msgconv

msgconv [OPTION] [INPUTFILE]

--help
    Display a help message and exit.

--version
    Display version information and exit.

-o, --output-file=FILE
    Write output to specified FILE. Default: standard output.

-i, --input=FILE
    Read input from specified FILE. Default: standard input.

-t, --to-code=ENCODING
    Convert to specified ENCODING.

--from-code=ENCODING
    Specify the input encoding (useful if not declared in PO file).

The msgconv command is a utility used to convert between different character encodings of GNU gettext message catalog files (.po files). It reads a .po file, re-encodes the message strings contained within it to a specified encoding, and writes the result to standard output or a specified output file. This is crucial for ensuring that translated messages are displayed correctly in different locales and character set environments. msgconv helps to address situations where .po files are created or edited using one encoding but need to be deployed in systems using a different one.
The command handles the complexities of character set conversion, allowing developers to focus on the message content rather than the underlying encoding details. It supports a wide range of character encodings, making it adaptable to various internationalization scenarios. By using msgconv, you can ensure that your application displays translated messages correctly, regardless of the character encoding used by the target system. It's particularly valuable when working with legacy systems or when integrating with software that uses specific encoding requirements.

The exit status is 0 on success, 1 on errors.

To convert a .po file from UTF-8 to ISO-8859-1:
msgconv -t ISO-8859-1 input.po -o output.po
To convert a .po file from an encoding specified on the command line: msgconv --from-code=WINDOWS-1252 -t UTF-8 input.po -o output.po

msgfmt(1), msgmerge(1)