Re: [bug-gettext] gettextize requires confirmation from /dev/tty to complete

[Bruno Haible]

Hi Stefano,

> Yes, the gettextize script from the gettext git repository forces the
> caller to press enter *at the console* to complete its execution.  And
> there's no way to avoid or work around this this (other than hacking
> the gettextize script itself).
> ...
> how do you know whether a script
> is "abusing" gettextize rather than simply using it in a non-common way
> for a non-commmon but legitimate purpose?

I assume you have read the first two paragraphs of its documentation [1].

It mentions that some tasks have to be done *manually* after running
'gettextize'.

What is the "non-common way for a non-commmon but legitimate purpose" that
you are thinking of?

> for which the only "reason" I can see is the one given in the comments:
> 
>   echo "Press Return to acknowledge the previous $count."
>   # Read from /dev/tty, not stdin, so that gettextize cannot be abused
>   # by non-interactive tools.
>   read dummy < /dev/tty
> 
> which seems an absurd reason to me

Let me explain the reason in different words. Before it became clear that
'gettextize' and 'autopoint' need to be two different programs, people used
'gettextize' in their scripts. And then reported bugs because in some cases
gettextize did the complete job and in other cases it didn't.

Then I created the 'autopoint' program to deal with the fully automatable
case. But people had their scripts already written. This statement here is
a reminder to all those who use old scripts from the pre-autopoint era,
to change their scripts to use 'autopoint'.

> I find this to be a very unfriendly an un-unixy behaviour

Ah but then every GUI program that pops up a dialog is "very unfriendly"
and "un-unixy".

Bruno

[1] 
http://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/manual/html_node/gettextize-Invocation.html
-- 
In memoriam The victims of the Massacre of Margarita Belén 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_Margarita_Belén>