already, an
              error occurs.

       --warnings=warnings
              Comma-separated list of warnings to enable.  Supported
              warnings are ascii and intcurrsym.

       -?, --help
              Print a usage summary and exit.  Also prints the default
              paths used by localedef.

       --usage
              Print a short usage summary and exit.

       -V, --version
              Print the version number, license, and disclaimer of
              warranty for localedef.

EXIT STATUS         top

       One of the following exit values can be returned by localedef:

       0      Command completed successfully.

       1      Warnings or errors occurred, output files were written.

       4      Errors encountered, no output created.

ENVIRONMENT         top

       POSIXLY_CORRECT
              The --posix flag is assumed if this environment variable
              is set.

       I18NPATH
              A colon-separated list of search directories for files.

FILES         top

       /usr/share/i18n/charmaps
              Usual default character map path.

       /usr/share/i18n/locales
              Usual default path for locale definition files.

       /usr/share/i18n/repertoiremaps
              Usual default repertoire map path.

       /usr/lib/locale/locale-archive
              Usual default locale archive location.

       /usr/lib/locale
              Usual default path for compiled individual locale data
              files.

       outputpath/LC_ADDRESS
              An output file that contains information about formatting
              of addresses and geography-related items.

       outputpath/LC_COLLATE
              An output file that contains information about the rules
              for comparing strings.

       outputpath/LC_CTYPE
              An output file that contains information about character
              classes.

       outputpath/LC_IDENTIFICATION
              An output file that contains metadata about the locale.

       outputpath/LC_MEASUREMENT
              An output file that contains information about locale
              measurements (metric versus US customary).

       outputpath/LC_MESSAGES/SYS_LC_MESSAGES
              An output file that contains information about the
              language messages should be printed in, and what an
              affirmative or negative answer looks like.

       outputpath/LC_MONETARY
              An output file that contains information about formatting
              of monetary values.

       outputpath/LC_NAME
              An output file that contains information about salutations
              for persons.

       outputpath/LC_NUMERIC
              An output file that contains information about formatting
              of nonmonetary numeric values.

       outputpath/LC_PAPER
              An output file that contains information about settings
              related to standard paper size.

       outputpath/LC_TELEPHONE
              An output file that contains information about formats to
              be used with telephone services.

       outputpath/LC_TIME
              An output file that contains information about formatting
              of data and time values.

STANDARDS         top

       POSIX.1-2008.

EXAMPLES         top

       Compile the locale files for Finnish in the UTF-8 character set
       and add it to the default locale archive with the name
       fi_FI.UTF-8:

           localedef -f UTF-8 -i fi_FI fi_FI.UTF-8

       The next example does the same thing, but generates files into
       the fi_FI.UTF-8 directory which can then be used by programs when
       the environment variable LOCPATH is set to the current directory
       (note that the last argument must contain a slash):

           localedef -f UTF-8 -i fi_FI ./fi_FI.UTF-8

SEE ALSO         top

       locale(1), charmap(5), locale(5), repertoiremap(5), locale(7)

Linux man-pages (unreleased)     (date)                     localedef(1)

Pages that refer to this page: locale(1)localeconv(3)setlocale(3)sysconf(3)charmap(5)locale(5)repertoiremap(5)locale(7)