Re: [Translation-i18n] Format of PO header

[<martin@v.loewis.de>]

Danilo Segan wrote:
> So, the only place it is specified on is "info gettext", topic "Header
> Entry".

That's what I found, too. I hope that could be improved, giving a true
specification of the header.

>> 1. Is it true that the key-value pairs must always fit onto a single
>>    line?
> 
> Yes, except for the "\\\n" continuation lines: even "info gettext",
> topic on plural forms, lists several plural forms definitions with
> continuations on next lines.  But, this could be due to plural forms
> being defined as "C expressions", and C expressions allow such
> continuation lines (or is it a pre-processor feature?).

I don't believe this is a gettext feature. Even though the manual
uses the backslashes, it looks like the implementation will stop
parsing the plurals formula at the first newline.

> Judging by "info gettext", where no continuation mechanism is
> otherwise defined, I'd interpret this as "key-value pairs must always
> fit onto a single line, except where explicitely defined".

Well, it doesn't say. It looks like an RFC-822-stylish header
(it is also called "header"), so people might assume it is
an RFC-822 header.

>>    Some PO files use multi-line fields, e.g. for Last-translator, see
>>
>>    http://www.python.org/sf/658233
> 
> This seems to be wrong since it's not even using a "continuation"
> string of "\\\n".

Well, in RFC 822, continuation lines are indicated by starting with
a space; field names must start in column 0.

Regards,
Martin