localedef(1) General Commands Manual localedef(1)
NAME
localedef - compile locale definition files
SYNOPSIS
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
The localedef program reads the indicated charmap and input files, com-
piles them to a binary form quickly usable by the locale functions in
the C library (setlocale(3), localeconv(3), etc.), and places the out-
put 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 lo-
cale category (LC_TIME, LC_NUMERIC, and so on).
• If the --no-archive option is used, outputpath is the name of a sub-
directory in /usr/lib/locale where per-category compiled files are
placed.
• Otherwise, outputpath is the name of a locale and the compiled lo-
cale data is added to the archive file /usr/lib/locale/lo-
cale-archive. A locale archive is a memory-mapped file which con-
tains 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
Operation-selection options
A few options direct localedef to do something other than compile lo-
cale 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 lo-
caledef, 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. Oth-
erwise, the file is sought in the current directory and the de-
fault 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 defini-
tion 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 vari-
able I18NPATH is set, $I18NPATH/repertoiremaps/ and $I18NPATH
are also searched after the current directory. The default di-
rectory 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.
--force
-c Write the output files even if warnings were generated about the
input file.
--verbose
-v 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 cur-
rently 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 op-
tion, if the locale is in the archive file already, an error oc-
curs.
--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.
--version
-V Print the version number, license, and disclaimer of warranty
for localedef.
EXIT STATUS
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
POSIXLY_CORRECT
The --posix flag is assumed if this environment variable is set.
I18NPATH
A colon-separated list of search directories for files.
FILES
/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 ad-
dresses 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 measure-
ments (metric versus US customary).
outputpath/LC_MESSAGES/SYS_LC_MESSAGES
An output file that contains information about the language mes-
sages 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
POSIX.1-2008.
EXAMPLES
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 envi-
ronment 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
locale(1), charmap(5), locale(5), repertoiremap(5), locale(7)
Linux man-pages 6.7 2023-10-31 localedef(1)
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