NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | OPTIONS | EXIT STATUS | ENVIRONMENT | FILES | CONFORMING TO | EXAMPLE | SEE ALSO | COLOPHON

LOCALEDEF(1)                  Linux User Manual                 LOCALEDEF(1)

NAME         top

       localedef - compile locale definition files

SYNOPSIS         top

       localedef [options] outputpath
       localedef --list-archive [options]
       localedef --delete-from-archive [options] localename ...
       localedef --add-to-archive [options] compiledpath
       localedef --version
       localedef --help
       localedef --usage

DESCRIPTION         top

       The localedef program reads the indicated charmap and input files,
       compiles them to a binary form quickly usable by the locale functions
       in the C library (setlocale(3), localeconv(3), etc.), and places the
       output 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
          locale category (LC_TIME, LC_NUMERIC, and so on).
       *  If the --no-archive option is used, outputpath is the name of a
          subdirectory in /usr/lib/locale where per-category compiled files
          are placed.
       *  Otherwise, outputpath is the name of a locale and the compiled
          locale data is added to the archive file /usr/lib/locale/locale-
          archive.  A locale archive is a memory-mapped file which contains
          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         top

   Operation-selection options
       A few options direct localedef to do something other than compile
       locale definitions.  Only one of these options should be used at a
       time.
       --delete-from-archive
              Delete the named locales from the locale archive file.
       --list-archive
              List the locales contained in the locale archive file.
       --add-to-archive
              Add the compiledpath directories to the locale archive file.
              The directories should have been created by previous runs of
              localedef, using --no-archive.
   Other options
       Some of the following options are sensible only for certain
       operations; generally, it should be self-evident which ones.
       -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.
              Otherwise, the file is sought in the current directory and the
              default 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
              definition 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 variable I18NPATH is set,
              $I18NPATH/repertoiremaps/ and $I18NPATH are also searched
              after the current directory.  The default directory 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.
       --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.
       -c, --force
              Write the output files even if warnings were generated about
              the input file.
       -v, --verbose
              Generate extra warnings about errors that are normally
              ignored.
       --quiet
              Suppress all notifications and warnings, and report only fatal
              errors.
       --posix
              Conform strictly to POSIX.  Implies --verbose.  This option
              currently has no other effect.  POSIX conformance is assumed
              if the environment variable POSIXLY_CORRECT is set.
       --replace
              Replace a locale in the locale archive file.  Without this
              option, if the locale is in the archive file already, an error
              occurs.
       --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.
       -?, --help
              Print a usage summary and exit.  Also prints the default paths
              used by localedef.
       --usage
              Print a short usage summary and exit.
       -V, --version
              Print the version number, license, and disclaimer of warranty
              for localedef.

EXIT STATUS         top

       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         top

       POSIXLY_CORRECT
              The --posix flag is assumed if this environment variable is
              set.
       I18NPATH
              A colon-separated list of search directories for files.

FILES         top

       /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
              addresses 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
              measurements (metric versus US customary).
       outputpath/LC_MESSAGES/SYS_LC_MESSAGES
              An output file that contains information about the language
              messages 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.

CONFORMING TO         top

       POSIX.1-2008.

EXAMPLE         top

       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
       environment 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         top

       locale(1), charmap(5), locale(5), repertoiremap(5), locale(7)

COLOPHON         top

       This page is part of release 4.12 of the Linux man-pages project.  A
       description of the project, information about reporting bugs, and the
       latest version of this page, can be found at
       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.
Linux                            2016-07-17                     LOCALEDEF(1)

Pages that refer to this page: locale(1)localeconv(3)setlocale(3)sysconf(3)charmap(5)locale(5)repertoiremap(5)locale(7)