handlebars-xgettext

Extract strings from Handlebars source. xgettext(1) replacement for Handlebars templates.

tl;dr Get translatable strings from templates into Poedit.

Background

When creating Handlebars templates that require translatable strings, you probably set up a helper similar to this:

Handlebars.registerHelper('_', function(msgid) {
  return i18n.gettext(msgid);
});

What this i18n object refers to is up to you. For server-side templates it is best to use a gettext implementation that reads binary gettext sources (MO files, see below). node-gettext is a good option in that case.

For client-side templates you probably need to read from JSON data, Jed can do that.

Independent from the gettext implementation, your templates can contain translatable strings like so:

<button>{{_ "Sign in"}}</button>
 
<!-- and a simple plural example: -->
<p>{{count}} {{ngettext "country" "countries" count}}</p>

Now, you need to get these strings into a translation application. This is where handlebars-xgettext comes in. It generates gettext (PO) files by parsing these strings out of your templates. It are these PO files that are read by translation applications. The most common of them: Poedit.

These applications should both generate PO and binary MO files as the end result. These files are then typically passed to your i18n library.

Usage

With Poedit

Install handlebars-xgettext globally:

$ npm install -g handlebars-xgettext

Configure Poedit under File - Preferences... by adding a new parser in the Parsers tab with these settings:

Please note that in this Windows example you have to use handlebars-xgettext.cmd, while the extension should of course not be there on *nix platforms.

General

You can of course use handlebars-xgettext independent from a translation application.

$ handlebars-xgettext [OPTION] [INPUTFILE]...

Options

• -D|--directory add directory to list for input files search.
• -o|--output write output to specified file (default stdout).
• --from-code encoding of input files (default ascii).
• -k|--keyword additional keyword to be looked for (default _,gettext,ngettext:1,2).
• --force-po write PO file even if empty (default false).
• --no-location don't add file and line references (default false).

Development

• Run npm test or grunt to run tests.
• Run grunt watch to watch for file changes and run tests.

Pull requests and issues are greatly appreciated ;-)

Note

handlebars-xgettext initial development was founded by Dijiwan.

License

Copyright (c) 2012 Guillaume Marty

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.