PURPOSE AND UTILIZATION OF THE TOOLBOX 
======================================

This toolbox is expected to facilitate and secure work of maintainers and
translators:
(1) in providing wrappers to gettext commands, so that users do not have
    to remember syntax and usage of each one of them,
(2) in insuring that these commands be used consistently by all contri-
    butors, to ease communication between them and quality checking.

Provided Documentation will allow involved people to familiarize
themselves with concepts and processes of shell scripts' internationa-
lization and localization before using this toolbox.

Features of the toolbox are presented below.

make_POT: generates a (new) POT file
====================================
This feature is to be be used whenever a script to be localized is added,
updated or deleted, which usually occurs only during a development cycle,
following an addition, deletion or modification of a Slackware script.

The maintainers generates the POT file, checks that it includes all marked
text strings with using the check_xtract feature. 

This should trigger usage of the merge_PO feature by the translators.

check_xtract: check extraction of text scripts' messages in the POT file
========================================================================

This feature is to be used by the maintainers whenever a text script is
first internationalized, or updated once internationalized.

The goal is to make sure xgettext extracts every marked message. Errors
listed are generally caused by a failure to comply to one of xgettext's
requirements.

init_PO: initialize a PO file for a given locale
================================================

This feature is to be used by te translators whenever a new localization
is initiated.

The new PO file is then edited by the translators to translate all
messages.

Usage of a specialized PO editor for PO's editing is highly recommended.

init_PO is intended to be used only once per locale.

In case a PO file needs to be updated to follow up the release of an
updated POT file, the merge_PO option is to be used instead.

Before the fully translated PO file be handed over to the maintainers, it
is mandatory to check it using the check_PO option.

check_PO: check that all messages are translated in a PO file
=============================================================

This option is to be used before a PO file be handed over to the
maintainers and the MO file for the same locale be generated.
 
format_PO: generate a MO file for a given locale
================================================

This feature is provided to for testing purposes, whenever a PO file has
been edited.

merge_PO: update a PO file folowing an update of the POT file
=============================================================

This feature won't probably be needed for stable releases as they are
few if any updates of Slackware scripts during the lifetime of a release. 

It will be useful instead during a development cycle to adapt the inter-
nationalized installer to modifications, additions and deletions of
Slackware scripts for the next release.

In that case the maintainers, after having updated the POT file, inform
translators to use this feature.

Each translator will then update the PO file using a PO editor, check
it, then hand it over to the maintainers.


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