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Message Text Source File Format

The message text source files are text files in the format described below. Note that the fields of a message text source line are separated by space or tab characters.

$set n comment

Determines the set identifier to be used for all subsequent messages until the next $set or end-of-file. The n is the set identifier which is defined as a number in the range [1, NL_SETMAX]. Set identifiers within a single source file need not be contiguous. Any string following the set identifier is treated as a comment. If no $set directive is specified in a message text source file, all messages will be located in the default message set NL_SETD.

$delset n comment

Removes message set n from the catalog. The n is a set identifier in the range [1, NL_SETMAX]. If a message set was created earlier in the current file, or in a file previously read by the gencat command, this directive will remove it. Any string following the set identifier is treated as a comment.

$ comment

A line beginning with $ followed by a space or tab character is treated as a comment.

m message-text

A message line consists of a message identifier m in the range [1, NL_MSGMAX] and the message-text. The message-text is read until the end of the line or a quote character (if one is specified). The message-text is stored in the message catalog with the set identifier specified by the last $set directive, and the message identifier m. If the message-text is empty and there is a space or tab character following the message identifier, an empty string is stored in the message catalog. If no message-text is provided, and if there is no space or tab character following the message identifier, the message with the message identifier m in the current set is removed from the catalog. Message identifiers need not be contiguous within a single set. The length of message-text must be in the range [0, NL_TEXTMAX].

$quote c

Sets an optional quote character to be used around the message-text. The quote character c may be any character other than white space. If this is specified, then messages must begin and end with the quote character. This is useful when messages must contain leading white space. By default no quote character is used. If an empty $quote directive is specified, then the current quote character is unset.

Empty lines and leading blanks in a message text source file are ignored. Any line beginning with any character other than those described above is ignored as a syntax error.

Text message strings may contain any characters and the following special characters and escape sequences.

A bit pattern, \ddd, consists of a backslash followed by one, two, or three octal digits representing the value of the character. The current quote character, if defined, may be escaped with a backslash to generate the quote character. Any character following the backslash ('\') other than those specified is ignored.

A backslash at the end of the line continues the message onto the next line. The following two lines are an example of such a message:

Producing the following message: